Leaking pipes and defective equipment regularly contaminated workers with plutonium, a deadly radioactive substance that can cause cancer. Instead of stopping production, Kerr-McGee ordered its employees to continue working and did not repair the leaks until slack production periods.

The Court, in its review of the legislative history of federal nuclear safety regulation, found that Congress assumed that state law tort remedies would remain available. The Court held that punitive damages were not preempted by the Atomic Energy Act, by 42 U.S.C.S.

Kerr-McGee shareholders approved the offer on August 10, 2006 and Kerr-McGee ceased to exist as an independent entity. All operations with the exception of Tronox which was spun off as a separate company in 2005 moved out of Oklahoma.

During the week of November 5, 1972, she was repeatedly exposed to plutonium radiation. She further was accused of stealing plutonium, traces of which were found by Kerr-McGee officials in her apartment..

Based on the true story of Karen Silkwood, who died in an auto accident in 1974 just as she was beginning to bring national attention to the Kerr-McGee plant, this ABC Motion Pictures presentation is an alarming focus on a national hazard — the hurried up, focuses on the workers themselves, powerfully dramatizing the …

Kerr-McGee closed its nuclear fuel plants in 1975. The Department of Energy (DOE) reported the Cimarron plant as decontaminated and decommissioned in 1994. PBS Frontline produced the program, Nuclear Reaction, which included aspects of the Silkwood story.

Silkwood was a chemical technician at the Kerr-McGee’s plutonium fuels production plant in Crescent, Oklahoma, and a member of the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers’ Union. She was also an activist who was critical of plant safety.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.
Kerr-McGee Corp. of Oklahoma City is one of two oil and natural gas exploration and production companies being acquired by Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for $21.1 billion. Anadarko agreed to buy Kerr-McGee for $16.4 billion, or $70.50 a share, a 40 percent premium over Thursday’s closing price.

Kristi Riddles
Michael MeadowsDawn Meadows
Karen Silkwood/Children

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Silkwood/Awards

Karen Silkwood died on November 13, 1974 in a fatal one-car crash. Since then, her story has achieved worldwide fame as the subject of many books, magazine and newspaper articles, and even a major motion picture.

Silkwood was a nuclear whistle-blower and a labor union activist who died in a car collision while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she worked….