DoomsdaysCW<p>Good ol' <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/KerrMcGee" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>KerrMcGee</span></a>. You remember them, right? <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/KarenSilkwood" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>KarenSilkwood</span></a>'s employer!</p><p>Karen <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Silkwood" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Silkwood</span></a>'s sudden death unpacked in ABC documentary</p><p>The four-part podcast unearths never-before-heard audio tapes. </p><p>ByDoc Louallen<br>November 14, 2024</p><p>"Fifty years ago, the death of a 28-year-old <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/plutonium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>plutonium</span></a> plant worker and whistleblower in Oklahoma -- a death many found mysterious and sparked decades of speculation -- shocked the nation.</p><p>"The official story was that Karen Silkwood died in a one-car crash on Nov. 13, 1974. She was on her way to meet a New York Times journalist, reportedly to hand over documents she'd secretly been collecting at her job at a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearFacility" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NuclearFacility</span></a>. The Oklahoma State Highway Patrol concluded that Silkwood fell asleep at the wheel -- possibly under the influence of prescribed drugs --- drove off the highway, crashed into a ditch, and died.</p><p>"'We’ve never believed it,' Mike Boettcher said of the official narrative. Boettcher and his reporting partner Bob Sands, both veteran Oklahoma journalists, say many in Oklahoma speculate that Karen Silkwood may have died for what she knew.</p><p>"Silkwood's story has become widely known, inspiring several books, articles, and a major motion picture.<br>Silkwood worked at a nuclear fuel production plant that manufactured <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/plutonium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>plutonium</span></a> fuel rods to power a new type of nuclear reactor, which was part of a multi-million dollar experiment to enhance <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/nuclear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>nuclear</span></a> energy. When she noticed what she felt were <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/unsafe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>unsafe</span></a> working conditions -- such as leaks, spills and co-workers frequently getting <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/contaminated" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>contaminated</span></a> with <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RadioactiveMaterial" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RadioactiveMaterial</span></a> -- she spoke up and tried to make improvements.</p><p>"'Karen became nuclear energy's first <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/whistleblower" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>whistleblower</span></a>, though the term whistleblower was just starting to be used,' Boettcher said. 'This was at a time when the idea of someone inside of a big corporation exposing alleged misdeeds was shocking.'</p><p>"Silkwood's allegations, contamination, and untimely death sparked an investigation by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, an FBI inquiry, a civil lawsuit, several appeals, a congressional hearing and two appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court."</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/karen-silkwoods-sudden-death-unpacked-abc-documentary/story?id=115778837" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/k</span><span class="invisible">aren-silkwoods-sudden-death-unpacked-abc-documentary/story?id=115778837</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CoverUp" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CoverUp</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NoNukes</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearIndustry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NuclearIndustry</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilAndGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BigOilAndGas</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WhoKilledKarenSilkwood" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WhoKilledKarenSilkwood</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies</span></a></p>