The Killing of Karen Silkwood

The Killing of Karen Silkwood
November 18

Karen Gay Silkwood was an American chemical technician and labor
union activist known for reporting concerns about corporate
practices related to health and safety in a nuclear facility.

She worked at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site in
Crescent, Oklahoma, making plutonium pellets. She was the first
woman ever elected to the union's negotiating team at Kerr-McGee.
After testifying to the Atomic Energy Commission about her safety
concerns, she was found to have plutonium contamination in her body
and her home. While driving to meet with a New York Times
journalist and an official of her union's national office, she died
in a car crash, the circumstances of which were never explained
entirely.

Her family sued Kerr-McGee for the plutonium contamination that
Silkwood suffered from. The company settled out of court for
US$1.38 million, while not admitting liability. Her story was
chronicled in Mike Nichols's 1983 Academy Award-nominated movie
Silkwood in which she was portrayed by Meryl Streep.

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