The film tells the story of the 100 year history of the Minas da Urgeiriça in Northern Portugal. The mine was one of the earliest uranium mines and was linked directly to Marie Curie, during the Second World War the British and American governments recognized its strategic importance and invested heavily in it to provide nuclear fuel for the Cold War. Later the mine was returned to Portuguese ownership and the dictator Salazar dreamt of creating a Portuguese nuclear industry, eventually it was the source of the uranium that Saddam Hussein procured for his attempt to build a nuclear reactor.