The Japanese government notified the Diet of the move, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We're taking a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and putting it in Japan, and bringing back the Kitty Hawk in 2008 for decommissioning," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We wanted to put our best and most capable platform forward deployed to keep the peace and security in the Asia Pacific region," he said.

It would be the first time that a nuclear powered carrier has been based in Japan.

Japan's history as the only country to have been attacked with a nuclear weapon -- it was bombed by US forces in World War II at Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- has made the basing of nuclear powered warships there controversial.

The navy official said there have been 1,200 port visits over the years by nuclear powered warships.

But in the past, the navy has home ported only conventionally powered aircraft carriers in Japan because of Japanese sensitivities.

The only other conventionally powered aircraft carrier in the US fleet, the USS John F. Kennedy, was slated for elimination in the Pentagon's proposed 2006 budget but received a temporary reprieve from Congress.

The Kitty Hawk, the navy's oldest active ship, has had its home port in Yokosuka, Japan since 1998.

No decision has been made on which Nimitz class nuclear powered aircraft carrier will replace it, the navy official said.

The agreement comes ahead of a set of defense consultations on Saturday that will bring top US and Japanese defense and foreign affairs officials together in Washington.

The two sides were reported to have reached agreement earlier this week in Tokyo on the relocation of a Marine Corps air base in Okinawa.

Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Tokyo also was seeking a significant reductions in the number of marines on Okinawa. About 60 percent of the 38,000 US troops in the country are based in Okinawa.

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