SHERIDAN, WYOMING - April 14, 2026 - Umicore's Olen site in Belgium is approaching a pivotal regulatory decision point as the Belgian federal government prepares to rule on a permanent disposal policy for a portion of the site's historical radioactive materials. The national waste agency NIRAS/ONDRAF submitted an updated proposal to the federal government in September 2025, following a mandatory public consultation that ran from 2 December 2024 to 2 March 2025. The materials in question - low-radioactivity, long-lived radium-containing waste - originate from radium and uranium production that operated at the site from 1922 until the late 1970s. Regulatory agencies and Umicore have confirmed that existing storage arrangements pose no current risk to human health or the surrounding environment.
Site History and Current Operations
Umicore's predecessors operated radium and uranium production at Olen from 1922 through the late 1970s. When those activities ceased, all radioactive buildings and installations were dismantled and remediated. The resulting materials were placed into three authorized on-site storage facilities and two historical locations, all subject to ongoing supervision by the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC/AFCN) and the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM). The Olen site has since been repurposed for research, development, and production of high-tech materials based on cobalt, nickel, and germanium - inputs used in rechargeable batteries, fiber-optic components, and satellite optics. Regular inspections by FANC/AFCN and OVAM have consistently confirmed no danger to workers, neighboring residents, or the environment, with results communicated to local residents and the municipality of Olen.
Business Impact
The financial consequences of eventual disposal remain unquantifiable at this stage, and Umicore has stated it cannot provide a more detailed cost estimate than what is already disclosed in its publicly available financial reports. The scope of liability depends directly on regulatory classification: specifically, what volume of material will ultimately be designated as radioactive waste versus soil and material manageable under separate remediation rules. The volume expected to be classified as low-radioactivity, long-lived radium-containing waste is described as small relative to the total historical stockpile, but the designation carries legal and financial weight. Final cost clarity is contingent on the pending federal government disposal decision, leaving the financial provision uncertain until that ruling is issued.
Regulatory Framework and Policy Roadmap
A structured multi-agency process has been in motion since early 2020, when the federal government published a vision paper titled "Management of Radium Waste at Umicore in Olen." A working group was formed in 2021 comprising FANC/AFCN, NIRAS/ONDRAF, OVAM, and Umicore to develop disposal concepts and a sustainable long-term framework. The first roadmap phase - covering material inventory and initial legal framework design - was completed in early 2022. The second phase, currently underway, targets the legislative and regulatory framework alongside remediation options for the specific radium-bearing waste category. By law, NIRAS/ONDRAF's proposal required a national public consultation before submission to government; that process concluded in March 2025, and the revised proposal was forwarded to the federal government in September 2025.
Dual-Track Remediation Structure
Belgian legislation establishes two legally distinct tracks for the Olen legacy materials. The first covers materials classified as radioactive waste - primarily the low-radioactivity, long-lived radium-containing subset - subject to national radioactive waste policy and the forthcoming federal disposal decision. The second track applies to the largest share of historical materials, which carry little or no radiological risk and fall outside the radioactive waste classification. These can be addressed through dedicated remediation projects under FANC/AFCN and OVAM oversight, including soil removal, protective measures, or controlled on-site containment. A parallel federal legal framework for radiologically contaminated soils, implemented by FANC/AFCN, provides the regulatory basis for this work and is fully separate from the decision-making process on radioactive waste disposal.
Key facts:
- Radium and uranium production at Olen ran from 1922 to the late 1970s under Umicore predecessor companies.
- Historical radioactive materials are stored across three authorized on-site facilities and two historical locations.
- NIRAS/ONDRAF submitted a revised national disposal policy proposal to the Belgian federal government in September 2025; a government decision is pending.
- The volume of material expected to be designated as low-radioactivity, long-lived radium-containing waste is small relative to total stored materials.
- Regular inspections by FANC/AFCN and OVAM have consistently confirmed no health or environmental risk at or around the Olen site.