Karen Gay Silkwood (February 19, 1946 - November 13, 1974) is a US chemical technician and trade unionist known for raising concerns about company practices related to occupational health and safety at nuclear facilities. After his mysterious death, which received extensive coverage, his property filed a lawsuit against the chemical company Kerr-McGee, which was eventually set for $ 1.38 million. Her story is recorded in the nominated Oscar nomination film 1983 Nichnols Silkwood where she is portrayed by Meryl Streep.
He works at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site factory near Crescent, Oklahoma, USA. Silkwood's work is building a plutonium pellet for nuclear reactor fuel rods. This factory experienced the theft of plutonium by workers during this era. He joined the union and became an activist on health and safety issues at the plant as a member of the union negotiating team, the first woman to have a position in Kerr-McGee. In the summer of 1974, he testified to the Atomic Energy Commission about his concerns.
For three days in November, he was found to have plutonium contamination on his person and at his home. That month, while driving to meet with David Burnham, a New York Times journalist, and Steve Wodka, an official of his union's national office, he died in a car accident in an obscure state.
His family sued Kerr-McGee on behalf of his inheritance. In what is the longest experiment up to that point in Oklahoma history, the jury found Kerr-McGee responsible for Silkwood plutonium contamination, and provided substantial compensation. This was reduced on appeal, but the case reached the United States Supreme Court in 1979, which corroborated the verdict of destruction. Prior to another hearing, Kerr-McGee settled with land outside the court with US $ 1.38 million, while not recognizing obligations.
Video Karen Silkwood
Family
Karen Gay Silkwood was born in Longview, Texas, daughter of Merle (nÃÆ' Â © e Biggs 1926-2014) and William Silkwood, and grew up in the Netherlands, Texas. He has two sisters, Linda and Rosemary. He attended Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. In 1965, he married William Meadows, an oil pipeline worker, with whom he had three children. After the couple's bankruptcy due to 'oversending Meadows', and in the face of Meadows' refusal to end extramarital affairs, Silkwood left Meadows in 1972 and moved to Oklahoma City, where he briefly worked as a hospital clerk. : 2
Maps Karen Silkwood
Union activity
After being employed at Kerr-McGee in 1972, Silkwood merged with Oil, Chemical & amp; The Atomic Workers Union and took part in the factory strike. After the strike ended, he was elected a member of the union's bargaining committee, the first woman to reach that position at the Kerr-McGee plant. He was assigned to investigate health and safety concerns. He found what he believed to be a breach of many health regulations, including workers exposure to contamination, wrong breathing apparatus and inaccurate sample storage. He believes the lack of adequate bath facilities may increase the risk of employee contamination. : 19-23
The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union said that "The Kerr-McGee Factory has been producing damaged fuel rods, falsifying product inspection records, and risking employee safety;" it threatens litigation. In the summer of 1974, Silkwood testified to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) about being contaminated, alleging that safety standards had slipped due to the pace of production. He appears with other guild members. : 22-23
On November 5, 1974, Silkwood conducted a self-examination routinely and found that his body contained nearly 400 times the legal limit for plutonium contamination. She was decontaminated at the plant and sent home with assays to collect urine and feces for further analysis. Although there is plutonium on the inside of the glove that he uses, the glove does not have a hole. It shows the contamination does not come from within the glovebox, but from several other sources. : 252
The next morning, as he headed to a union negotiation meeting, Silkwood was again tested positive for plutonium, even though he was only doing paperwork that morning. He was given more intensive decontamination. On November 7, when he entered the factory, he was found to be dangerously contaminated, even expelling contaminated air from his lungs. The health physics team accompanied him back to his home and found traces of plutonium on several surfaces, especially in the bathroom and fridge. When the house is then stripped and decontaminated, some of his property must be destroyed. Silkwood, his girlfriend Drew Stephens, and his roommate Dusty Ellis, were sent to Los Alamos National Laboratory for exhaustive testing to determine the level of contamination in their bodies. : 253
Questions arise about how Silkwood was contaminated during this three-day period. She said that the contamination in the bathroom might have occurred when she spilled her urine sample on the morning of November 7th. This is consistent with evidence that the samples he took at home had very high levels of contamination, while samples taken in "fresh" jars at the plant and at Los Alamos showed much lower contamination. : 253
He thought he had been contaminated in the factory. Kerr-McGee's management says that Silkwood has defiled itself to portray the company in a negative light. According to Richard L. Rashke's book, Karen Silkwood's Killing (1981/2000), security at the plant is so weak that workers can easily smuggle plutonium pellets so. : 56-62 Rashke writes that the type of plutonium found in Silkwood's body comes from a production area he did not access for four months. Pellets have been stored in the facility's safe. :
Death
Silkwood said he has collected documentation for his claims, including company documents. He decided to publicize this evidence to the public, and contacted David Burnham, a New York Times journalist, who was interested in his story. On November 13, 1974, Silkwood left a trade union meeting at Hub Cafe in Crescent. The other participants of the meeting then testified that Silkwood had a map and a package of documents with her in the cafe. Silkwood got into his car and traveled alone to Oklahoma City, about 30 miles (48 km), to meet with Burnham, a New York Times reporter, and Steve Wodka, an official from his union's national office.. Later that night, Silkwood's body was found in his car, which had fled from the road and hit a culvert on the east side of route 74, 0.11 miles (180 m) south of the junction with the Western Industrial Road (35.855233 Â ° N, 97.584963 Â ° W). The car did not contain the documents he held at a union meeting at Hub's cafe. He was declared dead at the scene in what was believed to be an accident. Police at the scene remembered that he found one or two methaqualone sedatives (Quaalude) in the car, and he remembered finding marijuana. The police report shows that he fell asleep behind the wheel. The coroner found 0.35 milligrams of methaqualone per 100 milliliters of blood at the time of his death - nearly twice the amount of dose recommended to trigger drowsiness.
Some journalists theorized that Silkwood cars were hit from behind by other vehicles, with a view to causing an accident that would result in his death. The scars marks from Silkwood's car were present on the road, indicating that she was trying to get back on the road after being pushed from behind. : 99-101, 114-115
Researchers also noted the damage on the back of Silkwood vehicles that, according to Silkwood's friends and family, had not been present before the accident. Because the accident was completely front-end collision, it did not explain the damage to the rear of the vehicle. The microscopic examination on the back of the Silkwood car shows a paint chip that can come only from a rear-end collision by another vehicle. The Silkwood family claimed to know there were no accidents of any kind owned by Silkwood by car, and that the 1974 Honda Civic he was driving was new when it was purchased and no insurance claims were filed on the vehicle. : 114-115
Silkwood's relatives, too, confirmed that he had taken the missing documents to a union meeting and placed them in a chair next to him. According to his family, he had received several phone calls that threatened very long before his death. Speculation about dirty game is never proven. : 99
According to Killed Karen Silkwood's Who Killed Karen Silkwood , the murder scene in The Chinese Syndrome film, in which Hector's character fled from the street, is based on the theory of Silkwood's death version. In the film, the power generating agency came behind Hector's vehicle and bumped it, repeatedly, from behind until a device in their front bumper moved the rear bumper and allowed them to lift the rear of the vehicle off the road, thereby pushing the car over the cliff. Subsequently, the police officer removed the evidence from his vehicle and handed it to the criminals because their company name was in the document. This can be interpreted as an attempt by a film producer to influence the jury in the Silkwood case. According to the book, for this reason the jury is forbidden to see the new film when they hear the case and negotiate.
Due to concerns about contamination, the Atomic Energy Commission and the State Medical Examiner requested the analysis of Silkwood organs by the Los Alamos Network Analysis Program. Most of the radiation is in his lungs, indicating that plutonium has been inhaled. When her tissue is examined further, the highest deposits are found in the contents of her gastrointestinal tract, indicating that she has swallowed plutonium.
Public suspicion leads to a federal investigation of plant safety and security. National Public Radio reported that this investigation had found that 20 to 30 kilograms (44-66 pounds) of plutonium had gone wrong in the factory.
Kerr-McGee shut down its nuclear fuel plant in 1975. The Department of Energy (DOE) reported the Cimarron plant had been decontaminated and deactivated in 1994.
PBS Frontline produces a program, Nuclear Reaction, which includes aspects of Silkwood's story. His website for the program includes "The Karen Silkwood Story", as it was printed in 1995 in Los Alamos Science. The PBS program includes nuclear energy risks and raises questions about corporate accountability and responsibility.
Silkwood vs. Kerr-McGee
Silkwood's father, Bill, and his sons filed a lawsuit against Kerr-McGee for negligence on behalf of his inheritance. The trial was held in 1979 and lasted for ten months, the longest to date in Oklahoma history. Gerry Spence is the primary lawyer for plantation; Other key lawyers are Daniel Sheehan, Arthur Angel, and James Ikard; William Paul is the chief lawyer for Kerr-McGee. Real presented evidence that the autopsy proved that Silkwood was contaminated with plutonium at the time of his death. To prove that contamination is propped up at the plant, evidence is provided by a series of witnesses who are former facility employees.
Defense depends on expert witness Dr. George Voelz, a top scientist at Los Alamos. Voelz said that he believes the contamination in Silkwood's body is in legal standards. The defense then proposes that Silkwood is a troublemaker, who may have poisoned himself. Following the sum argument, Judge Frank Theis told the jury, "[You] found that the damage to the person or property of Karen Silkwood resulted from the operation of this plant... the defendant Corporation Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corporation is responsible.." : Instruction 7
The jury gave a verdict of US $ 505,000 in damages and US $ 10,000,000 in damages. On appeal in federal court, the decision was reduced to US $ 5,000, an estimate of the value of Silkwood's loss in the property in his rental house, and reversing the punitive compensation award. In 1984, the US Supreme Court restored the original verdict, at Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. 464 US 238 (1984), ruled that "the NRC's exclusive authority to set safety standards does not cover the use of state tort drugs." Despite suggesting it would appeal on other grounds, Kerr-McGee settled out of court for US $ 1 , 38 million, admits there is no obligation.
Representation in other media
According to Richard L. Rashke's book, The Murder of Karen Silkwood (2000), officials investigating the death of Silkwood and the Kerr-McGee operation received death threats. One of the researchers disappeared mysteriously. One witness "committed suicide" shortly before he testified against Kerr-McGee Corporation about alleged incidents at the factory. : Rashke writes that the Silkwood family law team was followed, threatened with violence, and physically assaulted. : xvii-xviii Rashke suggests that 20 kg (44 lbs) of lost plutonium from the plant has been stolen by "underground secret plutonium-smuggling ring" , where many government agencies, including the highest levels of government and international intelligence agencies the CIA, MI5, Israel Mossad, and the "Iranian shadow group" are involved. The book says that the United States government covered many details about Silkwood's death, and allegedly committed his murder.
The 1977 song "We Almost Lost Detroit" by musician Gil Scott-Heron mentions Silkwood. The 1984 song "Opus In Cm7" by Wendy O. Williams begins by mentioning Silkwood.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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