French power utility Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) can keep operating the second nuclear reactor at Fessenheim power plant while it carries out additional security and safety works to the reactor, said the country's nuclear watchdog Monday.

EDF has until the end of 2013 to carry out the work, said nuclear safety regulator Autorite de Surete Nucleaire in a statement. The new safety upgrades requested by ASN take into account findings following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan .

Provided it follows all the regulator's recommendations, EDF would receive the green light to keep operating the reactor for another ten years.

The French government announced last year that it plans to order the closure of the Fessenheim nuclear plant, the oldest operating in France , by 2016 as part of an effort to reduce the country's dependence on nuclear energy.

In 2011, the ASN had authorized the first reactor at Fessenheim to keep operating for ten more years.
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