Established in 1951, the Rocky Flats Plant is located near Golden CO, approx 16 miles NW of Denver, and occupies some 6500 acres.

Conceived as a fabrications alternative to Los Alamos, Rocky Flats (code name "Project Apple") was a top-secret weapons-production facility that produced triggers used in nuclear devices, and purified plutonium recovered from retired weapons.

The plant also emphasized materials research, improved conventional metal machining methods, developed new technologies, and specialized in the working of plutonium as well as tritium and uranium.

In 1992, the plant mission was officially changed to environmental restoration and waste management, and in 1997 the Rocky Flats Plant was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places.