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Rocky Flats Plant

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The Rocky Flats Plant was a weapons production facility of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) that operated from 1952 to 1988. It was located near Denver, Colorado in the United States.

History

1950s

Following World War II, the United States began production of the hydrogen bomb. The AEC chose the Dow Chemical Company to manage the bomb production facility. A site about 15 miles northwest of Denver, Colorado on a windy plateau called Rocky Flats was chosen for the facility. On July 10, 1951, ground was broken on the first building in the facility.

In 1953, the plant began production of bomb components, manufacturing plutonium triggers, or "pits", which were used at the Pantex plant in Amarillo, Texas to assemble nuclear weapons.

By 1957, the plant had expanded in size to 27 buildings. In this year, a fire occurred in one of the stainless steel gloveboxes used to handle radioactive materials. The accident resulted in the contamination of Building 71 and caused US $818,600 in damage. An incinerator for plutonium-contaminated waste was installed in Building 71 in 1958.

Barrels of radioactive waste are found to be leaking into an open field in 1959. This was not made publicly known until 1970 when wind-borne particles were detected in Denver.

1960s

Throughout the 1960s, the plant continued to enlarge and add buildings. The 60s also brought more contamination to the site. In 1967, 3,500 barrels of plutonium contaminated lubricants and solvents were stored on Pad 903. A large number of them were found to be leaking and low-level contaminated soil was becoming wind-borne from this area. This pad was covered with gravel and paved over with asphalt in 1969.

1969 saw a major fire in a glovebox in Building 776/777. This was the costliest industrial accident to ever occur in the United States up to that time. Cleanup from the accident took two years and led to safety upgrades on the site, including sprinkler systems and firewalls.

1970s

In order to reduce the danger of public contamination and to create a security area around the plant following protests, Congress authorizes the purchase of a 4,600 acre (18 km²) buffer zone around the plant in 1972.

In 1973, nearby Walnut Creek and the Great Western Reservoir are found to have elevated tritium levels. The tritium is determined to have been released from contaminated materials shipped to Rocky Flats from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Discovery of the contamination by the Colorado Department of Health and leads to investigations by the AEC and EPA. As a result of the investigation, several mitigation efforts are put in place to prevent further contamination. Some of the elements include channeling of waste water runoff to three dams for testing before release into the water system and construction of an reverse osmosis facility to clean up waste water.

The next year, elevated plutonium levels are found in the topsoil near the now covered Pad 903. An additional 4,500 acres (18 km²) of buffer zone are purchased.

1975 saw Rockwell International replacing Dow as the contractor for the site. This year also saw local landowners suing for property contamination caused by the plant.

The later 1970s and early 1980s saw several large-scale protests at the plant, both in favor of and against nuclear power and weapons. A report released by Jefferson County Health Department director, Dr. Carl Johnson, indicated that incidents of cancer were higher near Rocky Flats. This report was refuted by a Department of Energy (DOE) report indicating lower cancer rates in males employed at Rocky Flats that in the national population.

1980s

A perimeter security zone was installed around the facility in 1983 and was upgraded with remote detection abilities in 1985. The first radioactive waste is processed through the aqueous recovery system, creating a plutonium button, also in 1983.

A celebration of 25,000,000 continuous safe hours by the employees at Rocky Flats happened in 1985. The same year, Rockwell received Industrial Research Magazine's IR-100 award for a process to remove actinide contamination from waste water at the plant.

The next year, the site received a National Safety Council Award of Honor for outstanding safety performance.

In 1988, several events occurred that put the plant's past and future into a dim light. A DOE safety evaluation results in a report that is critical of safety measures at the plant. The EPA fined the plant for PCB leaks from a transformer. A solid waste form, called pondcrete, is found to have not cured properly and is leaking from containers. A boxcar of transuranic waste from the site is refused entry into the state of Idaho and is returned to the plant. Plans to potentially close the plant are released.

1989 was more devastating to Rocky Flats than 1988. An employee left a faucet running resulting in chromic acid being released into the sanitary water system. The Colorado Department of Health and the EPA both post full-time personnel at the plant to monitor safety. Plutonium production is suspended due to safety violations.

FBI Investigation

Insiders at the plant started "tipping" the FBI about the unsafe conditions sometime in 1988. Late that year the FBI started clandestinely flying light aircraft over the area and noticed that the incinerator was apparently being used late into the night. After several months of collecting evidence from both workers and direct measurement, they informed the DOE on June 6, 1989 that they wanted to meet about a potential terrorist threat. When the DOE officers arrived, they were served with papers. Simultaneously, the FBI raided the facilities and ordered everyone out. They found numerous violations of federal anti-pollution laws including massive contamination of water and soil, though none of the original charges that lead to the raid were substantiated.

In 1992, Rockwell was charged with minor environmental crimes and paid an $18.5 million fine. It appears this number was carefully selected; it was the exact amount that was just paid to the company as a bonus. The Grand Jury investigation confirms that the charges of midnight burnings and experimentation with exotic chemicals are unfounded.

1990s

Rockwell was replaced by EG&G as primary contractor for the Rocky Flats plant. EG&G began an aggressive work safety and cleanup plan for the site that included construction of a system to remove contamination from the groundwater of the site. The Sierra Club vs. Rockwell case is decided in favor of the Sierra Club. The ruling directs Rocky Flats to manage plutonium residues as hazardous waste.

In 1991, an Interagency Agreement between DOE, the Colorado Department of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency outlines multi-year schedules for environmental restoration studies and remediation activities. The DOE releases a report that advocates downsizing the plant's production into a more streamlined facility. Due to the fall of the Soviet Union, production of most of the systems at Rocky Flats is no longer needed, leaving only the W88 warhead triggers.

In 1992, production of the submarine-based missiles that the W88 trigger is used on are discontinued leading to the layoff of 4,500 employees at the plant. 4,000 are retained for long-term cleanup of the facility. The Rocky Flats Plant Transition Plan outlined the environmental restoration process. The DOE announced that 61 pounds (28 kg) of plutonium line the exhaust ductwork in six buildings on the site.

Starting in 1993, weapons grade plutonium begins to be shipped to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Savannah River Site.

1994 saw a new name for the site, the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, reflecting the changed nature of the site from weapon production to environmental cleanup and restoration. The cleanup effort is contracted to the Kaiser-Hill Company who proposed release of 4,100 acres (16 km²) of the buffer zone for public access.

Throughout the remainder of the 1990s and into the 2000s, cleanup of contaminated sites and dismantling of contaminated buildings continued with the waste materials being shipped to the Nevada Test Site, the Envirocare company in Utah, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.

In 1999, 800 acres (3 km²) were turned over to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service creating the Rock Creek Reserve.

2000s

In 2000, Congress proposed transforming Rocky Flats to a wildlife refuge, setting aside 6,400 acres (25 km²) after cleanup and closure.

The last contaminated building is removed and the last weapons-grade plutonium is shipped out in 2003, ending the cleanup based on a modified cleanup agreement. The modified agreement required a higher level of cleanup in the first 3 feet (1 m) of soil in exchange for not having to remove any contamination below that point unless it posed a chance of migrating to the surface or contaminating the groundwater.

About half of the 800 buildings previously existing on the site had been dismantled by early December of 2004.

Due to fires (principally the fire in 1957) and other inadvertent releases (principly due to wind at a waste storage area) the site is contaminated with plutonium. The other major contaminant is carbon tetrachloride. Both of these substances affected areas adjacent to the site. There were also small releases dioxin (from incineration), beryllium and tritium.

Clean-up was declared complete on October 13, 2005. While the entire site 6,250 acres are safe for wildlife and visitors, about 1000 central acres of the new wildlife refuge will remain under DOE control to protect the ongoing environmental monitoring and remedy.

References

  • Patricia Buffer (October 7). "Rocky Flats History" (PDF). Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help) - PDF
  • "Glovebox removal heralds new Flats era". (December 9, 2004). Denver Post.

External links

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