Daily Courier - Radiation agency offers informational lecture for 'downwinders' - 0 views
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"When the U.S. Government began testing nuclear weapons between July 1945 and November 1962, about the only things test officials were sure of was that the bombs made big explosions and intriguing mushroom clouds. Since then, scientists and doctors have identified the deadly effects of radiation poisoning. Representatives from the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program (RESEP) offer an educational lecture forum at 9 a.m. Thursday at Sharlot Hall Museum Library and Archives, 115 S. McCormick St., in Prescott. "Commonly known as the 'Downwinder Program,' RESEP helps individuals who live, or lived, in areas where U.S. nuclear weapons testing occurred," Sharlot Hall archivist Scott Anderson wrote in a press release. "The RESEP website lists Arizona as a high impact state." The Health Resources and Services Administration, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, oversees the radiation exposure program. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Program offers compensation payments from $50,000 to $100,000 for specific cancers and chronic diseases that may have resulted from radiation exposure. Sharlot Hall Museum Archives is one of the statewide locations where residents can search for proof of residency during the testing periods in order to file a claim for compensation."