Union activities
Silkwood said she had assembled a stack of documentation for her claims. She now decided to go public with this evidence, and made contact with a New York Times journalist prepared to print the story. On November 13, 1974 she left a union meeting at the Hub Cafe in Crescent. Another attendee of that meeting later testified that she did have a binder and a packet of documents at the cafe.[2] Silkwood got into her car and headed alone for Oklahoma City, about 30 miles away, to meet with New York Times reporter David Burnham and Steve Wodka, an official of her union's national office. She never arrived.

Going public
Later that evening, Silkwood's body was found in her car, which had run off the road and struck a culvert. The car contained no documents. She was pronounced dead at the scene from a "classic, one-car sleeping-driver accident". The trooper at the scene remembers that he found one or two tablets of the sedative methaqualone in the car, and he remembers finding marijuana. The police report indicated that she fell asleep at the wheel. The coroner found 0.35 milligrams of methaqualone (Quaalude) per 100 milliliters of blood at the time of her death - an amount almost twice the recommended dosage for inducing drowsiness.[3] There was no firm evidence of foul play, and no glass or other debris was found, ruling out the hit-and-run theory.
Nevertheless, some still suspect Silkwood was murdered to silence her allegations about her workplace. Such speculation about foul play has never been substantiated. But some independent investigators at the time inferred that her vehicle had been hit from behind and forced off the road. The steering wheel was bent in a manner that showed she was prepared for the shock of the accident. The only way she would know to prepare is if she were awake and alert.
Silkwood's organs were analyzed as part of the Los Alamos Tissue Analysis Program by request of the Atomic Energy Commission and the State Medical Examiner. Much of the radiation was in her lungs. This suggests the plutonium was inhaled. When her tissues were further examined, the second highest deposits were found in her gastrointestinal organs.
Public suspicions led to a federal investigation into plant security and safety, and a National Public Radio report about 44 to 66 pounds of misplaced plutonium. Silkwood's story emphasized the hazards of nuclear energy and raised questions about corporate accountability and responsibility. Kerr-McGee closed its nuclear fuel plants in 1975. The grounds of the Cimarron plant were still being decontaminated 25 years later.

Silkwood's death
Her father and children filed a lawsuit against Kerr-McGee on the behalf of Ms. Silkwood's estate. The trial was held in 1979. Gerry Spence was the chief attorney for the estate and William Paul was the chief attorney for Kerr-McGee. The estate presented evidence that the autopsy proved Ms. Silkwood was contaminated with plutonium. To prove the contamination was sustained at the plant, evidence was given by a series of witnesses who were former employees of the facility.
The main witness for the defense was Dr. George Voelz, a top-level scientist at Los Alamos. Dr. Voelz stated that he believed the contamination was within legal standards. Mr. Spence ultimately probed enough to get Dr. Voelz to admit he was unsure of the level of contamination needed to cause cancer. The defense later proposed that Ms. Silkwood was a troublemaker who may have poisoned herself. Following the summation arguments, Judge Frank Theis told the jury of the longest civil trial in Oklahoma history, "If you find that the damage to the person or property of Karen Silkwood resulted from the operation of this plant, Kerr-McGee is liable."
The jury rendered its verdict of US $505,000 in damages and US $10,000,000 in punitive damages. On appeal, the judgment was reduced to US $5,000. In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court restored the original verdict. The suit was headed for retrial when Kerr-McGee settled out of court for $1.38 million, admitting no liability.

Controversy persists
Gil Scott-Heron's 1977 song "We Almost Lost Detroit" makes mention of Silkwood: What would Karen Silkwood say / If she was still alive? / That when it comes to people's safety / Money wins out every time.
The 1983 film Silkwood is an account of Silkwood's life and the story. Meryl Streep played the title role.
In 1986, over 300 women claiming to be Karen Silkwood were arrested and released without charge after entering Pine Gap.
In the 1995 film Home for the Holidays, Robert Downey Jr. referenced Silkwood when telling Anne Bancroft to clean up. "Do a Silkwood shower for us...".
In the 2007 series finale of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Danny referenced Silkwood when asking about sterilization so that he could speak with Jordan and have her sign guardianship papers for her daughter.
In an episode of Seinfeld, Kramer and Newman attempt to buy a powerful showerhead and ask for one like Silkwood.