No way to get a job, no way to make a living. Later, Harding's body was exhumed for testing, and uranium was found in his bones. Meanwhile, Energy Department officials were conducting their own investigation, at Harding's request. Based on computer modeling, the report's writers said the radiation exposures at Paducah were not sufficient to cause illnesses. The department's findings are now contradicted in court documents and interviews with current and former workers who also describe high exposures to uranium dust in the plant.
Workers say the dust clung to their hair and skin and even contaminated the food they ate.
Whether the new evidence from whistleblowers will ultimately vindicate Harding is unclear. If it does, it will provide little consolation for his widow, Clara, who lost both a husband and the financial security that was supposed to see her into twilight years. Clara Harding sold her house and moved to a small duplex on the outskirts of town. For her, the battle was clearly over from the first hearing, when Harding and her lawyer arrived in court to find a phalanx of attorneys and experts from the plant and the Energy Department representing the other side. So that was pretty much that.