Inside Rocky Flats: A Worker's Diary of Contamination, Safety Concerns, and Speaking Out

In 1991, a Rocky Flats employee's journal became the basis of a disturbing newspaper investigation into alleged workplace contamination, unsafe practices, and retaliation against workers who raised concerns.

A diary that documented life inside Rocky Flats

When Jacqueline Brever began working at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in 1984, she started keeping a journal to help remember workplace procedures. Over time, those notes became a record of what she believed were serious safety problems inside the facility.

On November 10, 1991, the Los Angeles Times published an Associated Press investigation by Steven K. Paulson titled Rocky Flats Diary: Radioactive Stalactites and Contamination Pranks.

The article examined Brever's journal and the experiences of fellow employee Karen Pitts, both of whom worked in plutonium recovery operations. Their accounts described radioactive contamination incidents, concerns about workplace safety practices, and allegations that employees who reported problems faced retaliation. The article provides a rare glimpse into what two workers said they experienced inside Rocky Flats during the final years of nuclear weapons production.

What the workers reported

Brever and Pitts worked in operations involving the recovery of plutonium from radioactive materials for reuse. Brever's journal described conditions in Buildings 771 and 371, facilities associated with plutonium processing and recovery. Among the incidents she recorded were workers allegedly disabling radiation alarms, disregarding contamination warnings, and engaging in unsafe conduct around radioactive materials.

She also reported that some employees deliberately contaminated their coworkers.

In one particularly troubling account, Brever described dried deposits of contaminated material accumulating in processing areas of Building 371. Her descriptions suggested that contamination had become an ongoing workplace concern rather than an isolated incident.

The journal also included allegations that radiation monitors sometimes failed to respond appropriately to contamination incidents.

Specific contamination incidents

Several entries described incidents Brever believed placed workers at risk. In October 1985, she recorded an incident involving a container of radioactive calcium waste that reportedly ruptured after being removed from a processing area. In March 1986, she described a malfunction involving a glove box, an enclosed workstation designed to contain radioactive materials. According to her account, a failed component allowed a vacuum system to pull her toward contaminated waste. She reported that her protective mask became heavily contaminated and that appropriate follow-up radiation monitoring was not completed.

Other entries described unexplained contamination detected on employees.

In November 1986, Brever requested radiation testing after learning that her crew had reportedly worked without respiratory protection in an area with airborne contamination concerns. According to the article, Brever and Pitts received positive test results, but company radiation officials dismissed those findings as errors. The journal also described incidents involving missing contamination-warning signs, workers continuing operations under questionable conditions, and concerns that safety complaints were not being adequately addressed. Together, these accounts raised serious questions about how contamination incidents were handled and whether employees could report problems without fear of consequences.

Allegations of retaliation

By 1991, Brever and Pitts had filed a lawsuit against Rockwell International, EG&G, and 19 individuals. The women alleged that they had been deliberately contaminated with radioactive material because they cooperated with the FBI and a federal grand jury investigating safety and environmental problems at Rocky Flats.

Brever also said that raising concerns with management created increasing difficulties at work. She left the plant in April 1991 and maintained that she had been forced to resign.

The Department of Energy declined to comment on her journal because of the pending litigation, according to the newspaper report. The article documents the workers' allegations and the existence of the lawsuit. It does not establish that the defendants were legally responsible or explain the eventual outcome of the case. That distinction matters. But the concerns raised by Brever and Pitts remain part of the historical record of Rocky Flats.

The investigation that changed Rocky Flats

The workers' accounts emerged during a period of major federal investigation. On June 6, 1989, FBI agents raided Rocky Flats as part of an investigation into alleged environmental violations and improper handling of hazardous and radioactive waste. Plutonium operations were suspended in December 1989 amid safety concerns.

By 1991, the plant's future was uncertain, and its safety and environmental practices were receiving national attention. Brever's journal added a perspective that official investigations alone could not provide: the reported experiences of employees working inside the facilities where radioactive materials were processed.

Why worker testimony matters

The history of Rocky Flats cannot be understood solely through government reports, environmental sampling, or records of nuclear weapons production. It also includes the people who worked inside the plant. Many Rocky Flats employees spent years performing specialized, demanding work. Some took pride in their contributions to the nation's defense programs. Others raised concerns about workplace conditions, hazardous materials, and management practices. These experiences are not mutually exclusive. A worker could believe in the importance of the mission while also questioning whether the workplace was safe.

Brever's journal illustrates why preserving firsthand accounts matters. Her notes identified specific dates, locations, incidents, and concerns that could be examined alongside other historical records. Personal testimony is not the same as independently verified evidence. But it can preserve information that might otherwise disappear. It can also help researchers identify questions that deserve further investigation.

Remembering the workers who spoke out

For Rocky Flats Downwinders, the 1991 Associated Press investigation is an important part of the plant's history. It documents allegations made by workers who believed they had witnessed unsafe practices and who described personal consequences after raising concerns. Their experiences also remind us that workers and surrounding communities encountered Rocky Flats from different perspectives.

Employees faced potential occupational exposures associated with their jobs. Nearby residents have raised questions about environmental exposures resulting from historical releases. Those exposure pathways are different, and neither automatically establishes the health consequences of the other. But both histories belong in a complete account of Rocky Flats.

The people who worked at Rocky Flats were more than employees of a nuclear weapons facility. They were individuals whose experiences, concerns, and decisions helped shape the public understanding of what happened there.

Jacqueline Brever began keeping a journal to remember how to do her job.

Years later, that journal became part of the public record of the plant's troubled final years of weapons production. Preserving accounts like hers helps ensure that the history of Rocky Flats includes the voices of those who experienced it firsthand.

Read the original article

Rocky Flats Diary: Radioactive Stalactites and Contamination Pranks

Steven K. Paulson, Associated PressLos Angeles Times, November 10, 1991

Source note: This post summarizes historical reporting from 1991. The allegations described were reported by the workers and were not all independently established in the newspaper article. The outcome of their lawsuit was not determined from this sour