Silkwood is a 1983 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was inspired by the true-life story of Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she worked. Karen Silkwood , a worker at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site , shares a ramshackle house with two co-workers, her boyfriend Drew Stephens and her lesbian friend Dolly Pelliker . In addition to working tedious hours making plutonium fuel rods for nuclear reactors and dealing with the... constant threat of exposure to radiation, her time is consumed by an ongoing battle waged against her former common law husband in an effort to have more time with their three children. Because the plant has fallen behind on a major contract, employees are required to work long hours of overtime and managers are falsifying safety reports and cutting corners wherever possible, risking the welfare of the personnel. Karen approaches the union with her concerns and becomes active in lobbying for safeguards. She travels to Washington, D.C.
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