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Doom with a View: Historical and Cultural Contexts of the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant
Tucked up against the Rocky Mountains, just west of Denver, sits the remnants of one of the most notorious nuclear weapons sites in North Rocky Flats. With a history of environmental catastrophes, political neglect, and community-wide health crises, this site represents both one of the darkest and most controversial chapters in our nation's history, and also a conundrum on repurposing lands once considered lost. As the crush of encroaching residential areas close in on this site and the generation of Rocky Flats workers passes on, the memory of Rocky Flats is receding from the public mind; yet the need to responsibly manage the site, and understand the consequences of forty years of plutonium production and contamination, must be a part of every decision for the land's future.
401 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 14, 2020
8 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Kristen Iversen
11 books79 followersKristen Iversen is the author of Full Body Burden Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Award and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and Molly Brown Unraveling the Myth, winner of the Colorado Book Award and the Barbara Sudler Award for Nonfiction. Full Body Burden was chosen by Kirkus Reviews and the American Library Association as one of the Best Books of 2012 and named 2012 Best Book about Justice by The Atlantic. Iversen’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, Reader’s Digest, and many other publications. She has appeared on C-Span and NPR’s Fresh Air and worked extensively with A&E Biography, The History Channel, and the NEH. She holds a Ph.D from the University of Denver and currently teaches in the PhD program in creative writing at the University of Cincinnati. She is also the author of a textbook, Shadow Boxing Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 18, 2020
Expected publishing date Fall of 2020
Warning: don’t pick up this book unless you are prepared to be shocked.
But frankly, if you happen to live in the Atomic Age – which, unless you have been sleeping you know that time is now – you should read this book. I remember learning to duck and cover. I remember being terrified that we would go up in nuclear smoke. I was born just upwind of Rocky Flats. I remember. I grew up about 100 miles from the Trinity Site in New Mexico. I have a sample of Trinitite on my desk. I remember. I have spent most of my adult life within 100 miles of a nuclear plant. I remember. This book jogs my own recollection, and reminds me that the nuclear reactor that I have lived close to for nearly 40 years, and the atomic skies I grew up under are still a threat, still something to fear. Those days are not over, nor are they something to hide, lock up and throw away the key.
This book is intense. Some of the essays are dense with science (I’m still struggling with the concepts of picocuries and curies), and some of them appeal to the broader public. But each and every essay sketches a story around the theme of radioactive contamination and secrecy and the promise of the American Dream. Imagine you are a couple with a new family. Imagine you have saved and saved and finally have enough for a down payment on a house. Imagine you buy it. I have neighbors who bought houses downwind of a series of sand dunes. To them the dunes are demonic: they coat their streets and yards and golf courses with fine, white sand. There is an odd, unwritten contract in the buying of a home: unless it is law, you won’t find in the fine print the problems the house may have. Like dust. Like radioactive dust. My neighbors can see the dust and they howl like coyotes. This is annoying dust. Imagine if you can’t see the dust. Imagine then what it can do to you, to your family, your friends. But no one has any obligation to warn you about the dust. Would you howl if you knew your new home was contaminated with radioactivity that will outlast you and 959 generations to come?
This is the story, the complication, the audacity of Rocky Flats, one of many cold-war sites producing parts for the nuclear weapons that initiated the Atomic Age. This is a story that all those who live in our Atomic Neighborhood should read. And make no mistake, we are all in the Neighborhood as Linda Pentz Gunter’s essay The Nuclear Power-Nuclear Weapons Connection really makes clear. We are in the neighborhood, and you may find, as you ponder these essays, surprising connections in your own life. I was born 9 miles away from Rocky Flats (and upwind), just 4 years after it opened. I wonder if my parents knew about it? They never mentioned it although my Dad worked at White Sands Missile Range – another site of cold war military expertise. Dad worked in these places for most of his adult life, but he was never allowed to speak about his work.
I would caution you: some of the essays are difficult to read. Some because they are dense with scientific jargon. Keep going: you can get through these. (Just remember that a picocurie is one measurement of the rate of decay of uranium: in one minute it will exhibit 2 decays or disintegrations. Each “decay” releases radioactive energy called alpha, beta or gamma rays. Each time it releases energy it bombards surrounding tissue and can damage it. If you inhale a single particle containing one picocurie of energy, and it lodges in your lungs it will bombard the surrounding cells twice every minute for the remainder of your life. If you live 40 more years you will receive radiation exposure 31,540,000,000 times over the course of your life in those cells. So, a soil sample with 50 picocuries contained therein will decay at 100 times per day. So, if a particle of radioactive material containing 50 picocuries of energy lodges in – say your lung, it will continually bombard your lung tissue 100 times a day for the remainder of your life. Remember that that particle will outlast you.) Needless to say, that is a lot of radiation focused in a very small area. This is how I digested the information contained in these essays
Read through these. And be encouraged, many of the other essays will summarize what the geeky scientists like to read and write. Read through. But be advised, they are all difficult to read because of the allegations made, and because facts, suppositions and lies are juxtaposed into one atomic mess. They are difficult to read because of the allegations of cover ups, the disquieting stories of heroism, patriotism, loss and sacrifice. They are also encouraging: what better use of art than to illustrate the historical past of this important part of our history.
Read on. The final essay is a wonderful tome on the responsibility we have towards ourselves and future generations. We don’t want to hide the fact of our nuclear history. This book is not about blame but about responsibility. This has been part of the problem. The author of the final essay (Kathleen Sullivan) makes a compelling case for us to own our nuclear history, claim it, explore it and save it for future generations. We can’t do that if we don’t know it exists. We already have a legacy of contaminated land and illness among our people. If we do not own that history, if we do not think about it, it will continue to contaminate our legacy for 24,000 years.
Warning: don’t pick up this book unless you are prepared to be shocked.
But frankly, if you happen to live in the Atomic Age – which, unless you have been sleeping you know that time is now – you should read this book. I remember learning to duck and cover. I remember being terrified that we would go up in nuclear smoke. I was born just upwind of Rocky Flats. I remember. I grew up about 100 miles from the Trinity Site in New Mexico. I have a sample of Trinitite on my desk. I remember. I have spent most of my adult life within 100 miles of a nuclear plant. I remember. This book jogs my own recollection, and reminds me that the nuclear reactor that I have lived close to for nearly 40 years, and the atomic skies I grew up under are still a threat, still something to fear. Those days are not over, nor are they something to hide, lock up and throw away the key.
This book is intense. Some of the essays are dense with science (I’m still struggling with the concepts of picocuries and curies), and some of them appeal to the broader public. But each and every essay sketches a story around the theme of radioactive contamination and secrecy and the promise of the American Dream. Imagine you are a couple with a new family. Imagine you have saved and saved and finally have enough for a down payment on a house. Imagine you buy it. I have neighbors who bought houses downwind of a series of sand dunes. To them the dunes are demonic: they coat their streets and yards and golf courses with fine, white sand. There is an odd, unwritten contract in the buying of a home: unless it is law, you won’t find in the fine print the problems the house may have. Like dust. Like radioactive dust. My neighbors can see the dust and they howl like coyotes. This is annoying dust. Imagine if you can’t see the dust. Imagine then what it can do to you, to your family, your friends. But no one has any obligation to warn you about the dust. Would you howl if you knew your new home was contaminated with radioactivity that will outlast you and 959 generations to come?
This is the story, the complication, the audacity of Rocky Flats, one of many cold-war sites producing parts for the nuclear weapons that initiated the Atomic Age. This is a story that all those who live in our Atomic Neighborhood should read. And make no mistake, we are all in the Neighborhood as Linda Pentz Gunter’s essay The Nuclear Power-Nuclear Weapons Connection really makes clear. We are in the neighborhood, and you may find, as you ponder these essays, surprising connections in your own life. I was born 9 miles away from Rocky Flats (and upwind), just 4 years after it opened. I wonder if my parents knew about it? They never mentioned it although my Dad worked at White Sands Missile Range – another site of cold war military expertise. Dad worked in these places for most of his adult life, but he was never allowed to speak about his work.
I would caution you: some of the essays are difficult to read. Some because they are dense with scientific jargon. Keep going: you can get through these. (Just remember that a picocurie is one measurement of the rate of decay of uranium: in one minute it will exhibit 2 decays or disintegrations. Each “decay” releases radioactive energy called alpha, beta or gamma rays. Each time it releases energy it bombards surrounding tissue and can damage it. If you inhale a single particle containing one picocurie of energy, and it lodges in your lungs it will bombard the surrounding cells twice every minute for the remainder of your life. If you live 40 more years you will receive radiation exposure 31,540,000,000 times over the course of your life in those cells. So, a soil sample with 50 picocuries contained therein will decay at 100 times per day. So, if a particle of radioactive material containing 50 picocuries of energy lodges in – say your lung, it will continually bombard your lung tissue 100 times a day for the remainder of your life. Remember that that particle will outlast you.) Needless to say, that is a lot of radiation focused in a very small area. This is how I digested the information contained in these essays
Read through these. And be encouraged, many of the other essays will summarize what the geeky scientists like to read and write. Read through. But be advised, they are all difficult to read because of the allegations made, and because facts, suppositions and lies are juxtaposed into one atomic mess. They are difficult to read because of the allegations of cover ups, the disquieting stories of heroism, patriotism, loss and sacrifice. They are also encouraging: what better use of art than to illustrate the historical past of this important part of our history.
Read on. The final essay is a wonderful tome on the responsibility we have towards ourselves and future generations. We don’t want to hide the fact of our nuclear history. This book is not about blame but about responsibility. This has been part of the problem. The author of the final essay (Kathleen Sullivan) makes a compelling case for us to own our nuclear history, claim it, explore it and save it for future generations. We can’t do that if we don’t know it exists. We already have a legacy of contaminated land and illness among our people. If we do not own that history, if we do not think about it, it will continue to contaminate our legacy for 24,000 years.
September 15, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to review for "Doom with a View".
This is a collection of essays regarding the usage (misuse), management (mismanagement) and remediation (?) of the Cold War era Rocky Flats Nuclear Materials Processing Plant located in Arvada, Colorado. Rocky Flats produced the enriched plutonium pucks that are at the center of each warhead in our nuclear arsenal.
As someone who has visited Colorado many times over the past decade and actually been in Golden, CO, Boulder, CO, Denver, CO and areas adjacent to the plant I was amazed that I had NEVER HEARD OF IT... Turns out that was how the Department of Energy wanted it.
Being as we're living thru the trash fire that is 2020, I'm sure no-one will be surprised by the fact that workers at the plant were lied to about the dangers of the nuclear isotopes they were working with. The landowners and residents around the plant were lied to about the purpose of the plant and the dangers that it posed to the health of the land, livestock and themselves. And, the general public is 'still' being lied to about the safety of the remediated and supposedly safe for public usage Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge presently being managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
I thoroughly enjoyed several of the essays and actually would give the collection a strong 3-1/2 - 4 star rating. If one has any curiosity about the Cold War (which I lived thru) and the absolutely ape #$% behavior and negligence to the public of our government in the running of/aftermath of the Cold War Nuclear Program sites scattered around the country. There is an essay for every type of reader. The downside of the book is that there is a limited amount of information available and declassified so that once you are about 1/3 of the way thru, information starts repeating. Some of the essays are hard going unless you are a lawyer or nuclear physicist. But even a layman can grasp the monumental consequences and health hazards that this and other sites poses to the residents of the area and even to the entire world.
I highly recommend that everyone should read at least a few of chapters and sit solemnly and mull over just how @#$%'d we actually are in the present hands of the governing bodies and the never-ending coverups and cost cutting circumvention of recommended guidelines for the handling of nuclear wastes and materials. I vividly remember touring Arkansas Nuclear One and Two as a preteen and the information we were given about how nuclear energy is a safe, clean source of energy, with little to no danger to the community. I also remember the scattered signs for hundreds of miles around Russellville/Dardanelle stating "nuclear evacutation' route.
As our late president Dwight D. Eisenhower is quoted:
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
This is a collection of essays regarding the usage (misuse), management (mismanagement) and remediation (?) of the Cold War era Rocky Flats Nuclear Materials Processing Plant located in Arvada, Colorado. Rocky Flats produced the enriched plutonium pucks that are at the center of each warhead in our nuclear arsenal.
As someone who has visited Colorado many times over the past decade and actually been in Golden, CO, Boulder, CO, Denver, CO and areas adjacent to the plant I was amazed that I had NEVER HEARD OF IT... Turns out that was how the Department of Energy wanted it.
Being as we're living thru the trash fire that is 2020, I'm sure no-one will be surprised by the fact that workers at the plant were lied to about the dangers of the nuclear isotopes they were working with. The landowners and residents around the plant were lied to about the purpose of the plant and the dangers that it posed to the health of the land, livestock and themselves. And, the general public is 'still' being lied to about the safety of the remediated and supposedly safe for public usage Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge presently being managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
I thoroughly enjoyed several of the essays and actually would give the collection a strong 3-1/2 - 4 star rating. If one has any curiosity about the Cold War (which I lived thru) and the absolutely ape #$% behavior and negligence to the public of our government in the running of/aftermath of the Cold War Nuclear Program sites scattered around the country. There is an essay for every type of reader. The downside of the book is that there is a limited amount of information available and declassified so that once you are about 1/3 of the way thru, information starts repeating. Some of the essays are hard going unless you are a lawyer or nuclear physicist. But even a layman can grasp the monumental consequences and health hazards that this and other sites poses to the residents of the area and even to the entire world.
I highly recommend that everyone should read at least a few of chapters and sit solemnly and mull over just how @#$%'d we actually are in the present hands of the governing bodies and the never-ending coverups and cost cutting circumvention of recommended guidelines for the handling of nuclear wastes and materials. I vividly remember touring Arkansas Nuclear One and Two as a preteen and the information we were given about how nuclear energy is a safe, clean source of energy, with little to no danger to the community. I also remember the scattered signs for hundreds of miles around Russellville/Dardanelle stating "nuclear evacutation' route.
As our late president Dwight D. Eisenhower is quoted:
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
December 16, 2020
I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
As soon as I saw this work by Kristen Iversen, I immediately requested to read it. I loved Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, and I was eager to read more by her on this subject. I was a little disappointed to find out that this is a collection of essays with Iversen's introduction. Even in the short introduction, Iversen's writing was excellent.
The essays were very informative, but sometimes a bit repetitive as the same details were rehashed in multiple essays. Not that I minded terribly. I was glad to get an updated look at what was happening at Rocky Flats. The essays also provided a multi-faceted look at different aspects of the situation; like Medical, legal, artistic, etc.
The plutonium contamination and continual whitewashing and coverups will never end. People like the authors of these essays are the sentinels of the truth of Rocky Flats. While government and business want to hurry up and move on, building and burning, these voices cry the reasons why this is stupid and unfathomably dangerous. The only reason the area around Rocky Flats is still inhabited is because you can't prove without any doubt at all that your cancer was due to exposure to radioactive and carcinogenic materials from that plant. That's the only reason. And as long as industry and government can cling to that statement, they will.
If you've read Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, this is something you'll certainly want to pick up. If you have any interest at all on nuclear history, or the impact said history is still having on us all, please pick this up. It is absolutely disgusting what this country has done to itself in pursuit of nuclear weapons.
As soon as I saw this work by Kristen Iversen, I immediately requested to read it. I loved Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, and I was eager to read more by her on this subject. I was a little disappointed to find out that this is a collection of essays with Iversen's introduction. Even in the short introduction, Iversen's writing was excellent.
The essays were very informative, but sometimes a bit repetitive as the same details were rehashed in multiple essays. Not that I minded terribly. I was glad to get an updated look at what was happening at Rocky Flats. The essays also provided a multi-faceted look at different aspects of the situation; like Medical, legal, artistic, etc.
The plutonium contamination and continual whitewashing and coverups will never end. People like the authors of these essays are the sentinels of the truth of Rocky Flats. While government and business want to hurry up and move on, building and burning, these voices cry the reasons why this is stupid and unfathomably dangerous. The only reason the area around Rocky Flats is still inhabited is because you can't prove without any doubt at all that your cancer was due to exposure to radioactive and carcinogenic materials from that plant. That's the only reason. And as long as industry and government can cling to that statement, they will.
If you've read Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, this is something you'll certainly want to pick up. If you have any interest at all on nuclear history, or the impact said history is still having on us all, please pick this up. It is absolutely disgusting what this country has done to itself in pursuit of nuclear weapons.
January 28, 2021
This meticulously researched book confronts the overlooked and repressed history of environmental contamination and public misinformation at the Rocky Flats nuclear plant through a rich variety of perspectives, including academics, artists, activists, medical researchers, and writers. It should be required reading for anyone living near or contemplating moving near the now defunct Colorado nuclear production site. But beyond local interest, this book provides important and urgent insights on the long legacies of secrecy and contamination that continue to threaten residents living near working or defunct nuclear production sites around the country, including Hanford, Oak Ridge, and others. Rocky Flats is a microcosm of the ways a corrupt and secretive nuclear industrial complex continue to threaten Americans with lax safety and environmental standards, inadequate security, and suppression of information. Powerful interests—including private companies, the federal government, and developers—have created a culture where whistle-blowers, activists, medical professionals, researchers and members of the public who express concern are dismissed, ridiculed, and threatened. Read this book to hear from brave voices speaking up despite enormous pressure to remain silent.
As other reviewers have noted, the essays range from academic and technical to personal and memoiristic, providing a valuable breadth of information and perspectives. Depending on your interest and expertise, you can read through the book in its entirety, or pick and choose the essays that most closely match your preferred style and focus.
As other reviewers have noted, the essays range from academic and technical to personal and memoiristic, providing a valuable breadth of information and perspectives. Depending on your interest and expertise, you can read through the book in its entirety, or pick and choose the essays that most closely match your preferred style and focus.
August 1, 2020
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for sharing the ARC of upcoming essays about Rocky Flats. At first, I was intrigued by the breadth of the “essays”; they covered activism, art, legal proceedings and more. But as I progressed, the writings turned more academic. Less essay, more scientific study paper. And that’s where it lost me. Despite a layperson’s knowledge of the the nuclear industry and waste remediation, I could not wade through page after page of the science in some of the essays. The others I found interesting.
August 29, 2020
**I received and voluntarily read an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
It's nice, lots of new information I'd never read before.
The beginning is a little more intriguing, but as the book goes on, it gets a little on the dry side for those days where you just want to sit down and read without a lot of involved thinking.
Overall, I don't think every essay is for every person, but most people could find an essay or two that resonates with them personally.
It's nice, lots of new information I'd never read before.
The beginning is a little more intriguing, but as the book goes on, it gets a little on the dry side for those days where you just want to sit down and read without a lot of involved thinking.
Overall, I don't think every essay is for every person, but most people could find an essay or two that resonates with them personally.
January 9, 2021
I moved to Denver after the plant closed but I drive by frequently and have been curious about what happened there. A great read by different people who worked there, grew up downwind, and worked the FBI raid and plans for the use of the contaminated land
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews