Rocky Flats

Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant (Rocky Flats) in Jefferson County, Colorado, was a nuclear weapons production site. From 1952 to 1989, Rockwell International produced plutonium triggers for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for nuclear weapons. After its cleanup in 2006 (scheduled), the site will be designated a National Wildlife Refuge. Rocky Flats has been controversial regarding issues such as regulation, government oversight, community involvement, use of risk-based analyses, cleanup standards, and disposal of radioactive waste.

Operations were on a 384-acre portion of the 10-square-mile site, 10 miles northwest of Denver. Community groups expressed concerns over contamination and lack of oversight by the DOE. Major sources of contamination on- and off-site were two fires (1957, 1969), an accidental release of plutonium into the air in 1974, ...