grew up close to a nuclear weapons factory. The plant in Colorado was the only US site that built plutonium triggers for nuclear bombs: chunks of radioactive metal about the size of a softball.
In her superb memoir, , Iversen interweaves her own compelling autobiography with a history of Rocky Flats. Her prose combines perceptive lyricism and stark brutality.
Iversen struggled with an alcoholic father and a mother in denial, and found solace riding horses far out into the Colorado wilds. She paid little attention to Rocky Flats until she took a job there, typing up reports of accidents euphemistically described as 鈥渋ncidents鈥�.
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This prompted her to investigate further. She uncovered a catalogue of institutional neglect and a management system that cared little for workers or the environment. Enormous amounts of plutonium were lost, and wound up contaminating the surrounding area, including the water supply. Epidemiological studies showed rocketing cancer levels. Many of Iversen鈥檚 friends and neighbours died young.
Ultimately, it is a book about the dangers of keeping secrets. Iversen鈥檚 family broke apart because they kept secrets from their neighbours, from each other and even from themselves. Meanwhile, Rocky Flats itself was only able to do so much damage because its activities were kept secret, even from the people whose world it was poisoning.
Full Body Burden: Growing up in the shadow of a secret nuclear facility
Harvill Secker/Crown