WISE - NIRS Nuclear Monitor 607

What happened 25 years ago? We go back to news from our 1979 WISE Bulletin, comparing anti-nuclear news "then" and "now".

Then
In issue 4 of WISE Bulletin we wrote about a BBC film on the Karen Silkwood murder case. The documentary was made 5 years after the death of Karen Silkwood, on 13 November 1974. "This 50 minute film made by the BBC in England is worth a group hire. It is a documentary, on the spot reporting of the disarray in the Kerr McGee plutonium plant in Oklahoma U.S., where Karen Silkwood was an employee until her murder in 1974. The film concludes that the cost of plutonium is certainly too high for any society". (WISE Bulletin 4, March 1979)

Now
Karen Silkwood started to work at the Cimarron River plutonium fuel plant of Kerr McGee in the early 1970s. She joined the Atomic Workers Union and discovered evidence of spills, leaks and missing plutonium. Kerr-McGee faced litigation involving worker safety and environmental contamination and Silkwood testified, before the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (now NRC), that she had suffered radiation exposure in a series of unexplained incidents. Gloves in a glove box used by Silkwood appeared to be contaminated with plutonium, though strangely enough there was no indication of a leakage and no explanation as to how the gloves became contaminated. Plutonium was also found at her home, in the kitchen, toilet and bedroom. An autopsy showed that she had been contaminated with plutonium before her death. (The Handbook of Texas Online, updated 4 December 2002; Los Alamos Science, 23 November 1995)

On 13 November 1974, she was killed in an automobile crash under highly suspicious circumstances while on her way to a meeting with a union official and a reporter from the New York Times. Silkwood was thought to have had documents with her that proved allegations for quality control falsifications of fuel rods - no documents were found after the crash. Three months before her death, she had given a detailed list of safety violations to the Atomic Energy Commission. (United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Union website, January 2000)

Her case emphasized the hazards of nuclear energy and raised questions about corporate accountability and responsibility. According to the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, the Kerr-McGee plant had manufactured faulty fuel rods, falsified product inspection records, and risked employee safety. Eventually, Kerr-McGee closed the plant.

Silkwood was the subject of a motion picture, Silkwood, released in 1984. In 1986 her family settled a US$11.5 million plutonium-contamination lawsuit against Kerr-McGee for US$1.38 million. Kerr-McGee did not admit liability in settling the case. (The Handbook of Texas Online, updated 4 December 2002)

WISE-Amsterdam/NIRS

ISSN: 1570-4629

Reproduction of this material is encouraged. Please give credit when reprinting.

Editorial team: Tinu Otoki (WISE Amsterdam), Michael Mariotte (NIRS). With contributions from WISE Argentina, WISE Austria, WISE Czech Republic, WISE Japan and WISE Russia.

The next issue (608) will be mailed out April 16, 2004.

Oops!
In issue 604, we mistakenly reported that Buan was in Taiwan… we, of course, meant South Korea - well done to those who spotted the (not-so) deliberate mistake! In the same issue, "25 Years Ago" wrongly claimed that Monju had been connected to the grid in 1985, but in truth it was 1995. In issue 605-606, "A Personal Remembrance" stated that TMI-Alert had been formed in 1979 but the correct date was 1977. We are mortified by our errors and will endeavor never to repeat them.

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