Rocky Flats: A Call to Guardianship

Nuclear Guardianship combines art, science and remembrance to address the seemingly intractable human-caused problem of nuclear contamination with insight and creativity. By building commitment and community, the project will explore and encourage implementation of Nuclear Guardianship at the site of the defunct Rocky Flats nuclear bomb plant, where for 37 years the fissile plutonium pits for all warheads in the U.S. nuclear arsenal were produced. Tiny plutonium particles remaining in the soil make the site a hazard essentially forever. Nuclear Guardianship is a powerful manifestation of a cultural shift away from secrecy and denial towards ecological responsibility. It will provide a model for long-term environmental caretaking at other radioactively contaminated sites. But first we must challenge the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service plan to manage most of the Rocky Flats site as a wildlife refuge open for public recreation. Nuclear Guardianship is a commitment for the millennia — a pledge to our children’s children’s…children.