About Karen Silkwood
Karen Gay Silkwood (February 19, 1946 – November 13, 1974) 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. 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. She 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. There were questions about how Silkwood became contaminated during this three-day period from November 5-7.
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