Full Body Burden

At the turn of the new year in 1990, the company EG&G takes over the management of Rocky Flats as part of its burgeoning involvement in the government’s nuclear production industry. Rocky Flats is an integral facility in this industry, which consists of seven factories with corporate management. Rocky Flats has enjoyed a 40-year run of producing about 70,000 plutonium triggers, but production stopped as of the FBI raid in 1989. 

Although EG&G intends to continue plutonium trigger production, President George H.W. Bush’s cancellation of a nuclear warhead effort causes the company to rethink the future of Rocky Flats. EG&G decides to change the name of the plant and fields suggestions from the public that include “Doom with a View” (242). In 1994, the name becomes the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) (243). Mark Silverman speaks to the press about the lingering plutonium throughout the facility and the mismanaged waste. Representatives from the DOE predict that cleaning the extensive waste at Rocky Flats will be long and costly. 

Not only has Iversen returned to Arvada with her sons, she also lives next door to Kurt and his family. Iversen struggles with money and juggling many responsibilities.