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Sarah Kanouse, Monitoring field at the former Naturita Mill, Flickr
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Site

Naturita Processing Site

The Naturita processing site is a former uranium- and vanadium-ore-processing facility. Before 1942, the mill processed only vanadium ore; in 1942, operations shifted to recovery of uranium for the Manhattan Project. After the war, the facility operated a uranium upgrader from 1961 to 1963. Beginning in 1993, the U.S. Department of Energy removed 800,000 cubic yards of contaminated materials and soil from the site—including a pile of radioactive tailings that covered 24 acres of the site—and stored them within a disposal site located approximately 10 miles northwest. More than 11 acres of contaminated downgradient property and 1 acre of contaminated soil remain intact on this site.

Sources

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Legacy Management. "Naturita, Colorado, Disposal and Processing Sites" Fact Sheet. May 2020. Accessed July 31, 2020.
 

Last Updated:

08/24/2021

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