"Permission was granted to start operations," Science and Technology Minister Eduardo Campos told a news conference.

In a first stage that will last six to eight months, the Resende enrichment facility in southeastern Brazil will be running tests. "That phase will start in December," the minister said.

The announcement followed an inspection of the Industrias Nucleares Brasilenas (INB) facility in Resende, which an IAEA team conducted on November 16-18 after the government dropped its initial objections to such a visit.

Campos said the inspection showed the complex complied with IAEA conditions.

"This means that from the point of view of international safeguards, the INB plant fulfils conditions for the start of operations with the introduction of UF6 uranium gas," the government said in a statement.

UF6 -- uranium hexafluoride -- is the chemical form of uranium that is used in the enrichment process.

He said that after the initial test stage, the plant will produce enriched uranium for Brazil's Angra I and II nuclear power plants.

The announcement came at a time when the Vienna-Based IAEA has been pressing for states such as Iran and North Korea to allow inspections of their nuclear facilities.

The IAEA is particularly concerned that enriched uranium should not be diverted for clandestine development of nuclear weapons.

Uranium enrichment produces fuel for civilian reactors, as well as atomic bombs.

Brazil, with one of the world's largest uranium reserves, had cited trade secrets in initially denying IAEA inspectors access to the facility in February and March.

But Campos said Wednesday the inspection did not compromise those secrets.

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