''Plume'' is a collection of poetry, written by Kathleen Flenniken. Published in 2012 by the

University of Washington Press The University of Washington Press is an American academic publishing house. The organization is a division of the University of Washington, based in Seattle. Although the division functions autonomously, they have worked to assist the universit ...

, the poetry presents a brief history of Richland, Washington and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The author examines the actions of the

US Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United State ...

regarding the establishment and operation of Hanford, a

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

production facility and how their actions affected the health of individuals and families living and working in or near the Reservation. While the US government assured the employees and families who lived in the area that they were safe from exposure to

radioactive materials A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transferr ...

, declassified documents revealed that early protective measures were inadequate, while people were dying of radiation-induced illness. The book was a finalist for both the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, while it was the recipient of the

Washington State Book Award The Washington State Book Awards is a literary awards program presented annually in recognition of notable books written by Washington authors in the previous year. The program was established in 1967 as the Governor's Writers Awards. Each year, u ...

in 2013.

Overview

Kathleen Flenniken grew up in Richland, Washington, located on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

in south central

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

state. ''Plume'' shares her family's experience living near and working at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation toward the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. During her childhood, her father worked as a doctoral chemist at Hanford. As an adult, Flenniken herself earned two degrees in engineering and worked at Hanford as a civil engineer and hydrologist. In addition to her personal story, she writes about her friends and members of the community and how the radiation exposure at Hanford affected their lives. Flenniken describes the book as a collection of poems about "growing up innocent in a contaminated land". Established in 1943 as part of the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was home to the

B Reactor The B Reactor at the Hanford Site, near Richland, Washington, was the first large-scale nuclear reactor ever built. The project was a key part of the Manhattan Project, the United States nuclear weapons development program during World War II. I ...

, the first full-scale

plutonium Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...

production reactor in the world. Plutonium manufactured there was used in

Fat Man "Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) is the codename for the type of nuclear bomb the United States detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the fir ...

, the atomic bomb

detonated Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with s ...

over

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, Japan. During the

, the project was expanded to include nine nuclear reactors and five large plutonium processing complexes, which produced plutonium for most of the more than 60,000 weapons in the US nuclear arsenal. Scientists at the site made several technological advancements, due to the rapid development of

nuclear technology Nuclear technology is technology that involves the nuclear reactions of atomic nuclei. Among the notable nuclear technologies are nuclear reactors, nuclear medicine and nuclear weapons. It is also used, among other things, in smoke detectors an ...

. The involvement of the Italian physicist

Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...

, who oversaw the design of the B Reactor at Hanford. The work of Manhattan Project health physicist Herbert Parker is presented in the chapter and poetry entitled "Herb Parker Feels Like Dancing". Contrary to declarations made by government officials, declassified documents revealed that the early safety procedures and waste disposal practices were inadequate, releasing significant amounts of

into the air and the Columbia River, threatening the health and lives of residents in the area. Overall, the culture of secrecy and deception permeated the Hanford site, with the Department of Energy keeping the effects of radiation from the public, which resulted in a sense of betrayal on behalf of the employees and people living in the area. In the late 1980s, decades of environmental contamination and deception at the plutonium production facility were revealed, as community residents, employees, and family members were dying of radiation-induced illness. , Hanford remains the site of the world's largest environmental cleanup effort, the financial impact of which includes the cost of building and operating a $12.2 billion waste treatment plant, while continuing to leak radioactive waste into the environment.

Honors and awards

* Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (finalist) * William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America (finalist) *

(winner)

Reception

Reviews and articles about ''Plume'' have appeared in regional and national newspapers and magazines, including ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

'', '' Crosscut.com'', ''

Mid-American Review ''Mid-American Review'' (''MAR'') is an international literary journal dedicated to publishing contemporary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and translations. Founded in 1981, ''MAR'' is a publication of the Department of English and the College of Ar ...

'', '' The Georgia Review'', '' Orion'', '' Rain Taxi'', ''

Washington State Magazine ''Washington State Magazine'' is the alumni and research magazine of Washington State University. Published quarterly, the magazine covers news and issues of interest to Washington State University faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the peopl ...

'', and '' City Living Seattle''. It was selected by

Linda Bierds Linda Louise Bierds (born 1945 in Delaware) is an American poet and professor of English and creative writing at the University of Washington, where she also received her B.A. in 1969. Her books include ''Flights of the Harvest Mare''; ''The Stil ...

of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

to be included in the Pacific Northwest Poetry Series. The book was on the

short list A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

for the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award and was named a finalist for the Poetry Society of America's William Carlos Williams Award. In 2013, it was honored as the recipient of the

. Some of the feedback the ''Plume'' received focused on the subject of the book itself. Mary Ann Gwinn of ''The Seattle Times'' wrote that " ny of the poems wrestle with the bomb factory's legacy of environmental contamination, illness and even death from exposure to radiation. But she also wrote them to honor the people she grew up with."

Jeannine Hall Gailey Jeannine Hall Gailey (born April 30, 1973) is an American poet. She has published five books of poetry and two books of non-fiction. Her work focuses on pop culture, science and science fiction, fairy tales, and mythology. Early life and educati ...

of ''The Rumpus'' remarked that the work is " t only an education about Washington State and its role in the Nuclear Age but of an awakening in the American public as well as the poet herself to the peculiar dangers of invisible poisons and of trusting too much the authorities." John Bradley of ''Rain Taxi'' stated that the work encompasses "quiet but damning poems on the history of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation".

Susan Somers-Willett Susan B.A. Somers-Willett is the author of two books of poetry: ''Quiver'' (Virginia Quarterly Review Series, University of Georgia Press, 2009) and ''Roam'' (Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Awards, SIU Press, 2006). She is also th ...

of the ''Orion'' magazine praised for Flenniken for her ability to present generative art in literature, particularly juxtaposing documentary poetry with journalistic objectivity. Martha Collins, poet and author of ''Blue Front'' and ''White Papers'', lauded Flenniken's ability to "deftly" present the "timely and important subject matter as well as the meticulous craft of its poems". Speaking of her writing style, Bradley of ''Rain Taxi'' says, "Flenniken wisely lets the reader gradually uncover her betrayal, and ours." Mike Dillon of '' City Living Seattle'' stated "When it aims to, poetry can treat history in ways history books or photographs cannot: It drops us in our human skin into another time and place like no other medium. ''Plume'' is difficult to put down and difficult to forget."

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

The Declassified Document Retrieval System portal
2012 poetry books American poetry collections Hanford Site University of Washington Press books