Visible and Invisible Heritage of the Nuclear Past: The Uranium Mine in Western Romania

Abstract

Uranium ore is a vital natural resource, playing a pivotal role in the nuclear sector, and its radioactivity presents enduring implications, often regarded as a heritage of the future. The mining and utilization of uranium have profoundly transformed entire territories and significantly shaped the atomic societies. This article delves into the complex legacies of uranium mining in Ștei, a strategically developed mono-industrial town in western Romania, shaped by Cold War geopolitics and the collaboration between Soviet and Romanian authorities. Drawing on archival research and fieldwork conducted between 2022 and 2025, this study critically assesses Ștei’s urban and architectural evolution, environmental degradation, and the contested nature of its collective memory, situating it within broader European efforts to document nuclear cultural heritage. Documenting its past is a step towards acknowledging and preserving its complex legacies  tangible and intangible  and underscoring the necessity for integrated, multiscale, and interdisciplinary approaches to fully comprehend the long-term socio-environmental repercussions of uranium's modernity in the context of post-socialist Europe.