Is there complete and reliable information on Rocky Flats releases?
One of the most difficult problems in analyzing releases of contaminants that occurred in the past is obtaining complete and reliable information. Researchers must reconstruct events that happened many years ago using whatever information is available. In the study of releases from the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant and the resulting public health impacts (Historical Public Exposures Studies on Rocky Flats), several issues affected the availability and reliability of the data: • The research covered nearly 40 years starting in 1952, when records were maintained manually. Although record-keeping practices have changed significantly in the past four decades, these old records provided important information about past operations. • Some of the records and data from the early years of plant operation were missing or incomplete. Reconstructing accidental releases, such as plutonium released in the 1957 fire, was especially difficult because questions remained about the amount of p
