Rocky Flats Information
Location
Golden, Colorado
Rocky Flats was built in 1951 as a plutonium and uranium component manufacturing center. From 1952 to 1989, the site’s primary mission was to fabricate the “pit” that contains the heavy metals and serves as the trigger device for nuclear warheads. Rocky Flats was also responsible for recycling plutonium from scrap and plutonium retrieved from retired nuclear warheads. The final products of this recycling included components and assemblies manufactured from uranium, plutonium, beryllium, stainless steel, and other metals. Production activities included metalworking, component fabrication and assembly, chemical recovery and purification of plutonium, and associated quality control functions. Research and development in the fields of chemistry, physics, metallurgy, materials technology, nuclear safety, and mechanical engineering were also conducted at the site.
In 1989, many of the site’s nuclear component production functions were suspended after a safety review temporarily shut down plutonium operations. Following an extensive review, which included considerable independent oversight, a few buildings were authorized by the Secretary of Energy to resume limited plutonium operations: to stabilize plutonium oxide and repackage plutonium for safe storage. In 1989, as a result of the environmental contamination caused by production activities at the site, Rocky Flats was placed on the Superfund National Priorities List. In January 1992, nuclear component production was terminated and the site’s primary mission changed from nuclear weapons production to environmental cleanup and restoration.
Throughout the course of its operations, the potential for beryllium exposure existed at this site, due to beryllium use, residual contamination, and decontamination activities.
Type of Facility
- Department of Energy
Covered by EEOICPA
- Part B
- Part E
EEOICPA Covered Years
- 1951-2006
Contractors
- 1995-2005 Kaiser-Hill Company
- 1989-1995 EG&G Rocky Flats, Incorporated
- 1975-1989 Rockwell International
- 1951-1975 Dow Chemical
Contract Numbers
- E(29-2)-3533
- DE-AC04-76DP03533
- AT(29-1)-1106
- AC34-90RF62349
- AC34-95RF00825
- EY-76-C-04-03533
- EY-76-C-04-3533
- EY-76-C-04-353
- AT(29-1)-1106
- AC04-76DP03533
DOE
- CERCLA
- Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource Analytic Data File Sets-Mortality and Morbidity Study of 5-rem Workers at 23 Department Of Energy (DOE) facilities
- Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource Analytic Data File Sets-Combined Mortality Data Study on Workers at the Hanford Site, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Rocky Flats, Nuclear Weapons Plant
- Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource Analytic Data File Sets-Mortality Study Among Female Nuclear Weapons Workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Zia Company, Rocky Flats, Hanford, Mound, Savannah River, Oak Ridge X-10, Y-12 and K-25, Fernald, Linde and Pantex
- Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource Analytic Data File Sets-International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Cohort Study of Nuclear Workers in the US, UK and Canada, 1994
- Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource Analytic Data File Sets-Rocky Flats Analytic Study, 1993
- Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource Analytic Data File Sets-Rocky Flats Cohort Mortality Study, 1987
- Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource Analytic Data File Sets-Lung Cancer and Internal Lung Doses among Plutonium Workers at the Rocky Flats Plant – A Case-Control Study
- Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource Working Data File Sets-Rocky Flats Plant Complex Chemical Working Data
- Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource Working Data File Sets-Rocky Flats Working Data File Set, 1994
- DOE Facility List by Name
- Legacy Managment-Historic
- Legacy Management
- Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
DOL
- Tracking your DOL Claim Status
- Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health
- Ombudsman’s Office
- Resource Center
- DOL Case and Claim Statistics
- Site Exposure Matrix
- Approved Special Exposure Cohorts
- Bulletin 80-14: Supplemental guidance on implementation of Bulletin No. 08-01, “Rocky Flats SEC designations”
- Circular 08-03: Rocky Flats Building 881
- Circular 14-05: Rocky Flats Plant Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) Class from April 1, 1952 through December 31, 1983
EPA
NIOSH
- FAQs About Your Case
- Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health
- AWE Site Wide Documents
- NIOSH Case Statistics
- Special Exposure Cohort Status Table
- Petition 030: “Employees of the Department of Energy (DOE), its predecessor agencies, or DOE contractors or subcontractors who were monitored or should have been monitored for neutron exposures while working at the Rocky Flats Plant in Golden, Colorado, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days from April 1, 1952, through December 31, 1958, or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort.”
- Petition 192: “All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Rocky Flats Plant in Golden, Colorado, from April 1, 1952, through December 31, 1983, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees included in the Special Exposure Cohort.”
- Petition 030: “Employees of the Department of Energy (DOE), its predecessor agencies, or DOE contractors or subcontractors who were monitored or should have been monitored for neutron exposures while working at the Rocky Flats Plant in Golden, Colorado, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days from January 1, 1959, through December 31, 1966, or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort.”
- Work Site Information
Other Resources
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