The Nation - News from Aug. 1, 1985

A federal appeals court in Denver ordered a new trial for part of the Karen Silkwood case. The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals let stand its earlier decisions about personal injury and property claims brought by Silkwood’s heirs, who were awarded $10 million in damages after her death in a 1974 traffic accident. Those issues cannot be tried again, the court said. Evidence at the new trial can cover only the conduct by the Kerr-McGee Corp. that might have allowed plutonium to escape the Crescent, Okla., plant where Silkwood worked. Evidence about her exposure will be limited to that issue.