CRESCENT — 1974 · Suspicious Death
The Death of Karen Silkwood
Karen Silkwood was a laboratory technician who made plutonium pellets at the Kerr-McGee nuclear fuel plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, and the first woman elected to her union's bargaining committee there. After she reported safety concerns to the Atomic Energy Commission, plutonium contamination was found in her body and her home in November 1974. On the evening of 13 November 1974, driving to meet a New York Times reporter and a union official, she died aged 28 in a crash on the highway. Documents she was said to be carrying were never found, and the circumstances of the crash were never fully explained. A 1979 jury awarded her family over $10 million; in 1986 the company settled for $1.38 million without admitting liability.
- Date
- 1974
- Place
- Logan County, Oklahoma, USA, Crescent, US
- Category
- Suspicious Death
- Case Status
- Unsolved
- Coordinates
- 35.9520, -97.5950 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 5 November 1974A routine check found high plutonium contamination on Silkwood.
- 13 November 1974She died in a car crash on her way to meet a journalist.
- 1979A jury awarded $10.5 million in the family's lawsuit.
- 1986Kerr-McGee settled for $1.38 million without admitting liability.
Sources
- PBS Frontline — Karen Silkwood pbs.org ↗
- The New York Times (1974) — Death of plutonium worker questioned by union official nytimes.com ↗
- Wikipedia — Karen Silkwood en.wikipedia.org ↗
- PBS Frontline
- The New York Times
- Wikipedia
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.