Tania Malheiros: "The government used people as guinea pigs in Brazil's nuclear march"

247 - Journalist Tania Malheiros, who has dedicated 37 years to researching the exploration of Brazilian nuclear energy, revealed in interview on TV 247 The situation of workers affected by radiation. The journalist explains that for the construction of her new book, "Guinea Pigs of Radiation - the untold story of the Brazilian nuclear march and those it left behind," she chose to focus on a period prior to the closure of the Santo Amaro Nuclear Power Plant, Nuclemon, in 1992. "Nuclemon was closed after a story I did denouncing radiation leaks, environmental contamination, and contamination of employees. And before that, what was there? Why did Nuclemon exist? I went to the past."

Dedicated to denouncing the irresponsible way in which nuclear energy companies have managed the environment and their workforce, Malheiros recounts the emergence of the first Brazilian nuclear industrial facility, Orquima, in Brooklin, São Paulo, which, despite operating clandestinely since the 1940s, was officially inaugurated in 1952. 

The golden years and the nuclear lobby.

Fueled by the enthusiasm of the golden years of Brazilian development, a period marked by the establishment of large industrial parks and a collective imagination of progress, a lobby between the military and civilians created the sham of a thriving nuclear sector. "It was a company set up by the government, with government personnel, with government approval, and then it was sold back to the government. A huge scam."

In contrast to the appearance of success, there was the exploitation of precarious labor in the surrounding region of São Paulo. Construction workers were recruited, poor, generally black, and evidently without any knowledge of the risks that awaited them: “Hundreds of workers whose names we will never know because they vanished. These people worked without any safety equipment, ate from drums containing radioactive material, and took their clothes home for their families to wash, all contaminated. So, certainly many invisible deaths occurred.”

A current of affection

Tania explains that the sequence of names that appear in the history of the Brazilian nuclear industry is a constant attempt to confuse public opinion, simulating the erasure of those responsible for scandals involving leaks, pollution, or labor exploitation, and avoiding the payment of compensation to victims. 

The journalist recounts that after the definitive closure of Nuclemon in 1992, the workers, unaware of the dangers of radiation, organized themselves into an association to claim their labor rights and compensation. “They were deceived. Nobody knew they were working with radioactive material. Nobody knew the risk they were running, and they started dying. From Orquima onwards, many died, hundreds, without knowing they were working for a radioactive industry. To this day, regrettably, nobody has been compensated.” 

Given the hardships stemming from the long-term consequences these workers face, such as the constant threat of losing their health insurance, the National Association of Nuclear Energy Production Workers (AntpenBeyond the legal aspect, they acted as a great force, "they then created a great chain of affection and solidarity. They formed this association and from there they began to connect, to seek each other out."

Poet-entrepreneur

In the interview, Malheiros points to Augusto Frederico Schmidt as the most interesting figure in the history of the Brazilian nuclear industry, embodying two contradictory personas: a poet and a businessman. The Rio de Janeiro native, author of the phrase "fifty years in five," was responsible for inviting Getúlio Vargas to inaugurate the Orquima nuclear power plant. Besides being the majority shareholder of that industry, Schmidt used his extensive network of contacts to sell the false idea that it was a promising business, ignoring the precariousness of the facilities and the conditions of alienation and contamination of the workers.

The journalist comments on the curious fact that, even after the media of the time understood that this seemingly promising energy sector was merely a lobby between the military and civilians for the sale of nuclear material to the American industry, the figure of Getúlio Vargas was preserved, as if he were just another victim of that deception. Ironically, Tania points out, "when the Americans were overflowing with radioactive material, they no longer wanted to buy. There was no longer a market for this product."

Where is the radioactive waste?

Since the definitive closure of the Nuclemon plant in 1992, the radioactive material has been managed by Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB), one of the many names mentioned by the journalist, in 3 locations: Botuxim, at Sítio São Bento, in Itu (São Paulo); in the Interlagos neighborhood, in the southern zone of the city of São Paulo; and in the city of Caldas, in Minas Gerais, which accumulates the largest volume of radioactive waste due to the presence of a uranium mine that closed in 1982. 

Tânia ironically comments on the constant presence of authorities in these locations, implying that they are there with the clear intention of monitoring environmental contamination. This is because the dumping of the contaminating material was done hastily, motivated by the scandal of the denunciations made by the journalist herself in 1990, published in the newspapers O Estado de S. Paulo and Jornal da Tarde, which resulted in a lawsuit filed by the labor inspector, Fernanda Giannasi, and the Chemical Workers' Union.

In a haphazard manner, the material resulting from the chemical process, a kind of atomic waste called Cake II, began to be stored along with uranium, an element highly toxic to the human body, and dumped without environmental authorization or the consent of the three communities mentioned above. "In the dead of night, they would send the workers to dump this material in Caldas."

Cursed inheritance

On the occasion of the launch of her book, "Guinea Pigs of Radiation - the untold story of the Brazilian nuclear march and those it left behind," at the São Paulo City Hall, Tania invites you to a debate about the future of Nuclemon workers. The event will include the participation of founders and members of the National Association of Workers in Nuclear Production (ANTPEN).

Even with nearly 40 years of experience investigating the nuclear energy sector, Tania Malheiros says that the discoveries made during the research that resulted in the book surprised her: "It's such an absurd trajectory that as I investigated, I was surprised myself as well."  

The book

Guinea Pigs of Radiation - the untold story of Brazil's nuclear march and those it left behind.

Release schedule:

São Paulo - On the 24th, from 19:30 PM to 21:30 PM, at the São Paulo City Hall, Oscar Pedroso Horta Room, 1st basement, at Viaduto Jacareí, 100, Bela Vista, São Paulo, there will be a debate on the Brazilian nuclear issue.

Rio de Janeiro: April 27th, starting at 19 PM, at Café Lamas, Rua Marques de Abrantes, 18, Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro. 

Email: malheiros.tania@gmail.com Telephone: (21) 99601-5849