Full Body Burden (59 page)
Authors: Kristen Iversen
1
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) says it lacks:
Bruce Finley, “Property Swap Aims to Link Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge with Mountains,”
Denver Post
, October 1, 2011.
2
Nobody can ever safely live here, federal scientists concede:
Ralph Vartabedian, “Nuclear Scars : Toxic Legacy of the Cold War,”
Los Angeles Times
, October 20, 2009.
3
Throughout Japan, radioactive substances:
Hiroko Tabuchi, “Radioactivity in Japan Rice Raises Worries,”
New York Times
, September 24, 2011. See also Evan Osnos, “Japan: The Nuclear Village,”
The New Yorker
, October 10, 2011.
4
Skeptics in Japan and abroad accused the government:
David McNeill, “Why the Fukushima Disaster Is Worse Than Chernobyl,”
The Independent
, August 29, 2011. See also Evan Osnos, “The Fallout: Letter from Fukushima,”
The New Yorker
, October 17, 2011.
5
At an antinuclear protest in Tokyo:
Speech delivered by Ruiko Muto of Hairo Action Fukushima, Meiji Park, Tokyo, Japan, September 15, 2011. Translated by Emma Parker.
6
It was only after radiation:
“Chernobyl Haunts Engineer Who Alerted World,” CNN Interactive World News, April 26, 1996,
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9604/26.chernobyl/230ppm/idex2.html
.
7
The estimated cost to clean up the “vast areas” contaminated:
“Japan: Radiation Cleanup Will Cost at Least $13 Billion, Premier Says,”
New York Times
, October 21, 2011.
8
In the United States we currently have approximately 25,000:
“Plutonium
‘Triggers’ for Nuclear Bombs,” Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, 2009,
www.ananuclear.org/Portals/0/documents/2009%20Fact%20Sheets/Pits5%20final.pdf
. See also Greg Mello, “A Nuclear Facility We Don’t Need,”
New York Times
, November 14, 2011.
9
the production of plutonium pits began again:
Matt Mygatt, “Los Alamos Making Plutonium Triggers,”
Denver Post
, July 2, 2007.
Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats
For additional features, visit
www.kristeniversen.com
.
Full Body Burden
is a haunting work of narrative non-fiction about a young woman, Kristen Iversen, growing up in a small Colorado town close to Rocky Flats, a secret nuclear weapons plant once designated “the most contaminated site in America.” It’s the story of a childhood and adolescence in the shadow of the Cold War, in a landscape at once startlingly beautiful and—unknown to those who lived there—tainted with invisible yet deadly particles of plutonium.
It’s also a book about the destructive power of secrets—both family and government. And as this memoir unfolds, it reveals itself as a brilliant work of investigative journalism—a detailed and shocking account of the government’s sustained attempt to conceal the effects of the toxic and radioactive waste released by Rocky Flats, and of local residents’ vain attempts to seek justice in court. Based on
extensive interviews, FBI and EPA documents, and class-action testimony, this taut, beautifully written book promises to provoke much discussion among your reading group.
1. In this book, author Kristen Iversen weaves together two narratives: a memoir of growing up in Arvada and a historical account of Rocky Flats and the nuclear industry. What effect did moving back and forth between the two story lines have on your experience of reading the book? Did you find one of the two story lines more compelling than the other? Can you think of a different way the book might have been structured?
2. What themes are shared by the two narratives in the book? How are they expressed in each narrative?
3. When Kristen is a child, her mother tells her, “I think [Rocky Flats] makes cleaning supplies. Scrubbing Bubbles or something” (
this page
). Later, when protesters rally against the plant, her parents ridicule the protests. By the end of the book, however, Kristen has worked at the plant and joined the opposition to it. What are some key moments in the evolution of her views about Rocky Flats?
4. One of the most dramatic passages in the book depicts Stan and Bill fighting the Mother’s Day Fire at Rocky Flats (
this page
–
this page
). Iversen describes the scene in detail, from the “burning globes” that crash from the ceiling to the underpass beneath the glove boxes. What parts of the scene were most vivid or memorable for you?
5. While horseback riding one day, Iversen is disturbed
when she comes across a dead cow at the edge of the lake near her house, and she describes the mountains nearby as “a dark, heavy presence, a watching shadow” (
this page
). The discovery of the cow seems like an omen. Are there other examples of foreshadowing in the book?
6. From Fluffy to Tonka to the wild rabbits and deer at the Rocky Flats site to the deformed chickens, animals are a constant presence in the book. What role do animals play in the story line? How were pets and animals important to Kristen’s household, and why?
7. When Kristen was fourteen years old, her father crashed the family car. Afterward he said he had swerved to avoid an oncoming car, but it was clear to her that he had been drinking. Since her parents did not seek medical treatment for her, it was not until years later that she found out she had broken her neck. She writes, “We never speak of the accident again. Silence is an easy habit for a family or a community. This is just for us to know. Eventually we’ll forget this ever happened” (
this page
). At what other times do we see her family’s “habit” of silence? How does it affect her? Can you think of a relationship in your own life in which you and a close friend or family member never talked about something vital to both of you, or pretended that it had never happened?
8. At one point, Kristen’s mother takes the family to see a psychiatrist, and each member of the family draws a picture of home (
this page
–
this page
). The passage reveals key elements of the family dynamic. What did you learn about each family member’s coping mechanisms from this scene? In what different ways did Kristen and her siblings respond to their father’s alcoholism, and to the secrets of Rocky Flats as they were revealed over time?
9. In 1978, protesters were tried for trespassing and attempting to obstruct the activity of Rocky Flats. They base their defense on a little-known “choice of evils” law in Colorado. The law says that an illegal act is justified if it is done to prevent a greater, imminent evil or crime. The judge decides that the law isn’t applicable to their situation (
this page
). Do you agree with the judge’s reasoning? Have you ever been in a situation where this law might have been applicable?
10. Immediately after Kristen learns that Mark has died, her parents argue and then her father knocks on her bedroom door. “How can I let him in when a thousand times he has cast me out?” she asks herself (
this page
), and she does not let him in. Do you think she was right to protect herself from her father? If she had let him in, what do you imagine they might have said to each other?
11. There are several passages in which Rocky Flats workers are contrasted with the activists seeking to shut down the plant, such as the scene with well-to-do protester Ann White and working-class security guard Debby Clark (
this page
–
this page
). How did the two groups feel about each other? Were there any similarities or sympathies between the two groups?
12.
Full Body Burden
contains many surprising facts about Rocky Flats and about radioactive contamination, such as the fact that a single microgram of plutonium is a potentially lethal dose (
this page
) or that in 1970 there was no emergency response plan to protect the public in the event of a major disaster at Rocky Flats (
this page
). Which fact made the deepest impression on you?
13. The poem at the end of the book, “Plutonian Ode” by Allen Ginsberg, was written on the occasion of the 1978
Rocky Flats protest and specifically refers to Rockwell, Rocky Flats, and other nuclear weapons facilities. In it, Ginsberg describes plutonium as a “dreadful presence,” a “delusion of metal empires,” and as “matter that renders Self oblivion.” Why then does he call the poem an “ode”? How does the poem reinforce the message of the book?
14. During the Cold War, an impenetrable veil existed between the nuclear weapons industry and the general public. The U.S. government considered this secrecy necessary for national security. Do you think there is any way the government could have communicated more to the general public without jeopardizing the nation’s safety?
15. For many years the nuclear weapons industry was exempted from environmental regulation because national defense was considered a higher priority. This book reveals the tragic consequences of that exemption. Are there situations in which you believe it is justified to exempt the government, certain industries, or private companies from the law?
16. We live in the era of Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media, as well as organizations that seek transparency in government, such as WikiLeaks. Do you think the level of secrecy maintained by the DOE and the operators of Rocky Flats during much of the plant’s history could be maintained today?
17. Do you live near a nuclear site or nuclear power plant? If so, has your state or local government informed you of the potential risks of living near such a facility, or about emergency response plans in the event of a serious accident involving radioactive contamination?
The Story Behind
Full Body Burden
Full Body Burden
not only took ten years of research and writing, but it proved to be a turning point in my life. I was able to look back on my life, particularly my adolescent years, and put many things in perspective. My family has been remarkably supportive of the book, and we grew closer as we talked about things in the past that we had never really talked about before.
The book has also had a big impact on the lives of people who live near Rocky Flats or other nuclear facilities in the United States and beyond—people whose stories and experiences have rarely been told. I received an e-mail from a reader who grew up in my hometown of Arvada, Colorado, and now lives in Japan, where she experienced the meltdown at Fukushima. “We are all
hibakusha
—victims of radiation,” she wrote. And indeed, as I heard from people around the country, I began to see that many of us have been affected by the nuclear industry. Judging from comments from people who live or grew up near nuclear weapons facilities or nuclear power plants, to industry workers and even officials in the Department of Energy (DOE),
Full Body Burden
has really hit a nerve—and many people
expressed gratitude that the long-secret story of Rocky Flats, and other facilities like it, was now being told. A local Colorado resident wrote: “Like you, I was born and raised in Arvada. Your book was like reliving my childhood.… I was diagnosed with cancer. I have always believed my cancer was from living downwind from Rocky Flats. Many of the kids from my high school class had cancer.”
There were (and are) many nuclear sites similar to Rocky Flats around the country, including the Hanford site in Washington and the Savannah River Site near Atlanta. The wife of a former worker at the Savannah River Site wrote, “My husband died from lung cancer at the age of thirty, barely two months from the date of his diagnosis. Someone needs to write a book like this for the Savannah River Site. We get very little exposure or help in this area.” Painful stories like this from nuclear sites all around the country are often hidden or repressed, yet they represent the untold legacy of U.S. policy at nuclear weapons sites as well as many nuclear power plants. What are the
real
health and environmental costs of nuclear facilities? We need to bring these stories out in the open, and look closely at how U.S. nuclear facilities impact the lives of people who live and work nearby, as well as those who work in the nuclear industry.