Nov. 5--FUKUI -- The No.1 nuclear reactor at the Mihama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture will continue to operate after its 40th anniversary in November next year, power company officials said Thursday.

It will be the second reactor to continue operations over 40 years after the No.1 reactor at the Tsuruga plant in the same prefecture. Shosuke Mori, president of Kansai Electric Power Co., reported the plan to the Fukui prefectural government the same day, the officials said.

While several other decades-old reactors are already scheduled to be decommissioned, Mori avoided stating when the Mihama reactor will cease to operate.

"We want to make the decision after comprehensively evaluating aspects including stable energy supply and environmental effects," he told reporters.

On the same day, Kansai Electric also submitted to the central government a maintenance plan for the reactor covering the next 10 years and a report concluding that the reactor can continue to operate safely for another 20 years.

The reactor could operate for 50 years if the government approves the plan.

Amid the aging of Japan's nuclear reactors, the Japan Atomic Power Co. has decided to suspend its Tsuruga No.1 reactor in 2016, 46 years after it started commercial operation, while Chubu Electric Power Co. also intends to scrap the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at the Hamaoka plant in Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, and to build a new one.

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