Brazil will produce enriched uranium from next month in a factory in the State of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Nuclear Industries (INB) said Tuesday.

Brazil will use technology developed by the Brazilian Marine Technology Center in Sao Paulo (CTMSP) and the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN) to produce enriched uranium, according to Samuel Fayad, a high-ranking official at INB.

It will become the ninth country in the world to master the enrichment process of the mineral.

"The big breakthrough is that in future, we do not depend on external services for an important technology," he told Agencia Brasil, Brazil's state news agency.

INB expects to produce all of the enriched uranium used in Angra 1 and 20 percent in Angra 2 by 2012, the two reactors at Brazil's sole nuclear power plant.

Source:Xinhua