The Government is studying the possibility of selling 200 tons of uranium ore concentrate, stored in drums at the abandoned mine at Nelas, Viseu.
The material has been in storage since the closure of the Urgeiriça mines in 1999.
The last time the value was assessed was in 2012 when a figure of €13.7 million was agreed on.
The drums containing the uranium ore concentrate are stacked in facilities belonging to the Empresa de Desenvolvimento Mineiro (Mining Development Company) and to which the uranium belongs.
Whether or not to sell off the uranium depends on those administering the company, whether there is a demand for the stock and its current market value.
The Ministry of Environment and Energy Transition says that the product is peculiar as it is "subject to formal rules and controls for its sale, and that the stock is not publicly traded like other commodities so there is no internationally quoted price.
António Minhoto, from the Association of Former Mine Workers of Urgeiriça, says, "It does not make sense to be fighting to decontaminate these areas while continuing with a bunch of drums of uranium in storage."
"Well we know that they are not dangerous, and they emit less radiation than the houses we live in, but that's not what I call turning the page," added the Association spokesman.
What is uranium ore concentrate? Uranium ore concentrate, commonly referred to as U3O8 (uranium oxide) or yellowcake, is the product created when uranium ore has been mined and milled (chemically processed). The fine powder is packaged in steel drums and shipped to refineries for further processing to prepare it for use as fuel in nuclear reactors.
Is uranium concentrate radioactive? Radiation from uranium ore concentrate is quite low. Although uranium is a source of ionizing radiation – electrically charged particles called ions that generate a lot of energy - the radiation risk associated with uranium concentrate is easily managed by simple steps such as limiting the time of direct exposure to the material. Workers who work with uranium concentrate typically use gloves and a respirator for protection.
_________
The Environmental Justice Atlas, a teaching, networking and advocacy resource, describes Portugal's abandoned uranium mine situation, as follows:
In 1913, uranium mining began in Portugal in the Urgeiriça and Canas de Senhorim (Viseu) mines. Infrastructure for ore processing was also built in the area in which the country's largest reserves of uranium are located.
The year 1949 was crucial for Portugal's uranium industry: the country signed an agreement with England prior to the Cold War for the exploitation of 4,370 tons of uranium oxide in 61 mines (most were small) located in the districts of Guarda, Viseu, and Coimbra. Currently, all of them are closed and in a dangerous state of abandonment.
Based in Urgeiriça, the Empresa Nacional do Urânio (ENU, National Uranium Company) had been responsible for the exploitation of all uranium mines in Portugal since 1977. The process to dissolve the company began in 2001. On December 31, 2003, the Urgeiriça mine was closed, leaving behind large socio-environmental liabilities. This gave rise to the fight for compensation and the organisation of anti-uranium groups and numerous protests throughout the country. In central Portugal, 115 of the 500 former uranium company employees have died due to health problems from working in unsafe conditions.
Parliamentary Resolution nº. 34/2001, of March 29, recommended that the government take measures to solve the problem of radioactivity in the waste and the abandoned uranium mines in the districts of Coimbra, Viseu, and Guarda. Its main recommendations were to actively monitor the communities of all three districts to minimise the risks related to radioactivity and chemical pollution and to provide former ENU employees a pension and compensation to guarantee them adequate living conditions (there were 40 workers on staff when the company closed).
The Empresa de Desenvolvimento Mineiro (EDM, Mining Development Enterprise) was created as a public enterprise by Decree-Law 198A/2001. It is responsible for the environmental restoration of areas that have been degraded by mining in the country.
In 2002, former ENU employees and community members created the Ambiente em Zonas Uraníferas – Associação Ambiental (AZU, the Environment in Uranium Zones –Environmental Association). The association defended the need for an epidemiological study to investigate the relationship between uranium mining in the region and the high incidence of cancer in the population.
At this point, a study on the effects of uranium exposure on the entire population of Nelas concluded that the rate of mortality from 'malignant neoplasm of the trachea, bronchi, and lungs' was high It also confirmed the possibility that this increase was related to uranium mining in Urgeiriça (Viseu), but could not rule out other causes. In 2004, several demonstrations were held in Canas de Senhorim, involving confrontations with police.
In November 2007, a new wave of demonstrations took place. Former ENU workers held a vigil in front of city hall in Viseu to demand compensation. In Nisa (Alentejo), AZU supported the protest movement led by the population and local associations, also backed by the local authorities, in opposition to the uranium mining project. In June 2007, they created the civic movement Movimento Urânio em Nisa Não (MUNN, No to Uranium in Nisa), which is still active today.
In April 2008, the works began to clean up Barragem Velha, the waste storage site of the Urgeiriça mines.
In September 2010, a new law was approved, which provides surface miners compensation to ensure that they had the right to early retirement regardless of how long they had worked for ENU. Adopted in April, 2016, law no 10/2016 established the right of ENU workers to compensation for death caused by occupational diseases.
In 2015, the Movimento Ibérico Anti-nuclear (Iberian Anti-nuclear Movement) was created to fight for the closure of the nuclear energy plants on the Iberian Peninsula (namely Almaraz) and address other problems related to the nuclear industry such as uranium mining or waste management.
According to data from February 2017, works are still pending for 20 of the 61 mines, which fall under the scope of Parliamentary Resolution nº. 34/2001. The deadline for their conclusion is 2022. Only 2 of the over 3 million tons of waste from the Barragem Velha site have been treated.
