Epidemiologic Studies

Rocky Flats Fire Site

To locate records relevant to the 1957 fire at Rocky Flats, HAI reviewed NARA Standard Form 135s for records stored at the Denver Federal Records Center and at Rocky Flats. Both the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) field office and contractors used the AEC headquarters filing system and a locally generated filing scheme. Consequently, some headquarters file titles, such as "Plants, Labs, Buildings, & Land," are listed in both headquarters and Rocky Flats inventories.

Some of the items cited may contain background information on the fire. For instance, the fire originated in a glovebox, and some of the NARA Standard Form 135s included reports on fire-resistant gloveboxes. Also listed are maintenance practices, which contributed to the spread of the fire. The fire blew out the building's filters, which had not been cleaned in four years. The plutonium that fell both onsite and offsite exited through the failed filters.

HAI consulted ChemRisk and Radiological Assessments Corporation (RAC) scientists on the search strategy. The ChemRisk supervisor in charge of research supplied HAI with the criteria used to find records for the ChemRisk report. A RAC health physicist working on offsite exposure prepared a list of selection criteria for HAI.

Nuclear weapon atmospheric tests occurred at the Nevada Test site three days before and three, five, and seven days after the Rocky Flats September 11, 1957, fire. Only one NARA Standard Form 135 identifies monitoring data "before and after" the 1957 fire; other NARA Standard Form 135s simply state "air samples" for the 1957 period without additional qualification.

First Priority

• Rocky Flats 1957 fire
• Environmental monitoring data and samples of air, water, soil, plants, and animals, including September 11-12, 1957, and after, both onsite and offsite
• Emissions reports before and after fire
• Environmental reports and studies on Rocky Flats before and after September 11, 1957
• Health physics reports about and after the fire
• Occurrence reports
• Occupational injury and safety reports, 1957-1958
• Legal files relating to the fire
• Press releases on the fire
• Accident/incident reports
• Fire plans, studies and analyses, Rocky Flats, 1957-1958
• Employee health hazard case files, September 1957
• Area survey meter charts, September 1957
• Meteorological atmospheric records
• Plutonium operations (purification, recovery, and production) at Rocky Flats, 1957-1958, including technical reports, log books, and production records
• Photographs of Rocky Flats before and after the fire
• Employee health hazard files, September 1957-
• Plant protection department, 1957-
• Duct sampling and monitoring, September 1957-
• Personnel reports for Building 771, 1957-
• AEC general manager's files, September-December 1957
• AEC minutes and transcripts of meetings on Rocky Flats
• Los Alamos Scientific (now National) Laboratory records on fire at Rocky Flats
• Plants, labs, building & land files, Rocky Flats, damage, design & construction
• Materials - plutonium
• Dow Chemical Company, Rocky Flats, 1957
• Security, Rocky Flats

Second Priority

• Internal facility inspection reports
• General correspondence of Rocky Flats, Headquarters, Hanford, Denver, and Albuquerque AEC field offices relating to fire
• Radiological safety reports for Rocky Flats, 1957-
• Decontamination, Rocky Flats, 1957-1958
• Safety manuals, practices, and committee meetings, Rocky Flats 1952-1957
• Procurement and supply records, especially of plutonium, Rocky Flats
• Purchase orders for hazardous substances used in Building 771, Rocky Flats
• Radioactive materials shipment files and incoming material receipt files, Building 771, Rocky Flats
• Maintenance log files, Building 771, Rocky Flats
• Glovebox reports and designs
• Building 771, design, construction, and maintenance prior to fire
• Building 771 renovation after fire
• Rocky Flats executive council meetings, September-December 1957
• Worker's compensation claims files, especially after the fire
• Medicine, health & safety files, 1957-1958
• Record books from field offices
• Water treatment, September 1957-
• Exposure histories of visitors and employees, September 1957
• Log books for Building 771
• Inventories and materials accountability reports
• Patient treatment records
• Military research & application, Rocky Flats
• Budget (BAF) for FY 1959 (restoration because of fire)
• Organization & management, atomic plants, Rocky Flats

Third Priority

• Equipment files
• Environmental impact statements and backup material, especially 1980 statement
• Radioactive waste management tracking and performance indicator files, Rocky Flats, 1957-
• Insurance claims files
• Criteria for selecting Rocky Flats site, particularly wind directions
• Waste disposal