Tokyo Elec says to shut last nuclear reactor on March 26

TOKYO Feb 9 (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co , the owner of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility, said on Thursday it would start planned maintenance on its last active reactor in late March.

The utility, known as Tepco, said it would close the 1,356-megawatt No.6 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant on March 26.

Public fears about nuclear safety after the radiation crisis in Fukushima, the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years, have prevented authorities from giving utilities the go-ahead to restart reactors closed for regular maintenance.

The other 16 reactors at Tepco's three nuclear plants in Japan have already been shut.

(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Joseph Radford)