Full Body Burden

Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats

Kristen Iversen
KristenIversen.com

READING GROUP GUIDE

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
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 storylines have on your experi-
ence of reading the book? Did you find one of the two
storylines 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. Scrub-
bing Bubbles or something.” (p. 12) 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”
like an ominous portent. 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 ani-
mals play in the storyline? 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.” (p. 110) 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

at Rocky Flats (pp. 26–38). Iversen describes the scene
in detail, from the “burning globes” that crash from
to see a psychiatrist and each member of the family
the ceiling to the underpass beneath the glove boxes.
draws a picture of home (pp. 120–121). The passage
What parts of the scene were most vivid or memorable
reveals key elements of the family dynamic. What
did you learn about each family member’s coping
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 watch-
ing shadow.” (p. 71) The discovery of the cow seems
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?
Full Body Burden
READING GROUP GUIDE
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, im-
minent evil or crime. The judge decides that the law
isn’t applicable in their situation (p. 158). 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
(p. 166), 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 the plant down, such as the scene with well-to-
do protester Ann White and working class security
guard Debbie Clark (pp. 193–194). How did the two
groups feel about each other? Were there any simi-
larities or sympathies between the two groups?
12. Full Body Burden contains many surprising
facts about Rocky Flats and about radioactive con-
tamination, such as the fact that a single microgram
of plutonium is a potentially lethal dose (p. 24) or
that in 1970 there was no emergency response plan
to protect the public in the event of a major disaster
at Rocky Flats (p. 67). What 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
Reading group guide for Full Body Burden by Kristen Iversen. Copyright © 2012 by the Crown Publishing Group. Distributed by permission of the Crown Publish-
ing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this reading group guide may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing
from the publisher.
occasion of the 1978 Rocky Flats protest and spe-
cifically 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 indus-
try 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, cer-
tain 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 organiza-
tions 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?