BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil said on Wednesday it has won approval from the U.N. nuclear watchdog to start enriching uranium at its Resende plant after months of disagreement over international inspections of the installation.
Science and Technology Minister Eduardo Campos said the plant would be started up before the end of the year, which would put Brazil closer to its aim of fully mastering the technology to produce nuclear power for peaceful use.
Campos said an agreement had been reached with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency based on the agency's verification of the plant's design -- one element of the process to approve it for uranium enrichment.
But IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said: "We are still in the process of completing our assessment of the inspection approach for the Resende plant."
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