Rocky Flats Plant, Guard Post
HAER No. CO-83-H (Rocky Flats Plant, Building 762)

Note: The documentation for Building 762 also represents other guard posts used to control access to the protected area, including Buildings 372, 792, and 764, which housed equipment for the perimeter intrusion detection assessment system used to detect activity within the perimeter security zone.

Location:
Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, Highway 93, Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. Building 762 is located north of Building 762A, inside the protected area.

Significance:
This building is a primary contributor to the Rocky Flats Plant historic district, associated with the U.S. strategy of nuclear military deterrence during the Cold War, a strategy considered of major importance in preventing Soviet nuclear attack. As the Cold War continued and concerns and fear escalated, security was tightened. In 1983, a perimeter security zone was constructed around the protected area to enhance protection of plutonium operations. Security personnel use Building 762 to control vehicles entering into the protected area.

Description:
Building 762 is a concrete structure with tubular aluminum sections and asbestos panels to sill height of the windows on three sides. The roof is concrete on metal pans. The building is approximately 25 by 25 feet (625 square feet). A vehicle trap east of the building has electric gates on the north and south ends of the road cut through the double fence of the perimeter security zone. Buildings 372 and 792 are similar in construction and size to Building 762.

Building 764 is approximately 20 by 50 feet (1,000 square feet), concrete with a flat roof. This structure is located northwest of Building 762, inside the Protected Area. Electronic equipment and computers used to run the perimeter intrusion detection assessment system was housed in Building 764.

History:
Building 762 was constructed in 1983 as part of the perimeter security zone, a $5 million project to surround and secure the plutonium operations at the plant. Three access points, also referred to as portals, are located in the perimeter security zone. Building 762 (Portal 1) is the only entrance point for vehicles going into the protected area. Building 372 (Portal 2) located south of Building 371, is the exit point for vehicles, and Building 792 (Portal 3) located north of Building 771, is for pedestrian access only. All three portals allow entrance and egress for pedestrians.

To enter the protected area, until 1989, an employee placed their badge in a drawer to pass it into the guard posts to a member of the protective force for a badge check. The badge was returned and the employee entered the area through a metal detector. Upon leaving the protected area, an employee displayed their badge to the protective force member on duty and exited.

As the Cold War continued and concerns and fear escalated, regulations and requirements were implemented to tighten security. New requirements included more advanced special nuclear material metal detectors for people and x-rays of property entering and exiting the protected area. A second larger access control post was built at each of the portals to accommodate the upgraded equipment and badge-check functions.

Once the new larger access control posts were built in 1989, the original security buildings were no longer needed to provide badge check function. At Portal 1, security personnel scrutinize all vehicles with radiation monitoring and detection equipment prior to entering the protected area, and search the vehicles for prohibited equipment and materials (Cunningham).

Sources:
Cunningham, Steve, employed at the plant since 1977 by the site contractor. Personal communication, September 1997.

Richmond, Lou, employed at the plant since 1970 by the site contractor. Personal communication, August 1997.

United States Department of Energy. Final Cultural Resources Survey Report (1995), by Science Applications International Corporation. Rocky Flats Repository. Golden, Colorado, 1995.

United States Department of Energy. Site Safety Analysis Report, Notebook 13-Security (1995), by EG&G Rocky Flats, Inc. Rocky Flats Repository. Golden, Colorado, 1995.

Historians:
D. Jayne Aaron, Environmental Designer, engineering-environmental Management, Inc. (e²M), 1997. Judith Berryman, Ph.D., Archaeologist, e²M, 1997.

Index to Photographs

Located north of Building 762A, inside the protected area, Golden Vicinity, Jefferson County, Colorado.

Photograph by Timothy McGrath and Katherine T. Abeyta, Source One, site photography contractor, summer 1997.

CO-83-H-1 – View looking north at the south elevation of Building 762. Building 762, Portal 1, is one of three pedestrian access points into the protected area surrounding plutonium operations. Portal 1 is also the entrance for all vehicles entering the protected area.