Decommissioning of Rocky Flats Plant

Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado

MACTEC cleaned and closed this historically significant and radiologically contaminated facility without a single accident in more than 500,000 work hours, and saved the client more than $5 million through innovative water decontamination.

Rocky Flats produced American nuclear weapon components for forty years. Closure of the plant began in the 1990s, and in 2001 Congress passed the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge Act. MACTEC was contracted to safely dismantle and securely dispose of contaminated material from the 6400-acre site. This included irradiated buildings and structures, aqueous and organic waste, asbestos, and hazardous air, soil, and water.

One of the most dangerous areas of the plant—the “infinity room”—had been sealed for decades due to radioactive contamination greater than recording instruments of the time could measure. Using specialized equipment and techniques, MACTEC accessed and dismantled the room, mitigated contaminant exposure, and entombed the waste materials in abandoned salt caverns.

Decontamination and decommissioning…Rocky Flats, Colorado