TOKYO, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Japan's first nuclear reprocessing plant, run by the Nuclear Fuel Ltd., will begin a test run on Friday, local media report Thursday.

    The start of a test run of the plant, which will extract plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing, represents a major step forward in Japan's attempt to establish a nuclear fuel reprocessing cycle centering on the so-called pluthermal method, Kyodo News said.

    The operator of the plant has reached a safety agreement with Aomori Prefecture and the host village, and plans to conclude similar agreements with surrounding municipalities on Friday before the trial operation begins later in the day, reports said, quoting plant operator.

    The plant aims to start full operations in August 2007 after about 14 years of construction. Enditem