Welcome to A People's Atlas of Nuclear Colorado
To experience the full richness of the Atlas, please view on desktop.
Navigating the Atlas
You may browse the Atlas by following the curated "paths" of information and interpretation provided by the editors. These paths roughly track the movement of radioactive materials from the earth, into weapons or energy sources, and then into unmanageable waste—along with the environmental, social, technical, and ethical ramifications of these processes. In addition to the stages of the production process, you may view in sequence the positivist, technocratic version of this story, or the often hidden or repressed shadow side to the industrial processing of nuclear materials.
Using the buttons on the left, you may also browse the Atlas's artworks and scholarly essays, access geolocated material on a map, and learn more about contributors to the project.
If you would like to contribute materials to the Atlas, please reach out to the editors: Sarah Kanouse (s.kanouse at northeastern.edu) and Shiloh Krupar (srk34 at georgetown.edu).
Cover Image by Shanna Merola, "An Invisible Yet Highly Energetic Form of Light," from Nuclear Winter.
Atlas design by Byse.
Funded by grants from Georgetown University and Northeastern University. Initial release September 2021.
Using the buttons on the left, you may also browse the Atlas's artworks and scholarly essays, access geolocated material on a map, and learn more about contributors to the project.
If you would like to contribute materials to the Atlas, please reach out to the editors: Sarah Kanouse (s.kanouse at northeastern.edu) and Shiloh Krupar (srk34 at georgetown.edu).
Cover Image by Shanna Merola, "An Invisible Yet Highly Energetic Form of Light," from Nuclear Winter.
Atlas design by Byse.
Funded by grants from Georgetown University and Northeastern University. Initial release September 2021.
Sarah Kanouse, Monitoring well at the Colorado School of Mines athletic fields, Flickr
Site
Colorado School of Mines Research Foundation
Active from 1949 to 1987, the Colorado School of Mines Research Foundation provided research and development for public and private natural resource industries, including at least 28 projects for the Atomic Energy Commission. The project was soon thereafter renamed Colorado School of Mines Research Institute (CSMRI) with its main purpose being the facilitation of research on domestic energy sources from coal and nuclear. In the 1960s the foundation expanded operations with a new site north of Golden, Colorado, called Table Mountain Research Center. After shutting down in 1987, the CSMRI underwent a remediation regiment of its some 7,700 drums of ore and toxic tailings pond. During this process, in January 1992, a water main pipe rupture led to the release of thousands of gallons of radioactive waste into Clear Creek, contaminating the drinking supply of 250,000 residents. The site is currently used as a parking lot, soccer pitch, and recreational area. Several buildings at the Table Mountain Research Center are leased for industrial use.
King, Taylor. "Uncovering the Little Known History of Mines Research Institute." The Oredigger, November 16, 2016. Accessed August 1, 2020.
Sarah Kanouse, Former site of the Colorado School of Mines Research Foundation, Flickr
Sources
Emshwiller, John and Jeremy Singer-Vince. "Colorado School of Mines." In Wastelands: America’s Forgotten Nuclear Legacy. The Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2013. Accessed July 31, 2020.King, Taylor. "Uncovering the Little Known History of Mines Research Institute." The Oredigger, November 16, 2016. Accessed August 1, 2020.
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