Japan firms, Kazatomprom plan nuclear fuel project

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power Co (9503.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday it and trading house Sumitomo Corp (8053.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) would sign an accord with Kazakh state-owned nuclear firm Kazatomprom on cooperation in uranium processing to fuel Kansai's nuclear power plants.

The agreement, which also involves Japan's Nuclear Fuel Industries Ltd, will be signed in Kazakhstan later in the day, Kansai said.

The deal aims to help secure stable nuclear fuel for Kansai, Japan's second-biggest utility, which currently procures it from Japan's Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co Ltd and from abroad, a Kansai spokesman said.

Kansai will help pay to upgrade Kazatomprom's plant, the spokesman said, adding that the company does not know how much that would cost.

Kazakhstan is home to a fifth of global uranium reserves and wants to become the world's top producer by 2010, surpassing Australia and China.

By midday, shares in Kansai were up 0.2 percent, while Sumitomo shares were up 0.4 percent, compared with a 0.2 percent rise in Nikkei index .N225.

(Reporting by Edwina Gibbs, Osamu Tsukimori and Yuko Inoue; Editing by Mike Miller)