Japan's Chugoku Elec to shut nuclear reactor Jan. 27

TOKYO Jan 19 (Reuters) - Japanese utility Chugoku Electric Power Co said on Thursday it would shut the 820-megawatt No.2 reactor at its Shimane nuclear plant in western Japan on Jan. 27 for planned maintenance.

All nuclear reactors must undergo planned maintenance once every 13 months, and the company had until Jan. 28 to close the unit.

The shutdown will leave only three reactors operating out of a total of 54 units as public concerns about safety in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster have prevented the restart of reactors shut for maintenance.

The No.1 unit at the Shimane plant, the utility's sole nuclear facility, has been shut since November 2010.

(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Joseph Radford)