OSAKA -- Kansai Electric Power Co. reached an agreement Friday with COGEMA, France's state-owned nuclear fuel reprocessing company, to sign a contract possibly this summer for manufacturing mixed oxide-uranium fuel.

The decision by Kepco came one week after Fukui Prefecture, where Kepco hopes to use the fuel in its Takahama nuclear plant, granted permission for the company to use MOX fuel.

Details of the contract were not made public Friday.