From a theoretical point of view, this article analyzes the evolution of the professional identity of uranium miners in the light of changes in the nuclear industry, which requires a longitudinal look at these transformations. Moreover, it contributes to empirical knowledge of the uranium industry, which for many years remained a sector marked by the seal of military secrecy. This article, which is based on a survey of two generations of uranium miners in western France, analyzes the evolution of the professional identities of uranium miners from the post-war period until the closure of the mines in the 1990s. In fact, the history of uranium mines is not linear and the “plotting” (Ricoeur, 1983) of the past took place late around the waste left by the exploitation but omitting the actual work of the mine. From the period testimonies that present exploration and then exploitation in terms of economic development, through the closure and then oblivion of mines, to the recent consideration of the inherent risks, history has proved to be plural and fragmented (Brunet, 2004). This problem of linearity rests partly on the discontinuities induced both by oblivion and the work of partial memory, which has been carried out very recently. Starting with the question of the genesis of miners’ identities, this article shows, from the exploration in 1945 until the closure of the mines in 1990, the evolution of three structuring elements of professional identity : the institutional context, the relationship to work and the nature of professional relations. If the case of uranium miners forcefully raises the question of the maintenance of an identity in contexts of transformation of the nuclear industry, it puts into perspective the role of institutional contexts on the nature of professional relations.