Pinellas Plant, Florida

General Electric built the Pinellas Plant in 1956, which it then sold to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (the precursor to the U.S. Department of Energy), in 1957. General Electric continued to operate the plant for the next 35 years, under government contract. The densely industrialized 97-acre site became an important part of the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons complex, manufacturing bomb components such as neutron generator fission triggers, thermal ambient temperature batteries, and vacuum switch tubes. The Pinellas Plant remained a diversified and modern R&D/manufacturing facility employing around 1,500 people (almost exclusively engaged in defense-related work) right up until its closure in 1992. In 1995, the Department of Energy sold the plant to the county. It was rechristened the Young-Rainey STAR Center, and after environmental remediation, is now a functioning industrial park.