Rocky Flats Plant

Rocky Flats Plant
July 1995
Rocky Flats Plant is located in Colorado
Rocky Flats Plant
Rocky Flats Plant is located in the United States
Rocky Flats Plant
LocationJefferson County, Colorado
Nearest cityArvada, Colorado
Coordinates39°53′N 105°12′W / 39.89°N 105.20°W / 39.89; -105.20
Area175.8 acres (0.711 km2)
Built1952
Built byAustin Construction Co.
NRHP reference No.97000377[1]
Added to NRHPMay 19, 1997
Worker holding plutonium "button" in glove box
Precision plutonium foundry mold, 1959
Room damaged by 1969 Rocky Flats Fire
Control panel, Critical Mass Laboratory, 1970

The Rocky Flats Plant was a United States manufacturing complex that produced nuclear weapons parts in the western United States, near Denver, Colorado.[2] The facility's primary mission was the fabrication of plutonium pits,[3] which were shipped to other facilities to be assembled into nuclear weapons.[4] Operated from 1952 to 1992, the complex was under the control of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), succeeded by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 1977.

Plutonium pit production was halted in 1989 after EPA and FBI agents raided the facility[5] and the plant was formally shut down in 1992. Operators of the plant (Rockwell) later pled guilty to criminal violations of environmental law.[6] At the time, the fine was one of the largest penalties ever in an environmental law case.[7]

Cleanup began in the early 1990s,[8][9][10] and the site achieved regulatory closure in 2006.[11] The cleanup effort decommissioned and demolished over 800 structures; removed over 21 tons of weapons-grade material; removed over 1.3 million cubic meters of waste; and treated more than 16 million US gallons (61,000 m3) of water. Four groundwater treatment systems were also constructed.[12] Today[when?], the Rocky Flats Plant is gone. The site of the former facility consists of two distinct areas: (1) the "Central Operable Unit" (including the former industrial area), which remains off-limits to the public as a CERCLA "Superfund" site, owned and managed by the U.S. Department of Energy,[13] and (2) the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.[14] The Refuge (also known as the "Peripheral Operable Unit") was determined to be suitable for unrestricted use. Every five years, the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment review environmental data and other information to assess whether the remedy is functioning as intended.[15] The latest Five-Year Review for the site, released in August 2022, concluded the site remedy is protective of human health and the environment. However, a protectiveness deferred determination was made for PFAS.[16]

  1. ^ Rocky Flats Plant. National Register of Historic Places, 19 May 1997
  2. ^ Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Rocky Flats Site, Frequently asked questions about Rocky Flats.
  3. ^ "What was the purpose and mission of the Rocky Flats site?". Department of Public Health and Environment. June 10, 2016. Archived from the original on November 22, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  4. ^ What is the history of Rocky Flats?. Colorado Gov., 2011
  5. ^ "Rocky Flats cover-ups alleged". Pittsburgh Press. wire services. June 10, 1989. p. A4.
  6. ^ "Ex-Rocky Flats operator pleads guilty; agrees to $18.5 million fine". Prescott Courier. (Arizona). Associated Press. March 27, 1992. p. 7A.
  7. ^ "ROCKWELL ACCEPTS $18.5 MILLION FINE - The Washington Post". The Washington Post.
  8. ^ "Agencies sign Rocky Flats cleanup pact". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 23, 1991. p. 8A.
  9. ^ "Watkins says Rocky Flats wont' reopen". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 30, 1992. p. A3.
  10. ^ "Radioactive soil heads for Utah". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Scripps Howard News Service. March 29, 1995. p. B4.
  11. ^ Elliott, Dan (October 14, 2005). "Nuclear cleanup done at Rocky Flats, firms says". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. A4.
  12. ^ Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Rocky Flats, Site History, https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/rocky-flats-site-history
  13. ^ U.S. Department of Energy, Rocky Flats, http://www.lm.doe.gov/Rocky_Flats/Sites.aspx Archived May 24, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge, https://www.fws.gov/refuge/rocky_flats/
  15. ^ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/dsp_ssppSiteData1.cfm?id=0800360#Why
  16. ^ U.S. Department of Energy, Legacy Management, Update on Rocky Flats Five-Year Review, https://energy.gov/lm/articles/update-rocky-flats-cercla-five-year-review