Buried Incinerator Discovered At Rocky Flats Nuclear Plant

Date: May 1, 2003

Source: News Room

An old incinerator that officials at the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant had assumed was dismantled has been discovered under a pile of dirt. But Kaiser-Hill officials, who are handling the cleanup, said workers sometime in the past apparently removed the incinerator's 30-foot stack and then simply pushed dirt over the rest of the concrete structure, which was built against a hillside in 1952. Tests are planned to determine if the incinerator is contaminated with toxic or radiological material, and managers will then write a cleanup plan for the site. Initial measurements showed no radiation, he said. The incinerator was one of more than 300 spots of possible contamination at Rocky Flats identified during document searches and worker interviews.

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