Excuse me. There's one more thing.
I work in metallography. In X-rays.
And sometimes we...
Quite frankly, we have negatives altered.
The negatives of the welds in the fuel rods.
They take a weld and cross section it.
Then they photograph it, and there's a defect.
Then they just touch it up.
Touch it up?
With a Pentel pen. Right on the negatives.
They fill in the white spots.
You're talking about X-rays of fuel rods?
The fuel rods they're sending up to that...
We're sending up to that breeder reactor...
they're testing in Hanford.
Do you know what that means?
I know they shouldn't do it.
Excuse us.
Why don't we go in there?
In an ordinary nuclear plant...
you can have meltdowns, poisonous gas, and dead people.
That's nothing compared to what can go wrong with a breeder.
You put defective fuel rods in a breeder reactor...
for all we know, the whole state could be wiped out.
Can you get documentation of that?
I guess so.
If you could get documentation, that would be very important.
We'll set you up with a reporter from the "New York Times"...
get the company up against the wall on negotiations.
But you'd have to have documentation.
I don't know about putting names in the newspaper.
Names aren't the point.
The point is that if you're right...
they could kill off two million people.
There's a moral imperative involved here.
Think about it. Talk to Paul.
You look like a standup girl.
I'll be right there.
I've never seen so many bands in my life.
All right, we're going to go over...
your statements for the AEC meeting.
And later, you and I will go through yours.
There was 23 people there, including us.
Of course, I couldn't take any pictures...
while the meeting was going on.
Just imagine all these old geezers...
sitting there, pitchers of water...
and they all looked so bored.
It's like they had heard it all before.
I think the union's really going to help us now.
That doesn't belong in here at all.
That's one of them slides you can buy.
Oh, hell. May, did you put them in this order?
I didn't touch them, Quincy.
There's the Lincoln Memorial, of course.
That's where we stayed.
I couldn't get it all in the picture.
You could get dinner in your room if you wanted...
but we didn't.
I had one of the waiters take this one.
Who's that guy?
That's Paul Stone. He works for the union.
This is on the way to the airport.
And that's the White House.
I wanted to take a picture of ol' Gerry Ford...
cooking his English muffin, but they wouldn't let us in.
How many people know about you going to Washington?
Only the people in that room.
Quincy and Morgan know about your spying?
No.
People are going to lose jobs, Karen.
Some of them ought to.
There's a moral imperative here.
You going to put some big story in the papers?
In the "New York Times."
Guess that about ties the package up with a bow.
What's the matter with him?
Some guy in Washington I should have told him about.
- Is that all? - No.
What you doing?
Thinking.
Thinking. Drinking.
I was just thinking...
if you'd ever quit and come away with me.
Well, I can't quit now.
That's what I was thinking.
It's cold out here.
Come on inside.
I quit.
You what?
This afternoon. Gave my notice.
- You quit? - That's what I said.
This afternoon?
Why didn't you tell me?
I don't know. I just didn't tell you.
Why'd you quit?
I just don't give a shit.
You don't give a shit if everybody in the plant...
is being poisoned?
Don't give me a problem I can't solve.
Did you take the Waylon Jennings tapes?
I left them for you.
They're yours. You can take them.
You can keep them, Karen.
Take it easy, Dolly.
Drew, come on. Stay.
Sweetheart, it's like you're two people.
I'm in love with one of them...
but the other one's...
Just a general pain in the ass.
I loved it, baby.
What are you doing in there?
What are you doing in my desk?
If I tell you, you'll promise not to tell anybody?
I keep my pills in there, in that drawer...
because I have an allergy...
and they don't let you bring medication into the plant...
so I hid them in there.
I don't believe you.
I think you should take a person's word for something.
These don't look like antihistamines to me.
Winston, you know what these are?
These are little tiny time capsules...
like the ones you see on TV.
They clear up your nasal passages...
for up to 12 hours straight.
- Excuse me. - God bless you.
In the coal mines years ago...
they used to put canaries in the tunnels.
If the canaries dropped dead...
they knew there was a gas leak.
But it's a brand-new industry...
so you're the canaries.
The trouble is, you're not going to drop dead right away.
It might take ten years. Twenty. We don't know.
Here's what we know... plutonium causes cancer.
Anybody tells you we don't know...
how much plutonium causes cancer, they're lying.
What we don't know...
is how little plutonium causes cancer.
The government says...
that the maximum permissible body burden...
for your lifetime is 40 nanocuries.
Let me tell you how much that is.
That is a tiny dot on a piece of paper.
We say that's too much.
We say that it takes less than that to kill you.
We don't say it's twice too much...
or three times too much.
We think that that is 115,000 times too much.
A pollen-sized grain of plutonium...
injected in mice causes cancer.
When you inhale it, and it lodges in your lungs...
you're married to cancer.
We've been through all the training literature...
Kerr McGee hands out to new employees...
and there's nothing about cancer.
Did management give you any literature about cancer?
Then you get contaminated, and they tell you...
you've had an acceptable level of contamination.
I say there's no such thing.
There must be some questions.
Is there any way to get the plutonium out of you...
if it's inside your lungs?
You can take the lung out, but that's a little extreme.
You want to get something to eat?
Very nice meeting you.
Have a good night.
That was great.
The union is really in solid.
We don't have to worry about...
How come why didn't we hear any of this before?
And we didn't see any of you guys...
until they decided to vote the union out or not?
If you're so worried about us...
where the hell were you in the beginning?
What we're saying is you need someone...
Iooking out for your health and safety.
The company says they're taking care of you.
Do you believe that?
- Yeah. I believe that. - You do?
You're the only guy in that room that still does.
Let me tell you something else.
Doesn't matter if you work on plutonium or dog food...
because they won't give you a thing.
There's nowhere left to go. You start causing problems...
and Kerr McGee shuts that plant down, then what?
You're up in Washington, D.C.
We're down here out of work.
Your cancer is a maybe. That's all it is.
- He's just scared. - Yeah.
The meeting was really good.
Yeah, look... I got an early plane, Karen.
Meaning what?
I don't think this is smart, us getting involved.
We already got involved.
Hi. This is Paul Stone.
I'm out right now...
but if you leave a message after the beep...
I'll get back to you.
Hi, this is Karen.
I just wanted to let you know...
that we won the union election 80 to 61...
and I'm real happy.
It's real hard to keep calling you...
from a pay phone if you're never there...
so that's why I'm calling you from here.
I have some things that...
I really need to talk to you about...
and I just wish that I could talk to you.
Been under a lot of pressure here, boy.
It's great we won and everything...
but just...
Been under really a lot of pressure, and...
I don't know. I feel like I'm...
All alone.
Guess you didn't hear that last part.
Come on!
Do you want coffee?
I went to make popcorn last night...
and there's no Wesson oil.
So, go get some.
I'm not in charge of the Wesson oil...
I'm not in charge of the shopping.
I can't do it every time.
I can't do it this afternoon. I got a union meeting.
If you're talking like that...
to impress that outside agitator of yours...
he ain't here, so cut the shit.
We can't do the shopping unless you give us your key.
What happened to your key?
If we knew that, we wouldn't need yours.
- I lost it. - You lost it.
Leave it under the step.
What if somebody rapes me because you lost your key?
Who's going to rape you that you ain't already fucked?
- Hiya, Thelma. - Hi, honey.
- How are you doing? - Pretty good.
I was trying to get blood for my daughter...
and Hurley said asking people at the plant...
is against union rules.
Oh, yeah? He said that?
The workers in this plant...
have certified us as their representatives...
so we should get started on some real negotiations.
I talked to the lawyer last week downtown.
He said he'd get back to me on Monday.
You said that last week.
He hasn't gotten back to me yet.
Excuse me.
Mr. Hurley, did you tell an employee in wet processing...
that it was against union rules to give blood?
I don't recall saying that, no.
Good. Because I just called the bloodmobile...
and they can come over on Tuesday.
No, don't wake them up.
Just...
Tell them I called again.
And...
Tell them Mama's OK...
and I love them...
and I miss them...
and I'll come see them as soon as I can.
Yeah, I know. I'm not always here...
but we're working double shifts.
But Dolly can always take a message.
OK.
Thank you.
What's the matter?
Nothing.
I miss Drew.
Call him up.
Angela went back to her husband.
Gee, Dolly, I'm sorry.
You OK?
You could have thought of that this morning...
before your nineteenth nervous breakdown.
Don't you lay this off on me.
Anybody else would have thrown Angela out day one.
When Drew was here, you weren't like this.
You think Angela left on account of me?
Let me tell you something, girl.
Drew left on account of you and Angela.
If you believe that, you're crazier than people say.
You took about as good care of Drew...
as you took of your kids.
I know that you took good care of your kids.
You know...
the only thing everybody says I'm crazy about...
is to live with you.
You mean with a dyke?
I mean with a person who thinks she's in love...
with a person who puts lipstick on stiffs...
and smells like formaldehyde.
She didn't smell like formaldehyde.
She did so.
And I'm so tired of her jokes.
You know, maybe...
maybe Drew is right.
Maybe we should just quit...
get out of here.
Move someplace where it's clean.
You and me?
Jesus, Dolly.
Well...
Hush-a-bye
Don't you cry
Go to sleep, you little baby
When you wake
You shall have
All the pretty little horses
- I don't want it. - Eat something, Karen.
I'm not hungry.
That's just like Curtis. When he works late...
he don't get enough sleep and loses his appetite.
I've been blending up these shakes...
with bananas and chocolate syrup...
and making him drink them on the way to work.
Curtis is out working late?
- Out partying at the Red Dog. - Come on, Wesley.
He's been up four nights in a row flushing out pipes.
They come up short again.
They come up short on plutonium?
He's telling you he's working late...
but he's seeing a hot little number from Edmond.
Don't forget the banana...
and you can put in an egg if you want to.
They say they were missing more than a kilo?
I'll see you later.
Why are you writing it down?
The union is supposed to keep track of these things.
Am I right? OK. So?
You won your election.
We are still negotiating a contract here.
Well...
Why don't you concentrate on upping our wages...
and skip over what is none of our business?
This is our business, honey.
Karen, I like my job!
And I found out that this 18-year-old kid...
had been underneath uncapping the drain...
and a cup of the solution dumped right down on him.
Right on his head.
So they shaved his head...
and now the stubble is growing in hot.
Jesus, that's terrible.
Are you getting the stuff together?
Maintenance people are exposed to more hot stuff than anybody.
Look, Karen, the X-rays are really important.
We're going into the contract negotiations...
and we want to get the guy from the "Times" down there...
in mid-November. That's three weeks.
I know, I know. I'm getting the stuff.
It's just not that easy.
Morgan!
- You scared me. - Meant to.
I'm doing something good.
I know what you're doing...
and you're the wrong person to be doing it.
And it's dangerous. That's all I'm saying.
Thank you, Curtis. It's good to know.
Gilda says Karen is going to get...
one of those Sherlock Holmes hats.
Then she'll find everything that's missing in the plant.
Winston, seen my clipboard?
Why don't you speak to the union...
about how you're late for work all the time?
Late from your break.
Supposed to be in here ten minutes ago...
instead of wherever you were.
Tell them that next time you go to Washington.
Stopped in to say hi to y'all.
God, I don't know hardly any of you people.
Gilda, you have any time?
Maybe I could talk to you on your break?
I can't, Karen.
Just for a couple minutes?
Maybe next week.
You monitoring yourself, Karen?
Yes, Georgie!
I hope you write it down...
in your little notebook every time you don't!
Along with the stuff about the rest of us!
Oh, no! No! Damn it!
They haven't found a hole in the glove...
but they're still checking.
It's a very slight external contamination.
An acceptable level.
And you're clean now.
Been bringing your samples in?
Every week.
Start bringing them in on a daily basis.
You can pick up your kits on the way out of the plant.
Boy, I'll be happy the day I don't have to pee in a jar.
Are you all right?
Yeah. I'm all right.
Would you call somebody for me?
Yeah, sure.
Lookit! Drew! My God, you're back!
I missed you so much! Look at your little face!
Dolly, stop!
Jesus, I'm late.
Look at your little body!
Is she OK?
Shit!
I spilled my urine sample.
Her and that union monkey got nothing going anymore.
It's strictly business. Are you moving back in?
I got a place of my own, Dolly.
You two can come stay with me anytime you want.
Bologna and cheese.
Jesus!
If you're back, I'm really glad you're back.
Good morning.
Hi, Karen. How you doing?
I'm in the pink.
Oh, God!
Don't!
No! Stop it!
Stop it! Stop it!
Earl, what's going on?
Dolly, this won't take long...
but I don't want you getting in our way.
Who the hell are these people?
This is my house! Tell me what's going...
One package of S.O.S.
One box of S.O.S.
One bottle of Spray 'n Wipe.
One pack of Rice-a-roni.
One package Rice-a-roni.
Three framed photographs.
Don't take those!
These are my kids' pictures.
Earl, don't let them take my babies' pictures.
If you're going to watch, you have to stand back now.
Mr. Hurley, they're taking everything.
Listen to me.
We're getting readings from the sink, the toilet seat...
from the make-up you touched...
from the bologna and cheese in the refrigerator...
from your samples...
and we're getting next to nothing on Drew and Dolly...
and your car is absolutely clean.
How do you explain that?
- I don't know. - Think about it, Karen.
- I have to go. - Where you going?
- I have to go with him. - No!
I'll be OK. I have it under control.
- Don't go anywhere with him. - It's all right.
I'm coming! Keep your goddamn hands off!
It's all right.
Come on, Karen. Concentrate.
How did that plutonium get in my house?
Did you put it there?
Did I what? Are you crazy?
You think I put...
You think I'd contaminate myself?
I think you'd do anything to hurt this company.
- Then I spilled it. - What?
I spilled my urine sample container.
Somebody must have put plutonium in my container.
And then I spilled it on my bathroom floor.
I cleaned it all up and my hands must have got hot.
And then what did I touch?
OK, I touched my sink...
I touched my make-up...
and I forget what stuff in the refrigerator.
That's it. See?
Somebody spiked my urine sample container.
- Who? - Boy!
How do I know who? Anybody could have done it.
You leave it sitting there by the punch-in at the plant!
Anybody could've dropped a little plutonium in there.
There's a lot of people at the plant hate me.
The whole house is hot. How did it get hot?
I spilled it! I told you, man!
That doesn't explain the readings...
we're getting on your nasal smear.
45,000 DPM.
What?
45,000 DPM.
Oh, my Jesus.
I'm internally contaminated. That's what you mean.
We don't know what it means.
- That's what you mean! - Karen, calm down.
Karen, listen.
Get out of my way!
Oh, Jesus! Where am I going to go now?
I don't have anyplace to go now.
We're getting a room for Dolly. We want to help you.
We can help you with a place to stay.
We can help you with money.
But first I have to sign something, right?
You want me to sign a statement saying I did all this.
Just in your own words what happened.
OK.
In my own words?
I'm contaminated.
I'm dying.
What are you doing here?
I'm just looking around, like you.
You're here.
Jesus Christ. I didn't know where you were.
What the hell happened?
They're killing me.
They're trying to kill me.
They want me to stop what I'm doing.
They contaminated me, you know that?
I'm internally contaminated now.
Now, you listen to me.
We're going to go to Los Alamos on Thursday...
and we'll get a full body count from some doctors...
who know what they're doing. All three of us.
Oh, God! I'm so scared now.
It says here that there's plutonium missing...
from just about every nuclear plant in this country.
- Who's got it? - Any asshole that wants it.
Man.
That's the guy, Drew.
The guy Paul is bringing to see me.
Who?
The guy that wrote it, from the "New York Times."
If you're going to be in the newspaper...
I want to be in there, too.
Dolly, did you...
Did you tell the company about the "New York Times"?
No. I don't think I remembered that part.
Did you tell them about the X-rays?
- Dolly? - No.
Are you sure?
Karen, they know everything about us.
They don't know about the X-rays, do they?
OK. That's it.
All right, Mr. Stephens and Miss Pelliker...
you both check out well below permissible body limits.
You were exposed to Miss Silkwood and the house...
but you show minimum detectable activity now.
Miss Silkwood.
We have detected americium in both lungs...
and both sides of your chest.
Americium is produced when plutonium disintegrates.
And extrapolating from your americium level...
we estimate you have an internal contamination...
of six nanocuries of plutonium.
The maximum permissible body burden...
for occupational exposure is 40 nanocuries.
As you can see, you are well under that level.
- I'm under it. - As well as we can determine.
These are very sophisticated instruments...
but their accuracy may be off...
by plus or minus 300% at this level.
Plus or minus 300%?
That's correct.
Then what you're saying is...
that the amount of plutonium inside me...
could be three times less than you even think?
Or three times greater.
But even that would be under the maximum body burden.
I think you should come on down to Oklahoma City...
and bring that reporter from the "New York Times."
Are you ready to see him?
I'm ready.
You got the documents?
Come on down.
Man, I love it here. I love this country.
Wouldn't you like to stay here forever?
Doctors are all goddamn liars.
Land's cheap there.
I read about this.
You can build yourself a pueblo house.
Make it out of adobe brick, like the Indians.
Mud, straw... comes right out of the ground.
Got to build a well, but that's not too bad.
You get a bunch of guys to do you a favor.
You do them a favor.
It's all barter system out there.
You can make the rooms any shape.
You can make 'em round.
It's not a right-angle kind of life.
Yeah.
Have room for your kids.
Yeah.
Hell, we could have kids of our own.
We love each other.
Why not?
They wouldn't...
They wouldn't come out right.
Hell, I didn't come out right.
You came out OK.
What is it?
Come on.
Come on. I don't care.
I know.
You aren't going to contaminate me...
any more than I've already been.
I'm sorry. I forgot to turn off the alarm.
I thought you weren't going in.
Well... I have to.
Call in sick.
No, I really do.
I really mean you ought to call in sick.
Think they'll let you work?
There's something I got to get.
At the plant? Are you wearing my shirt?
- Huh? - My shirt!
You don't have to get up now.
Sweetheart, don't get anything out of the plant.
If I get hung up at the union meeting...
will you pick up Paul Stone and the guy...
from the "New York Times" at the airport?
Fuck no.
Come on, darling.
I don't know how late this meeting will go tonight.
I don't want you doing that.
Well... I'm doing it.
You don't owe the union anything.
Let's not fight.
You don't owe the "New York Times" anything.
Let's not have a fight now.
We can have a fight later.
Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch...
- Give me your notes. - OK.
Listen, you sure you're OK?
I'm OK.
- Bye-bye! - Bye.
Once was lost
But now I'm found
Was blind
But now I see
'Twas grace that taught
My heart to fear
And grace my fears released
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
Through many dangers, toils, and snares
We have already come
'Twas grace that brought us safe thus far
And grace will lead us home
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright-shining as the sun
We've no less days
To sing God's praise
As when we first begun
Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost
But now I'm found
Was bound, but now I'm free