What did the Silkwood/radiation reference in “The Shower Head” mean?
In the movie “Silkwood”, Meryl Streep worked in a nuclear power plant. It was the practice at the plant that if there was any sign of radiation exposure, the affected people were stripped down, blasted with a high-powered hose and scrubbed clean. That movie is based on a true story involving Karen Silkwood, a technician working at a Kerr McGee plant involved in plutonium fuel production in the early 1970’s. She discovered dangerous cost-cutting methods were being used and she led a widely publicized effort to improve safety measures at the facility. Silkwood died (or was murdered) in a car crash in late 1974 during a period in which she was gathering evidence to support her claims. An autopsy also confirmed she had been exposed to plutonium several times just before her death.
