The Restoration of Rocky Flats: The Environmental Legacy of a Nuclear Bomb Factory Pubblico

Dinneen, William S. L. (Spring 2023)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/jm214q251?locale=it
Published

Abstract

This thesis examines the political formation and the environmental cleanup of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, a former nuclear weapons site located near Denver, Colorado. From 1996 to 2006, the United States Department of Energy worked with a private contractor to remediate the area, and by 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency deemed the cleanup complete, transferring ownership of the site to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Both the political process behind the conversion and the subsequent cleanup were fraught with controversy due to political battles over the distribution of radioactive waste, public fears over shifting safety standards, and general distrust in the nuclear industry and government regulators. This study unravels the social, political, and environmental layers of Rocky Flats, revealing how the legacy of ecologically valuable military sites can be complicated by their history.

Table of Contents

Introduction (1)

Historical Context (10)

Chapter One: “Bombs into Birds” (14)

Chapter Two: Plutonium Winds (29)

Conclusion (55)

Bibliography (60)

About this Honors Thesis

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