Book accuses Justice Dept. of nuclear plant coverup

The book was written by Wes McKinley, the foreman of a grand jury that investigated activity at Rocky Flats, and attorney Caron Balkany. They said the book is worth the risk of jail for violating grand jury secrecy rules.

"I am doing my patriotic duty," McKinley said. "These people are criminals."

In addition to interviews with former plant workers and investigators, the authors relied on a journal McKinley kept during the grand jury sessions. They said they were able to independently confirm all of the evidence discussed in the book.

A former federal prosecutor denied the allegations, and the plant's former operator, Rockwell International, said all the claims have been investigated and found to be groundless.

Rocky Flats, situated on the edge of the foothills outside Denver, made plutonium triggers from the 1950s until 1989. The Energy Department complex is being cleaned up and officials hope to turn it into a wildlife refuge by 2006.

Tipped about potential safety violations, the FBI in 1988 used infrared cameras during flights over Rocky Flats and detected what agents said was a burning incinerator in Building 771, the plutonium-reprocessing facility. At that time, the building was supposed to be shut down after an employee was exposed to radiation. FBI and Environmental Protection Agency officials raided the plant in 1989 as part of an investigation called Operation Desert Glow.

Investigators subsequently looked at whether Rockwell knowingly discharged chemicals into creeks that flowed into municipal water supplies, burned toxic waste, and failed to adequately monitor groundwater.

From 1989 to 1992, a federal grand jury heard testimony and reviewed evidence against Rockwell. The panel wanted to indict eight people and two corporations involved with Rocky Flats, and recommended closing the plant.

But then-US Attorney Michael Norton refused to sign the indictments and worked out a plea bargain.