The Fernald Feed Materials Production Center began operating on this site in October 1951 in support of America's Cold War effort. As the first link in America's nuclear weapons production cycle, Fernald produced high purity uranium metal products for use by other sites within the nuclear weapons complex. In the late 1980s, releases of radioactive contamination from Fernald drew national attention to the environmental legacy of the Cold War. Reduced demand for its product and public outcry over the contamination led Fernald to shift to environmental cleanup in 1989. After one of the largest environmental cleanup and ecological restoration projects in American history was completed, the site was renamed "The Fernald Preserve" in 2006.