ROCKY FLA TS PLANT HAER No
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ROCKY FLA TS PLANT HAER No. C0-83 (Environmental Technology Site) Bounded by Indiana St. & Rts. 93, 128 & 72 Golden vicinity Jefferson County Colorado PHOTOGRAPHS WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA REDUCED COPIES OF MEASURED DRAWINGS HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD INTERMOUNTAIN SUPPORT OFFICE - DENVER National Park Service P.O. Box 25287 Denver, CO 80225-0287 HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD ROCKY FLATS PLANT HAER No. C0-83 (Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site) Location: Bounded by Highways 93, 128, and 72 and Indiana Street, Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. Date of Construction: 1951-1953 (original plant). Fabricator: Austin Company, Cleveland, Ohio. Present Owner: United States Department of Energy (USDOE). Present Use: Environmental Restoration. Significance: The Rocky Flats Plant (Plant), established in 1951, was a top-secret weapons production plant. The Plant manufactured triggers for use in nuclear weapons and purified plutonium recovered from retired weapons ( called site returns). Activities at the Plant included production, stockpile maintenance, and retirement and dismantlement. Particular emphasis was placed on production. Rocky Flats produced most of the plutonium triggers used in nuclear weapons from 1953 to 1964, and all of the triggers produced from 1964 until 1989, when production was suspended. The Plant also manufactured components for other portions of the weapons since it had the facilities, equipment, and expertise required for handling the materials involved. In addition to production processes, the Plant specialized in research concerning the properties of many materials that were not widely used in other industries, including plutonium, uranium, beryllium, and tritium. Conventional methods for machining plutonium, uranium, beryllium, and other metals were continually examined, modified, and updated in support of weapons production. Cutting edge technologies developed at the Plant resulted in a number of patents, doctoral degrees, and numerous scientific discoveries. Early on, there were very few locations in the United States that had the capabilities to work with plutonium. Employees working at the Plant were leaders in the field. ROCKY FLATS PLANT HAER No. C0-83 (Page 2) The Plant is associated with the United States strategy of nuclear military deterrence during the Cold War, a strategy considered of major importance in preventing Soviet nuclear attack. The establishment of the Rocky Flats Plant was the result of the post-war fear of the Soviet Union; this fear drove the federal government to build a vastly expanded nuclear weapons production system. The nuclear arms race resulted in the development of an immense research, production, and testing network that came to be known as the "Nuclear Weapons Complex." From the Manhattan Project to 1995, the United States spent over 300 billion dollars on nuclear weapons research, production, and testing (in 1995 dollars; USDOE 1995). During a half century of operations, the complex manufactured tens of thousands of warheads and detonated more than one thousand nuclear warheads. At its peak, the "Nuclear Weapons Complex" consisted of thirteen major facilities, which included laboratories, production plants, testing facilities, and associated infrastructure. All of the thirteen sites had interrelated functions. The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) complex contains four types of facilities: a) nuclear sites (fabrication and assembly); b) non-nuclear sites (manufacture of non-nuclear components); c) laboratories and test sites (research and test support); and d) weapons assembly and disassembly. Historians: D. Jayne Aaron, Environmental Designer, engineering environmental Management, Inc. ~e2M), 1998. Judy A. Berryman, Ph.D., Archaeologist ( e M), 1998. Project Information: In 1995, an inventory and evaluation of facilities at the Rocky Flats Plant for their potential eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places was conducted. The primary goal of this investigation was to determine the significance of the Cold War era facilities at Rocky Flats Plant in order to assess potential effects of the long-term goals and objectives of the USDOE. These goals and objectives included waste cleanup and demolition. Recommendations regarding National Register of Historic Places ROCKY FLATS PLANT HAER No. C0-83 (Page 3) eligibility were developed to allow the USDOE to submit a formal determination of significance to the Colorado State Historic Preservation Officer for review and concurrence and to provide for management of historic properties at the Rocky Flats Plant. From this determination and negotiations with the Colorado State Historic Preservation Officer, the Advisory Council, and the National Park Service, a Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) project began in 1997 to document the Rocky Flats Plant's resources prior to their demolition. Also in 1997, the Rocky Flats Plant was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The archives for this HAER project are located in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Information for this HAER project was gathered from declassified written materials and personnel interviews. All aspects of this project (this report, individual building reports, photographs, and drawings) have been reviewed by the Rocky Flats security organization and released as not containing any classified information. Documentation for this HAER project includes a Plant-overview component (this written report followed by drawings and photographs), as well as reports and photographs of individual buildings considered contributing resources of the Rocky Flats Plant historic district. This Plant-overview report is organized into the following topics, which can be found on the indicated page numbers: Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 6 • Cold War and the Nuclear Weapons Complex ............................................................ 11 • Political Climate .............................................................................................. 11 • Development of the Atomic Bomb .................................................................. 13 • Nuclear Weapons Development- Manhattan Project ...................................... 14 • The Cold War (1946-90) ................................................................................. 22 • Societal Impacts of the Cold War .................................................................... 28 • Cold War Advances in Nuclear Weapons Design ........................................... 29 • The Atomic Energy Commission Weapons Program ...................................... 32 • The United States Nuclear Energy Program .................................................... 33 • The USDOE Nuclear Weapons Complex ........................................................ 34 • Rocky Flats Plant ......................................................................................................... 35 • Site Location .................................................................................................... 35 • Mission of the Plant ......................................................................................... 36 • Significance ..................................................................................................... 39 ROCKY FLATS PLANT HAER No. C0-83 (Page 4) • Plant Site Overview ..................................................................................................... 40 • The Rocky Flats Plant Site .............................................................................. 40 • Plant Organization ........................................................................................... 41 • The Original Plant Construction 1951 - 1953 ................................................ .42 • History of Operations (1953-55, 1956-63, 1964-89, and 1989-92) ................ .43 • Public Perception of Rocky Flats Plant .......................................................... .49 • Manufacturing History ................................................................................................. 52 • Plutonium Operations (Recovery and Fabrication) ......................................... 52 • Depleted Uranium Operations ......................................................................... 56 • Enriched Uranium Operations (Fabrication and Recovery) ............................ 57 • Beryllium Operations ....................................................................................... 59 • Stainless Steel Operations ................................................................................ 60 • Assembly Operations ....................................................................................... 61 • Major Material Processing Buildings .......................................................................... 61 • Depleted Uranium and Beryllium (Building 444) ........................................... 61 • Enriched Uranium and Non-plutonium Metals/Alloys (Buildings 881, 883, 865, and 460) ................................................................................................... 62 • Plutonium (Buildings 771, 776/777, 707, and 371) ......................................... 64 • Shipping/Receiving and Assembly (Building 991) ......................................... 68 • Security .......................................................................................................................