Karen Silkwood
Encyclopedia
Karen Gay Silkwood was an American
labor union activist and chemical technician at the Kerr-McGee
plant near Crescent, Oklahoma
, United States
. Silkwood's job was making plutonium
pellets
for nuclear reactor
fuel rods. She died under mysterious circumstances after investigating claims of irregularities and wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plant.
, the daughter of Merle and William Silkwood, and raised in Nederland, Texas
. She attended Lamar State College
in Beaumont, Texas
. In 1965, she married oil pipeline worker William Meadows with whom she had three children. Silkwood left her husband in 1972 and moved to Oklahoma City
where she briefly worked as a hospital clerk.
local and took part in a strike at the plant. After the strike ended, she was elected to the union's bargaining committee and assigned to investigate health and safety issues. She discovered what she believed to be numerous violations of health regulations, including exposure of workers to contamination, faulty respiratory equipment and improper storage of samples. She also believed the lack of sufficient shower facilities could increase the risk of employee contamination.
In the summer of 1974, Silkwood testified to the Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC) about these issues, alleging that safety standards had slipped because of a production speedup which resulted in employees being given tasks for which they were poorly trained. She also alleged that Kerr-McGee employees handled the fuel rods improperly and that the company falsified inspection records.
On November 5, 1974, Silkwood performed a routine self-check and found her body contained almost 400 times the legal limit for plutonium contamination. She was decontaminated at the plant and sent home with a testing kit to collect urine and feces for further analysis. Oddly, though there was plutonium on the exterior surfaces (the ones she touched) of the gloves she had been using, the gloves did not have any holes. This suggests the contamination did not come from inside the glovebox
, but from some other source.
The next morning, as she headed to a union negotiation meeting, she again tested positive for plutonium. This was surprising because she had only performed paperwork duties that morning. She was given a more intense decontamination. The following day, November 7, 1974, as she entered the plant, she was found to be dangerously contaminated — even expelling contaminated air from her lungs. A health physics
team accompanied her back to her home and found plutonium traces on several surfaces — especially in the bathroom and the refrigerator. The house was later stripped and decontaminated. Silkwood, her partner and housemate were sent to Los Alamos National Laboratory
for in-depth testing to determine the extent of the contamination in their bodies.
Debate has centered over how Silkwood became contaminated over this 3-day period. Silkwood herself asserted that she was the victim of a malicious campaign, and that the testing jars she had been given were laced with plutonium. The contamination in the bathroom would have occurred when she spilled her urine sample on the morning of November 7. It was also consistent with the fact that samples she took at home had extremely high levels of contamination, whilst samples taken in 'fresh' jars at the plant and at Los Alamos showed much lower contamination.
Kerr-McGee's management asserted that she had contaminated herself in order to paint the company in a negative light. According to Richard Raske's book The Killing of Karen Silkwood, security at the plant was so lax that workers could easily smuggle out finished plutonium pellets.
Nonetheless, Richard Raske's book also asserts that the precise type of plutonium found in her body (soluble) came from a production area to which Silkwood had not had access for 4 months. The pellets had since been stored in the vault of the facility.
, about 30 miles (48.3 km) away, to meet with New York Times reporter David Burnham and Steve Wodka, an official of her union's national office.
. The car contained no documents. She was pronounced dead at the scene from a "classic, one-car sleeping-driver accident". The trooper at the scene remembers that he found one or two tablets of the sedative
methaqualone
(Quaalude) in the car, and he remembers finding marijuana
. The police report indicated that she fell asleep at the wheel. The coroner found 0.35 milligrams of methaqualone per 100 milliliters of blood at the time of her death — an amount almost twice the recommended dosage for inducing drowsiness.
However, some have theorized that Silkwood's car was rammed from behind by another vehicle and with the intent to cause an accident that would result in her death. Skid marks from Silkwood's car were present on the road, which would suggest that she was desperately trying to get back onto the road after being pushed from behind.
Investigators also noted damage on the rear of Silkwood's vehicle that, according to Silkwood's friends and family, was not present prior the accident. The crash was entirely a front-end collision, so there would be no explanation for the damage to the rear of her vehicle. A microscopic examination of the rear of Silkwood's car showed paint chips that could only have come from a rear-impact from another vehicle. Silkwood's family claimed that Silkwood did not have any accidents or fender-benders with the car that they knew of, and that the 1974 Honda Civic
she was driving was not a used car when it was purchased. Further, there had been no insurance claims filed on the vehicle.
The car did not contain any documents, which relatives swore she took with her and had placed on the seat beside her, leading some to allege that they were stolen from her car immediately after the crash in order to silence her allegations concerning her workplace. According to Silkwood's family, she had received several threatening phone calls very shortly before her death. Such speculation about foul play has never been substantiated.
Silkwood's organs were analyzed as part of the Los Alamos Tissue Analysis Program by request of the Atomic Energy Commission and the State Medical Examiner. Much of the radiation was in her lungs, which tends to suggest that the plutonium was inhaled. When her tissues were further examined, the second highest deposits were found in her gastrointestinal organs.
Public suspicions led to a federal investigation into plant security and safety, and a National Public Radio report concerning 44 to 66 pounds of misplaced plutonium. Silkwood's story emphasized the hazards of nuclear energy
and raised questions about corporate accountability and responsibility. Kerr-McGee closed its nuclear fuel plants in 1975. The grounds of the Cimarron plant were still being decontaminated 25 years later.
was the chief attorney for the estate; Other key attorneys were Arthur Angel and James Ikard; William Paul was the chief attorney for Kerr-McGee. The estate presented evidence that the autopsy proved Ms. Silkwood was contaminated with plutonium. To prove the contamination was sustained at the plant, evidence was given by a series of witnesses who were former employees of the facility.
The main witness for the defense was Dr. George Voelz, a top-level scientist at Los Alamos. Dr. Voelz stated that he believed the contamination was within legal standards. Mr. Spence ultimately probed enough to get Dr. Voelz to admit he was unsure of the level of contamination needed to cause cancer. The defense later proposed that Ms. Silkwood was a troublemaker who may have poisoned herself. Following the summation arguments, Judge Frank Theis told the jury of the longest civil trial in Oklahoma
history, "If you find that the damage to the person or property of Karen Silkwood resulted from the operation of this plant, Kerr-McGee is liable."
The jury rendered its verdict of US $505,000 in damages and US $10,000,000 in punitive damages
. On appeal
, the judgment was reduced to US $5,000. In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court
restored the original verdict. The suit was headed for retrial when Kerr-McGee settled out of court for $1.38 million, admitting no liability. According to Richard L. Rashke's book The Killing of Karen Silkwood, investigators of Silkwood's death as well as the Kerr-McGee corporation and their Cimarron plant received death threats. One of the investigators disappeared under mysterious circumstances. One of the witnesses to the Silkwood incident committed suicide very shortly before she was to testify against the Kerr-McGee corporation about the alleged happenings at the plant.
According to Rashke's book, the Silkwood family's legal team were followed, threatened with violence, and physically assaulted. The book also claims that the 44 pounds of missing plutonium at the plant were stolen by a secret underground plutonium smuggling ring that many government agencies, including the highest levels of government and international intelligence agencies CIA, MI5
, Israeli Mossad
, and a shadowy group of Iran
ians were all a part of. The book states that the United States government covered up many details about Silkwood's death, and allegedly were the ones who carried out the Silkwood assassination, not entities from the Kerr-McGee corporation.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
labor union activist and chemical technician at the Kerr-McGee
Kerr-McGee
The Kerr-McGee Corporation, founded in 1929, was an energy company involved in the exploration and production of oil and gas. On June 23, 2006, Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation agreed to acquire Kerr-McGee in an all-cash transaction totaling $16.5 billion plus the assumption of $2.6...
plant near Crescent, Oklahoma
Crescent, Oklahoma
Crescent is a city in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States. The population inside the city limits was 1,281 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Silkwood's job was making plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
pellets
Pelletizing
Pelletizing is the process of compressing or molding a material into the shape of a pellet. A wide range of different materials are pelletized including chemicals, iron ore, animal compound feed, and more.- Pelletizing of iron ore :...
for nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
fuel rods. She died under mysterious circumstances after investigating claims of irregularities and wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plant.
Early life
Silkwood was born in Longview, TexasLongview, Texas
Longview is a city in Gregg and Harrison Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 80,455. Most of the city is located in Gregg County, of which it is the county seat; only a small part extends into the western part of neighboring Harrison County. It is...
, the daughter of Merle and William Silkwood, and raised in Nederland, Texas
Nederland, Texas
Nederland is a city in Jefferson County, Texas, United States. The population was 17,547 at the 2010 census.The city is adjacent to the Southeast Texas Regional Airport in Port Arthur, which serves the nearby cities of Beaumont and Port Arthur. It is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...
. She attended Lamar State College
Lamar University
Lamar University, often referred to as Lamar or LU, is a comprehensive coeducational public research university located in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar confers bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees and is classified as a Doctoral Research University by the Carnegie Commission on Higher...
in Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
. In 1965, she married oil pipeline worker William Meadows with whom she had three children. Silkwood left her husband in 1972 and moved to Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
where she briefly worked as a hospital clerk.
Union activities
After being hired at Kerr-McGee, Silkwood joined the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers UnionOil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Union
The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union was a trade union in the United States. At the time of its dissolution and merger in 1999, the International represented 80,000 workers and was affiliated with the AFL-CIO....
local and took part in a strike at the plant. After the strike ended, she was elected to the union's bargaining committee and assigned to investigate health and safety issues. She discovered what she believed to be numerous violations of health regulations, including exposure of workers to contamination, faulty respiratory equipment and improper storage of samples. She also believed the lack of sufficient shower facilities could increase the risk of employee contamination.
In the summer of 1974, Silkwood testified to the Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
(AEC) about these issues, alleging that safety standards had slipped because of a production speedup which resulted in employees being given tasks for which they were poorly trained. She also alleged that Kerr-McGee employees handled the fuel rods improperly and that the company falsified inspection records.
On November 5, 1974, Silkwood performed a routine self-check and found her body contained almost 400 times the legal limit for plutonium contamination. She was decontaminated at the plant and sent home with a testing kit to collect urine and feces for further analysis. Oddly, though there was plutonium on the exterior surfaces (the ones she touched) of the gloves she had been using, the gloves did not have any holes. This suggests the contamination did not come from inside the glovebox
Glovebox
A glovebox is a sealed container that is designed to allow one to manipulate objects where a separate atmosphere is desired. Built into the sides of the glovebox are gloves arranged in such a way that the user can place their hands into the gloves and perform tasks inside the box without breaking...
, but from some other source.
The next morning, as she headed to a union negotiation meeting, she again tested positive for plutonium. This was surprising because she had only performed paperwork duties that morning. She was given a more intense decontamination. The following day, November 7, 1974, as she entered the plant, she was found to be dangerously contaminated — even expelling contaminated air from her lungs. A health physics
Health physics
Health physics is a field of science concerned with radiation physics and radiation biology with the goal of providing technical information and proper techniques regarding the safe use of ionizing radiation...
team accompanied her back to her home and found plutonium traces on several surfaces — especially in the bathroom and the refrigerator. The house was later stripped and decontaminated. Silkwood, her partner and housemate were sent to Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
for in-depth testing to determine the extent of the contamination in their bodies.
Debate has centered over how Silkwood became contaminated over this 3-day period. Silkwood herself asserted that she was the victim of a malicious campaign, and that the testing jars she had been given were laced with plutonium. The contamination in the bathroom would have occurred when she spilled her urine sample on the morning of November 7. It was also consistent with the fact that samples she took at home had extremely high levels of contamination, whilst samples taken in 'fresh' jars at the plant and at Los Alamos showed much lower contamination.
Kerr-McGee's management asserted that she had contaminated herself in order to paint the company in a negative light. According to Richard Raske's book The Killing of Karen Silkwood, security at the plant was so lax that workers could easily smuggle out finished plutonium pellets.
Nonetheless, Richard Raske's book also asserts that the precise type of plutonium found in her body (soluble) came from a production area to which Silkwood had not had access for 4 months. The pellets had since been stored in the vault of the facility.
Going public
Silkwood said she had assembled a stack of documentation for her claims. She now decided to go public with this evidence, and made contact with a New York Times journalist prepared to print the story. On November 13, 1974 she left a union meeting at the Hub Cafe in Crescent. Another attendee of that meeting later testified that she did have a binder and a packet of documents at the cafe.http://www.trivia-library.com/c/controversy-was-karen-silkwood-murdered-part-3.htm Silkwood got into her car and headed alone for Oklahoma CityOklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, about 30 miles (48.3 km) away, to meet with New York Times reporter David Burnham and Steve Wodka, an official of her union's national office.
Death
Later that evening, Silkwood's body was found in her car, which had run off the road and struck a culvertCulvert
A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...
. The car contained no documents. She was pronounced dead at the scene from a "classic, one-car sleeping-driver accident". The trooper at the scene remembers that he found one or two tablets of the sedative
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....
methaqualone
Methaqualone
Methaqualone is a sedative-hypnotic drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general central nervous system depressant. The sedative-hypnotic activity was first noted by Indian researchers in the 1950s and in 1962 methaqualone itself was patented in the US by Wallace and Tiernan...
(Quaalude) in the car, and he remembers finding marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
. The police report indicated that she fell asleep at the wheel. The coroner found 0.35 milligrams of methaqualone per 100 milliliters of blood at the time of her death — an amount almost twice the recommended dosage for inducing drowsiness.
However, some have theorized that Silkwood's car was rammed from behind by another vehicle and with the intent to cause an accident that would result in her death. Skid marks from Silkwood's car were present on the road, which would suggest that she was desperately trying to get back onto the road after being pushed from behind.
Investigators also noted damage on the rear of Silkwood's vehicle that, according to Silkwood's friends and family, was not present prior the accident. The crash was entirely a front-end collision, so there would be no explanation for the damage to the rear of her vehicle. A microscopic examination of the rear of Silkwood's car showed paint chips that could only have come from a rear-impact from another vehicle. Silkwood's family claimed that Silkwood did not have any accidents or fender-benders with the car that they knew of, and that the 1974 Honda Civic
Honda Civic
The Honda Civic is a line of subcompact and subsequently compact cars made and manufactured by Honda. The Civic, along with the Accord and Prelude, comprised Honda's vehicles sold in North America until the 1990s, when the model lineup was expanded...
she was driving was not a used car when it was purchased. Further, there had been no insurance claims filed on the vehicle.
The car did not contain any documents, which relatives swore she took with her and had placed on the seat beside her, leading some to allege that they were stolen from her car immediately after the crash in order to silence her allegations concerning her workplace. According to Silkwood's family, she had received several threatening phone calls very shortly before her death. Such speculation about foul play has never been substantiated.
Silkwood's organs were analyzed as part of the Los Alamos Tissue Analysis Program by request of the Atomic Energy Commission and the State Medical Examiner. Much of the radiation was in her lungs, which tends to suggest that the plutonium was inhaled. When her tissues were further examined, the second highest deposits were found in her gastrointestinal organs.
Public suspicions led to a federal investigation into plant security and safety, and a National Public Radio report concerning 44 to 66 pounds of misplaced plutonium. Silkwood's story emphasized the hazards of nuclear energy
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
and raised questions about corporate accountability and responsibility. Kerr-McGee closed its nuclear fuel plants in 1975. The grounds of the Cimarron plant were still being decontaminated 25 years later.
Estate of Karen Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee
Silkwood's father and children filed a lawsuit against Kerr-McGee on the behalf of her estate. The trial was held in 1979. Gerry SpenceGerry Spence
Gerry Spence is a trial lawyer in the United States. In 2008, he announced he would retire, at age 79, at the end of the Geoffrey Fieger trial in Detroit, MI. Spence states that he "has never lost a criminal case either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney...
was the chief attorney for the estate; Other key attorneys were Arthur Angel and James Ikard; William Paul was the chief attorney for Kerr-McGee. The estate presented evidence that the autopsy proved Ms. Silkwood was contaminated with plutonium. To prove the contamination was sustained at the plant, evidence was given by a series of witnesses who were former employees of the facility.
The main witness for the defense was Dr. George Voelz, a top-level scientist at Los Alamos. Dr. Voelz stated that he believed the contamination was within legal standards. Mr. Spence ultimately probed enough to get Dr. Voelz to admit he was unsure of the level of contamination needed to cause cancer. The defense later proposed that Ms. Silkwood was a troublemaker who may have poisoned herself. Following the summation arguments, Judge Frank Theis told the jury of the longest civil trial in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
history, "If you find that the damage to the person or property of Karen Silkwood resulted from the operation of this plant, Kerr-McGee is liable."
The jury rendered its verdict of US $505,000 in damages and US $10,000,000 in punitive damages
Punitive damages
Punitive damages or exemplary damages are damages intended to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit...
. On appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
, the judgment was reduced to US $5,000. In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
restored the original verdict. The suit was headed for retrial when Kerr-McGee settled out of court for $1.38 million, admitting no liability. According to Richard L. Rashke's book The Killing of Karen Silkwood, investigators of Silkwood's death as well as the Kerr-McGee corporation and their Cimarron plant received death threats. One of the investigators disappeared under mysterious circumstances. One of the witnesses to the Silkwood incident committed suicide very shortly before she was to testify against the Kerr-McGee corporation about the alleged happenings at the plant.
According to Rashke's book, the Silkwood family's legal team were followed, threatened with violence, and physically assaulted. The book also claims that the 44 pounds of missing plutonium at the plant were stolen by a secret underground plutonium smuggling ring that many government agencies, including the highest levels of government and international intelligence agencies CIA, MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
, Israeli Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
, and a shadowy group of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ians were all a part of. The book states that the United States government covered up many details about Silkwood's death, and allegedly were the ones who carried out the Silkwood assassination, not entities from the Kerr-McGee corporation.
In popular culture
- Gil Scott-HeronGil Scott-HeronGilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
's 1977 song "We Almost Lost DetroitWe Almost Lost DetroitWe Almost Lost Detroit, a 1975 Reader's Digest book by John G. Fuller, presents a history of Fermi 1, America's first commercial breeder reactor, with emphasis on the 1966 partial nuclear meltdown. It was republished in 1984 by Berkley....
" makes mention of Silkwood:
- What would Karen Silkwood say / If she was still alive? / That when it comes to people's safety / Money wins out every time.
- The 1983 film1983 in film-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
SilkwoodSilkwoodSilkwood is a 1983 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was inspired by the true-life story of Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she...
is an account of Silkwood's life and the story. Meryl StreepMeryl StreepMary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
played the title role.
- In 1984, Wendy O. WilliamsWendy O. WilliamsWendy Orlean Williams , better known as Wendy O. Williams, was the lead singer for the American punk band the Plasmatics, as well as a solo artist...
(of the PlasmaticsPlasmaticsThe Plasmatics were an American heavy metal and punk band formed by Yale University art school graduate Rod Swenson with Wendy O. Williams. The band was a controversial group known for wild live shows that broke countless taboos...
), recorded a song named "Opus in Cm7" for her solo album WOW which had the following lyrics:
- "Where did you go Karen Silkwood? What was the price on your head?/
- Why do our heroes all vanish? Why are our heroes all dead?/
- In the dark of night I hear the vultures scream. And I just can't seem to wake up from the dream./
- How many armies must yet perish? How many young people die?/
- Why are we breathing dioxin while it rains acid rain from the sky?"
- In 1986, over 300 women claiming to be Karen Silkwood were arrested and released without charge after entering Pine GapPine GapPine Gap is the commonly used name for a satellite tracking station at, some south-west of the town of Alice Springs in the centre of Australia which is operated by both Australia and the United States. The facility has become a key part of the local economy.It consists of a large computer complex...
.
- In 1991 Gary Clail/On-U Sound System recorded the track "Karen Silkwood's Car" for dance compilation-album Give Peace a Dance.
- In the 1995 film Home for the HolidaysHome for the Holidays (film)Home for the Holidays is a 1995 comedy-drama film directed by Jodie Foster and produced by Peggy Rajski and Jodie Foster. The screenplay was by W. D. Richter based on the short story by Chris Radant...
, Robert Downey, Jr. referenced Silkwood when telling Anne BancroftAnne BancroftAnne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
to clean up. "Do a Silkwood shower for us...".
- In episode 307 of Will & GraceWill & GraceWill & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
, JackJack McFarlandJohn Philip "Jack" McFarland was a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace, played by Sean Hayes.-Character personality:...
wanted to "stay home and rent Silkwood." Then, imitating CherCherCher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
(he was carrying a plastic Cher doll at the time), he said "I'm a lesbian who's been exposed to nuclear waste, hoh!"
- In the 2007 series finale of Studio 60 on the Sunset StripStudio 60 on the Sunset StripStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip was an American dramedy television series created and written by Aaron Sorkin. It ran for 22 episodes.The series takes place behind the scenes of a live sketch comedy show on the fictional television network NBS , whose format is similar to that of NBC's...
, Danny referenced Silkwood when asking about sterilization so that he could speak with Jordan and have her sign guardianship papers for her daughter.
- In an episode of Seinfeld, "The Shower HeadThe Shower Head"The Shower Head" is the 126th episode of NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 16th episode for the 7th season. It aired on February 15, 1996.-Plot:...
", KramerCosmo KramerCosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
and NewmanNewman (Seinfeld)Newman is a recurring character on the television show Seinfeld, played by Wayne Knight from 1991 until the show's finale in 1998.-Background:...
attempt to buy a powerful shower head and ask for one like Silkwood. Kramer – "Isn't that for radiation?"
- In an episode of the NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom 30 Rock30 Rock30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
from early 2009 titled "Retreat to Move ForwardRetreat to Move Forward"Retreat to Move Forward" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 45th overall episode of the series. It was written by executive story editor Tami Sagher and directed by Steve Buscemi. The episode originally aired on the National...
", JennaJenna MaroneyJenna Maroney is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, played by Jane Krakowski.-Fictional biography:Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield...
mentions taking a "Silkwood shower" to cleanse herself after having a misguided tryst with a co-worker.
- In an episode of the FoxFox Broadcasting CompanyFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
sitcom GleeGlee (TV series)Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
titled "The Rhodes Not TakenThe Rhodes Not Taken"The Rhodes Not Taken" is the fifth episode of the American television series Glee. It premiered on the Fox network on September 30, 2009 and was written by series co-creator Ian Brennan and directed by John Scott...
", from September 2009, Emma Pilsbury mentions having four decontamination showers after being vomited on by Kurt Hummel, and says she thinks hospital staff calls it "the full Silkwood."
- In an episode of TheCWThe CW Television NetworkThe CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
drama SupernaturalSupernatural (TV series)Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
titled "Sam, Interrupted", from January 2010, after entering a mental institution and being submitted to invasive procedures by the nurses, DeanDean WinchesterDean Winchester is a fictional character from The CW Television Network's Supernatural, portrayed by Jensen Ackles. He hunts demons, spirits and other supernatural creatures with his younger brother Sam.-Background:...
asks his brother if he enjoyed his "Silkwood shower."
- In an episode of CSICSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
, GrissomGil GrissomDr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom, is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by William Petersen. Grissom was a forensic entomologist and the night-shift supervisor of the Clark County, Nevada CSI team, investigating crimes in and around the city of Las Vegas...
says 'Okay Silkwood, you'll be fine', after NickNick StokesNicholas "Nick" Stokes is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by George Eads. Nick has appeared in every episode except for "Blood Lust" from season three, "Jackpot" and "Butterflied" from season four, "Committed" from season five, and "Spellbound"...
comes into contact with uranium.
- In the 2008 film Baby MamaBaby Mama (film)Baby Mama is a 2008 comedy film from Universal Pictures written and directed by Michael McCullers and starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Sigourney Weaver, Greg Kinnear, and Dax Shepard.-Plot:...
, Amy PoehlerAmy PoehlerAmy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
's character Angie Ostrowiski has her hair washed thoroughly by Tina FeyTina FeyElizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
's character Kate Holbrook, after she dyed it with peroxide, reminiscent of the decontamination showers shown in the film SilkwoodSilkwoodSilkwood is a 1983 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was inspired by the true-life story of Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she...
.
External links
- Annotated Bibliography for Karen Silkwood from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
- Karen Silkwood Remembered
- The Karen Silkwood Story (PBS account based on the Los Alamos report)
- The Karen Silkwood Story: What We Know at Los Alamos (first published in Los Alamos Science, Volume XXIII, November 23, 1995)
- Karen Silkwood biography (biography.com)