1158: 4/4 Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, by Kristen Iversen
Image: A weapons-grade ring of electrorefined plutonium, typical of the rings refined at Los Alamos and sent to Rocky Flats for fabrication. The ring has a purity of 99.96%, weighs 5.3 kg, and is approx 11 cm in diameter. It is enough plutonium for one bomb core. The ring shape helps with criticality safety (less concentrated material). Permissions: below. Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats,by Kristen Iversen (https://www.amazon.com/Kristen-Iversen/e/B000APG65I/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1) “An intimate and deeply human memoir that shows why we should all be concerned about nuclear safety, and the dangers of ignoring science in the name of national security.”—Rebecca Skloot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks A shocking account of the government’s attempt to conceal the effects of the toxic waste released by a secret nuclear weapons plant in Colorado and a community’s vain search for justice—soon to be a feature documentary Kristen Iversen grew up in a small Colorado town close to Rocky Flats, a secret nuclear weapons plant once designated "the most contaminated site in America." Full Body Burden is 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. Her father's hidden liquor bottles, the strange cancers in children in the neighborhood, the truth about what was made at Rocky Flats—best not to inquire too deeply into any of it. But as Iversen grew older, she began to ask questions and discovered some disturbing realities. Based on extensive interviews, FBI and EPA documents, and class-action testimony, this taut, beautifully written book is both captivating and unnerving. https://www.amazon.com/Full-Body-Burden-Growing-Nuclear-ebook/dp/B006L7I4AE/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1613259803&sr=8-1 .. .. .. Permissions: This image comes from Los Alamos National Laboratory (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory) , a national laboratory privately operated under contract from the United States Department of Energy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energy) by Los Alamos National Security, LLC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Security) betweeen October 1, 2007 and October 31, 2018. LANL allowed anyone to use it for any purpose, provided that the copyright holder is properly attributed. Redistribution, derivative work, commercial use, and all other use is permitted. LANL requires the following text be used when crediting images to it: (link (http://www.lanl.gov/misc/copyright.html) ) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plutonium_ring.jpg Unless otherwise indicated, this information has been authored by an employee or employees of the Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS), operator of the Los Alamos National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25396 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Government has rights to use, reproduce, and distribute this information. The public may copy and use this information without charge, provided that this Notice and any statement of authorship are reproduced on all copies. Neither the Government nor LANS makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any liability or responsibility for the use of this information. Scanned from: Christensen, Dana (1995). The Future of Plutonium Technology (http://la-science.lanl.gov/lascience23.shtml) . Los Alamos Science (23): 170.