Rocky Flats

beer_dude · 10-13-2005

Rocky Flats announces physical completion! After ten years the former nuclear bomb plant west of Denver is no more.

Rocky Flats stats <o =""></o>

• 6,200: Acres, including a 400-acre industrial zone, where bomb-making took place <o =""></o>

• 800: Structures in the now-dismantled industrial zone <o =""></o>

• 5: Number of large, heavily contaminated plutonium processing facilities, covering more than 1 million square feet <o =""></o>

• 600,000 cubic meters: Amount of radioactive and hazardous waste removed from the site, enough to fill a string of rail cars 90 miles long<o =""></o>>

• 30,000 liters: Amount of plutonium and enriched uranium solutions stored in tanks and piping before cleanup began <o =""></o>

• 512,000 tons: Amount of miscellaneous waste, such as asphalt, wood and concrete, for disposal in regular landfills <o =""></o>

• 21 tons: Amount of "weapons-grade nuclear material," much of it improperly stored, before the cleanup began <o =""></o>

• $36 billion: Original estimate of cleanup cost <o =""></o>

• 70 years: Original estimate for length of cleanup <o =""></o>

• $7 billion: Actual cost of cleanup <o =""></o>

• 10 years: Actual length of cleanupSource: Kaiser-Hill Co. <o =""></o>

This is where I have been working for the last ten years. I never thought that I would see the day.

TheWebGuy · 10-13-2005

Beer Dude, thank you for helping us out. Those are some pretty scary numbers there. Colorado gave me my first taste of the mountains, a taste that I crave every day of my life. It is great to know that stuff is being done to help the environment.

On a smaller scale:
Yesterday, I went on a 22 mile bike ride along the Fox River.
Elgin, IL. has a nasty looking eyesore of a junk yard (right on the river), holding all kinds of un-used vehicles and thousands and thousands of 55 gallon drums, holding who-knows-what, among other things. When I rode by, the entire lot was cleared of the junk. I mean everything was gone, to my amazement. It looks like the city kicked the offender out and made them clean up the mess. Hopefully this area will be turned into more public parks on the river.

Anyone else have any major cleanup stories?

beer_dude · 10-13-2005

That's pretty cool. What a great suprise to find all the stuff gone. I do a lot of riding in Denver and have a few areas that I would like to see cleaned up.

_nick_ · 10-13-2005

That is excellent.

Pipermurphy · 10-13-2005

Hey Cerveza Dude, who did you work for? I was out there a few years ago for Gash at 371/374. Pretty wild place. The real eye opener was at the 2 week orientation when they told us, "make sure the door you are leaving out of is the right one, because the guards have the right to shoot first." And they are walking around with low slung 9MM and auto rifles. Glad I was there for a while, something I will always remember, made some good friends there too.

beer_dude · 10-16-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pipermurphy

Hey Cerveza Dude, who did you work for? I was out there a few years ago for Gash at 371/374. Pretty wild place. The real eye opener was at the 2 week orientation when they told us, "make sure the door you are leaving out of is the right one, because the guards have the right to shoot first." And they are walking around with low slung 9MM and auto rifles. Glad I was there for a while, something I will always remember, made some good friends there too.

I have worked for SEMA, Dyncorp, CH2MHILL, and finally Microsource/ch2mhill. The flats is a very strange place to work.

MikeW · 10-16-2005

Where was the hazardous and nuclear waste moved to??

beer_dude · 10-17-2005

The low level stuff went to the wipp project in New Mexico. The high level stuff went to Savanah River Ga., Oak Ridge Tn. and The Hanford site in Washington State. Really a remarkable accomplishment concidering the TON's of material that was removed.

10-13-2005	#1 (permalink)
beer_dude reposado Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 1,202	Rocky Flats Rocky Flats announces physical completion! After ten years the former nuclear bomb plant west of Denver is no more. Rocky Flats stats <o =""></o> • 6,200: Acres, including a 400-acre industrial zone, where bomb-making took place <o =""></o> • 800: Structures in the now-dismantled industrial zone <o =""></o> • 5: Number of large, heavily contaminated plutonium processing facilities, covering more than 1 million square feet <o =""></o> • 600,000 cubic meters: Amount of radioactive and hazardous waste removed from the site, enough to fill a string of rail cars 90 miles long<o =""></o>> • 30,000 liters: Amount of plutonium and enriched uranium solutions stored in tanks and piping before cleanup began <o =""></o> • 512,000 tons: Amount of miscellaneous waste, such as asphalt, wood and concrete, for disposal in regular landfills <o =""></o> • 21 tons: Amount of "weapons-grade nuclear material," much of it improperly stored, before the cleanup began <o =""></o> • $36 billion: Original estimate of cleanup cost <o =""></o> • 70 years: Original estimate for length of cleanup <o =""></o> • $7 billion: Actual cost of cleanup <o =""></o> • 10 years: Actual length of cleanupSource: Kaiser-Hill Co. <o =""></o> This is where I have been working for the last ten years. I never thought that I would see the day.

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10-13-2005	#2 (permalink)
TheWebGuy toe in water Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Chicagoland, USA Posts: 47	Beer Dude, thank you for helping us out. Those are some pretty scary numbers there. Colorado gave me my first taste of the mountains, a taste that I crave every day of my life. It is great to know that stuff is being done to help the environment. On a smaller scale: Yesterday, I went on a 22 mile bike ride along the Fox River. Elgin, IL. has a nasty looking eyesore of a junk yard (right on the river), holding all kinds of un-used vehicles and thousands and thousands of 55 gallon drums, holding who-knows-what, among other things. When I rode by, the entire lot was cleared of the junk. I mean everything was gone, to my amazement. It looks like the city kicked the offender out and made them clean up the mess. Hopefully this area will be turned into more public parks on the river. Anyone else have any major cleanup stories?

10-13-2005	#3 (permalink)
beer_dude reposado Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 1,202	That's pretty cool. What a great suprise to find all the stuff gone. I do a lot of riding in Denver and have a few areas that I would like to see cleaned up.

10-13-2005	#4 (permalink)
_nick_ beachaholic Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: graceland or germany Posts: 469	That is excellent.

10-13-2005	#5 (permalink)
Pipermurphy beachaholic Join Date: May 2005 Location: SW of Denver@9000ft Posts: 386	Hey Cerveza Dude, who did you work for? I was out there a few years ago for Gash at 371/374. Pretty wild place. The real eye opener was at the 2 week orientation when they told us, "make sure the door you are leaving out of is the right one, because the guards have the right to shoot first." And they are walking around with low slung 9MM and auto rifles. Glad I was there for a while, something I will always remember, made some good friends there too.

10-16-2005	#7 (permalink)
MikeW añejo Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moorpark, CA Posts: 9,087	Where was the hazardous and nuclear waste moved to??

10-17-2005	#8 (permalink)
beer_dude reposado Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 1,202	The low level stuff went to the wipp project in New Mexico. The high level stuff went to Savanah River Ga., Oak Ridge Tn. and The Hanford site in Washington State. Really a remarkable accomplishment concidering the TON's of material that was removed.

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