Inspectors led by the International Atomic Energy Agency's number two, Olli Heinonen, are flying out to examine a building which the United States alleges was a covert nuclear reactor built with North Korea's help, until it was destroyed in an Israeli air attack last September.
The trip - from June 22-24 - was announced by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei at the regular summer meeting of the watchdog's 35-member board of governors earlier this month after the US passed on intelligence suggesting the building was a covert nuclear reactor close to becoming operational.
Damascus, a US foe and ally of Iran, has dismissed the allegations as "ridiculous" and insists the edifice was a disused military building.
But following the Israeli bombing, Syria appears to have wiped the destroyed site clean of rubble late last year and erected a new building, making any potential investigation by the IAEA more difficult.
Both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the country's atomic energy agency chief Ibrahim Othman have pledged Syria's cooperation with the IAEA.
But diplomats close to the Vienna-based organisation have said Damascus is only allowing inspectors to visit the bombed site Al-Kibar, but not two or three other suspect sites that the watchdog is interested in.
In an interview with Dubai-based Al Arabiya television this week, ElBaradei said there was no evidence Syria had the skilled personnel or the fuel to operate a large-scale nuclear facility.
"We have no evidence that Syria has the human resources that would allow it to carry out a large nuclear programme. We do not see Syria having nuclear fuel," ElBaradei said.
