Workforce Transition at the Rocky Flats Plant, USA. Appendix III

The Rocky Flats Plant was a nuclear production facility near Denver, Colorado. Operated from 1952 to 1992, the plant was under the control of the US Atomic Energy Commission, succeeded by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 1977. Weapons production was temporarily halted in 1989. In 1995, cleanup was estimated to take until 2060 at a cost of $36 billion. Kaiser‑Hill was appointed to take charge of integrated site management in 1995 and subsequently negotiated a sole source cleanup contract in 2000. There were over 800 structures to be decommissioned and demolished, over 21 t of weapons grade material to be dispositioned, over 1.3 million m3 of waste, and 6 million gallons (22 712 470 L) of water to be treated. Cleanup was completed in October 2005 for $6.7 billion, resulting in savings of almost $30 billion and 55 years. When closure began in 1995 there were just over 5 500 employees and subcontractor personnel on‑site. The workforce was made up of 1 500 steel workers, 200 building trades workers and 250 security officers. The balance were subcontractor, management, professional and support staff. When closure was achieved in October 2005, there were only a handful of environmental restoration subcontractor personnel at the site, as shown.