The mayor of a Japanese city said Wednesday he would accept the deployment of a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, reversing his former opposition to the plan.

The comment by Yokosuka Mayor Ryoichi Kabaya was immediately welcomed by US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer. Kabaya had opposed the carrier because of safety concerns.

The US Navy announced in October the plan to deploy a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Japan for the first time in 2008. The next month, Kabaya presented a petition opposing the plan to Schieffer.

But Kabaya told the 45-member Yokosuka city assembly on Wednesday that residents would have to accept the new carrier, which will replace the aging USS Kitty Hawk, a conventionally powered ship.

"Now that there is no possibility of a conventional carrier being deployed, we need to face reality and consider as inevitable the deployment of a nuclear-powered carrier," Kabaya said.

US and Japanese officials could meet as early as Thursday to discuss specifics of the deployment, including getting port facilities ready to receive the vessel, a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.

Some citizens' groups expressed their opposition to the plan.

"(The city) should more thoroughly listen to citizens' wishes before taking the decision," said Masahiko Goto, who represents a group opposed to the deployment.

But Schieffer welcomed Kabaya's statement.

"We are committed to maintaining the impeccable safety record of America's nuclear-powered carriers," the ambassador said in a statement. "The US government will continue to listen and seriously consider the views of local residents and political leaders regarding this deployment."

The Kitty Hawk, commissioned in 1961, is the Navy's oldest ship in full active service. The new carrier would arrive in Japan in 2008, when the Kitty Hawk is scheduled to return to the United States and be decommissioned.

The replacement comes amid an overall plan to restructure and streamline the 50,000-strong American military presence in Japan, and raise the US ally's profile in securing the Asia-Pacific region.

The restructuring would also alleviate some of the grievances levied by people in Okinawa, a southern island which hosts nearly half of the US troops, by moving about 8,000 Marines to the US Pacific territory of Guam.