Naturita Uranium Mill: Approved for EEOICPA benefits

How the Naturita Uranium Mill served the nuclear weapons program

The uranium mill in Naturita, Colorado began as a vanadium processing facility, but in 1942 it was modified to recover uranium. That uranium was used to supply national defenses during World War II as the nation ramped up atomic-era production. The recovered uranium was sold to the federal government, including agencies like the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), helping fuel nuclear weapons manufacturing, research and energy programs.

The site once supported a company town named Vancorum, named after the Vanadium Corporation of America (VCA), where workers and their families lived while the mill operated.

A brief timeline of the Naturita Uranium Mill

• 1930: The original mill was built by Rare Metals Company, but it did not begin operations until 1939, when VCA took over.
• 1939-1958: The facility operated intermittently, processing over 700,000 tons of ore. Before 1942, the mill only processed vanadium ore. But in 1942, operations were altered to include recovering uranium for the Manhattan Project.
• 1961-1963: After a pause in operation, a “uranium upgrader” operated at the site. A uranium upgrader was a smaller-scale processing operation used to increase the uranium concentration of ore before sending it to a full uranium mill for final processing.
• 1963: The mill was dismantled.
• 1976: Tailings piles that were created because of the milling were purchased and moved off-site over the next three years. The piles were reprocessed to extract remaining vanadium and uranium.

Adverse health effects among workers

Because the mill processed uranium and vanadium ore and generated radioactive tailings, workers were exposed to significant hazards, including respiratory diseases, chemical and radiological effects, and long-term health conditions such as kidney damage, lung and other cancers, cardiopulmonary disorders, and reproductive complications.

Environmental and community impact

Environmentally, the processing, ore storage, and tailings generated contaminated soil, dust, and groundwater hazards. Tailings covered roughly 24 acres of the processing site and additional contamination affected nearly 126 acres on and around the site.

Over time, pore fluids from the tailings leaked uranium and vanadium into the shallow aquifers located under the site. Groundwater contamination resulted from this, both within the property as well as onto adjacent private lands.

Government response and cleanup efforts

Approved for EEOICPA White Card benefits

The Naturita Uranium Mill is covered under The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).

RECA by itself provides lump sum compensation and does not cover healthcare costs. But uranium workers who are approved for RECA compensation may also qualify for lifetime healthcare benefits for covered conditions under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act or the EEOICPA White Card Program.

DOE contractors conducted environmental remediation under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act, addressing hazardous materials from May to November 1994 and again from June 1996 to September 1998. Workers involved may also qualify for lifetime healthcare benefits for covered conditions under the EEOICPA White Card Program.

As of December 2025, Naturita Uranium Mill workers have received almost $3 million in EEOICPA settlements and medical bills paid.

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