Toshiba to buy stake in Japanese nuclear company: report

(Reuters) - Toshiba Corp (6502.T) will take a 52 percent stake in a Japanese nuclear fuel producer for about 10 billion yen, the Nikkei business daily said without citing sources.

Westinghouse Electric Co, a U.S. subsidiary of Toshiba will buy shares of Nuclear Fuel Industries Ltd from Furukawa Electric Co (5801.T) and Sumitomo Electric Industries (5802.T) in an equal joint venture, the paper said.

As a result of the deal, stakes of Furukawa Electric and Sumitomo Electric will come down to 24 percent each.

Nuclear Fuel Industries, which processes uranium powder and supplies nuclear fuel to power companies, has annual sales of about 20 billion yen.

It is the only Japanese nuclear fuel producer with a capacity to handle fuel for both pressurized and boiling water reactors, the paper said.

The deal gives Westinghouse, which has nuclear factories in the U.S. and Sweden, a facility in Japan as well.

Earlier this month, French nuclear reactor builder Areva (CEPFi.PA) said it will work together with Japanese machinery conglomerate Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (7011.T) and others to produce nuclear fuel in Japan.

($1=96.60 Yen)

(Reporting by Ashutosh Joshi in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)