30 Facts About Karen Silkwood

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

Karen Silkwood worked at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site in Crescent, Oklahoma, making plutonium pellets.

Karen Silkwood was the first woman ever elected to the union's negotiating team at Kerr-McGee.

Karen Silkwood's family sued Kerr-McGee for the plutonium contamination that Silkwood suffered from.

Karen Silkwood settled out of court for US$1.38 million, while not admitting liability.

Karen Silkwood's story was chronicled in Mike Nichols's 1983 Academy Award-nominated movie Silkwood in which she was portrayed by Meryl Streep.

Karen Gay Silkwood was born in 1946 in Longview, Texas, and raised in Nederland, Texas.

Karen Silkwood lived with her mother Merle, father Bill, and sisters Rosemary and Linda.

In high school, Karen was a straight 'A' student and a member of the National Honor Society.

In 1965, Karen Silkwood dropped out of college and eloped with William Meadows, an oil pipeline worker, with whom she had three children.

Karen Silkwood discovered at the Cimarron plant what she considered to be numerous violations of health regulations, such as exposure of workers to contamination, faulty respiratory equipment, and improper storage of samples.

Karen Silkwood believed the lack of sufficient shower facilities was increasing the risk of employee contamination.

Karen Silkwood appeared at the AEC hearings along with the two other committee members who likewise testified that Kerr-McGee was endangering its workers.

On November 5,1974, Karen Silkwood performed a routine self-check that showed almost 400 times the legal limit for plutonium contamination.

Karen Silkwood was decontaminated at the plant and sent home with a testing kit to collect urine and feces for further analysis.

The next morning, as she left for a union meeting, Karen Silkwood again tested positive for plutonium, although she had performed only paperwork tasks that morning.

Karen Silkwood concluded that someone working for Kerr-McGee had deliberately contaminated her.

Kerr-McGee's management alleged that Karen Silkwood had contaminated herself in order to harm the company's reputation.

Karen Silkwood decided to go public with this evidence and contacted David Burnham, a New York Times journalist whom Tony Mazzocchi referred her to.

On November 13,1974, Karen Silkwood attended a 5:30 pm union meeting, along with ten other members of the OCAW local, at the Hub Cafe in Crescent.

Karen Silkwood made a brief presentation and sipped iced tea.

Karen Silkwood told me she was on her way to meet Steve Wodka and a New York Times reporter.

Less than 30 minutes later, Karen Silkwood's body was discovered in her smashed-up car, 7.3 miles from the cafe.

Karen Silkwood's car contained none of the documents she had been holding in the meeting at the Hub Cafe.

In light of Pipkin's findings, some friends and journalists theorized that Karen Silkwood's car was rammed from behind with intent to cause a fatal crash.

Karen Silkwood drove evasively, including speeding along the left grass shoulder, and while looking behind her or to her right at the chase car, she didn't realize until too late that she was racing toward the culvert.

Karen Silkwood added that security at the Cimarron plant was so lax, workers could easily smuggle out finished plutonium pellets.

The estate presented evidence that the autopsy showed Karen Silkwood was contaminated with plutonium at the time of her death.

Voelz said he believed the contamination in Karen Silkwood's body was within legal standards.

The defense later proposed that Karen Silkwood was a troublemaker who might have poisoned herself.