Exploring the Impact of Nuclear Fallout: A Memoir of Growing Up in the Shadow of Rocky Flats

Patricia Morgan: The book seems to focus more on the author's dysfunctional family than on Rocky Flats. I didn't see any evidence that she ever actually spoke with Jim Kelly or with his brother, Pat Kelly. The family signed an acknowdgement, when they purchased the house, that it was downwind of Rocky Flats. I also noticed an oversimplification of an employee moving from the cafeteria to the guard force. The cafeteria was operated by ARA Services, not Rockwell International. It didn't pay $2.75 per hour at the time the writer's friend was working there. Moving from cafeteria to guard force required being hired by Rockwell International. The minimum age was 21, because the guards were reserve Jefferson County Sherrif's Deputies. The author was not alone in being part of a dysfunctional family and being exposed to toxins from Rocky Flats. She does, however, make her situation sound equivalent to something Scarlett O'Hara or Meredith Grey would have endured.

United States on Aug 16, 2023

Anne: This was a really good read. It certainly opened my eyes on the impact of this nuclear plant and the willingness of all of the government of the United States and all the associated regulatory agencies to lie about it and the willingness of those that lived around the plant to close their eyes to impact the plant was having on their health. The only negative I would say about this book was that it was a little repetitive and technical at points.

Canada on Mar 24, 2016

Susan Ricketts: Is any amount of radiation or plutonium or tritium safe? Why did the American government (defense department) allow factories in a number of states to produce parts for nuclear bombs from 1959 to the 2000s? And why is the landscape around ALL of these sites highly polluted with all of these substances. This is a very personal story of one family's experiences and the constant threat of cancer and other radiation induced diseases. This book certainly makes one think about what we have done by releasing these substances into our environment.

Canada on Feb 22, 2016

Sieg: First of all, I was totally unaware of the issue that Iversen is writing about. So I was glad that I read the book, as it
made me aware of many environmental issues that the United States should be dealing with. This book is a very good read
for everyone who has environmental concerns in the United States.

Canada on Feb 22, 2016

Antoro: Kristen Iversen beschreibt eine scheinbar ganz normale amerikanische Kindheit im Schatten einer der schmutzigsten Industrien, die man sich vorstellen kann. Dabei arbeiten ganz normale Leute, die Nachbarinnen und Nachbarn, gerne in der halb geheimen Anlage, die aus Plutonium Zünder für Atombomben herstellt. Dass Plutonium dabei verschwindet und bei mehreren schweren Bränden auch großen Mengen in die Umgebung gelangt, kümmert zunächst niemanden. Erstaunlicherweise keine Fiktion, sondern Geschichte.

Germany on Jan 03, 2013

Uehara Amy: A Child's Rude Awakening

Dr. Kristen Iversen's "Full Body Burden-Growing Up in the Shadow of Rocky Flats", shows what it was like to live near a nuclear weapons facility; not an electrical power plant but a reckless, careless, unsafe, hazardous nuclear weapons plant within 16 miles of Denver that made 70,000 plutonium pits for nuclear tests for 37 years during the Cold War without much public knowledge.
Having grown up next to the plant and later working there, she researched the material for 10 years drawing on interviews of dedicated employees who were the "Cold Warriors"; the community of families who moved to the area who enjoyed the bigger homes, scenery, a chance to have own wells, some livestock, gardens- children and adults who later became ill and/or developed various types of cancer; protesters who were arrested; people directly involved in the history of Rocky Flats, and even today still keep an eye on whether part of the site will be opened to the public for recreational purposes, new roads built or new subdivisions built. She interweaves the events of her family with the events of Rocky Flats beautifully with elements of secrecy, denial and loyalty in...

United States on Jul 29, 2012

MCsquared: Kristen Iversen makes good writing look easy, rather like actors and teachers can make their crafts look easy. Indeed, like good acting and good teaching, Iversen's writing has a magical quality to it. The large-scale comparison that has been most associated with Full Body Burden is between the secretive nature of Iversen's family life growing up and that of the nearby Rocky Flats weapons plant's culture of misinformation and secrecy. But Iversen's book is also dependent on numerous compelling vignettes, many of which are based on quoted conversations.

When she tells about her childhood horse Tonka being rescued from freezing to death in a pond by a helpful neighbor with a truck and a rope--a neighbor who kindly gets up from dinner with his family to help--it is the conversation that drives the action, with the neighbor shouting at Tonka (and frightening Kristen) as he hits the horse hard several times to bring him back to full consciousness in order to pull him out of freezing mud with his truck and rope. This man, who later dies of cancer, is one of several heroes who show up (and then disappear) at crucial moments.

The story of Iversen's first serious boyfriend,...

United States on Jul 26, 2012

Uehara Amy: A Child’s Rude Awakening

Dr. Kristen Iversen's “Full Body Burden-Growing Up in the Shadow of Rocky Flats”, shows what it was like to live near a nuclear weapons facility; not an electrical power plant but a reckless, careless, unsafe, hazardous nuclear weapons plant within 16 miles of Denver that made 70,000 plutonium pits for nuclear tests for 37 years during the Cold War without much public knowledge.
Having grown up next to the plant and later working there, she researched the material for 10 years drawing on interviews of dedicated employees who were the “Cold Warriors”; the community of families who moved to the area who enjoyed the bigger homes, scenery, a chance to have own wells, some livestock, gardens- children and adults who later became ill and/or developed various types of cancer; protesters who were arrested; people directly involved in the history of Rocky Flats, and even today still keep an eye on whether part of the site will be opened to the public for recreational purposes, new roads built or new subdivisions built. She interweaves the events of her family with the events of Rocky Flats beautifully with elements of secrecy, denial and loyalty...

Japan on Jul 24, 2012