Full Body Burden

Full Body Burden: Growing up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats is a 2012 nonfiction account by Kristen Iversen. Half memoir, half investigative journalism, the book covers Iversen’s life in a town near Denver, Colorado, as well as Rocky Flats—the nearby nuclear production facility. 

Quiet, observant, and adventurous, Iversen is the oldest of four children. The family keeps many pets, and Iversen adores horseback riding on their pasture at a new neighborhood near Rocky Flats. Iversen’s father struggles with alcoholism, leading to car accidents, struggles in his law practice, fights with his wife, and distance from his children. During Iversen’s adolescence, her mother returns to work as a nurse to help pay the bills, while Iversen and her siblings find ways to escape the tensions of home.

Rocky Flats, established in the early 1950s, manufactures plutonium triggers—a key component in atomic bombs. The plant’s operations remain secret for many years, and members of Iversen’s community—even those who work at Rocky Flats—don’t speak about it. A large fire on the production line in 1969, however, brings the plant into the public eye. Government officials attempt to investigate Rocky Flats and find significant pushback, while protesters demonstrate around the facility’s boundary.