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"U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch is asking a national panel to take a fresh look at the science behind the government's program for compensating people who were injured by exposure to atomic-testing fallout and the uranium industry. Sponsor of the original Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), Hatch put the request in a letter Monday to the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences. His letter comes two weeks after the Utah Republican panned bipartisan legislation in Congress to expand RECA as overbroad and too expensive. "When I worked to enact the original RECA law to help Utahns exposed to radiation, the policy was based on scientific evidence -- an absolute must when you're talking about Hatch RECA letter (pdf) these types of programs," he said Tuesday. "The goal of the letter to the National Academy of Sciences [NAS] is to see whether or not new scientific data exists to justify expanding the RECA program; in the past it did not," he added. "I want NAS to examine the data and talk with Utah radiation victims to see if that is justified before anyone puts more taxpayer dollars on the line." Companion bills in the House and the Senate would expand RECA eligibility to those who suffered from exposure in seven states: New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Nevada. Only those in certain counties in three states are now eligible to apply for payments from the fund of $50,000, $100,000 or $150,000, depending Advertisement on whether they were exposed as millers, miners, ore transporters, atomic program employees or downwinders. The Utah counties now covered include: Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington and Wayne. The federal government's current program has paid nearly $1.5 billion to more than 22,000 people. Some 4,776 of them are Utahns who have received nearly $275 million from the federal program. "

"Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo says the The RECA Amendments Act of 2010 extends eligibility for compensation to residents of Guam who may have been exposed to radiation. The act makes claimants eligible for $150,000 in damages regardless of their occupation, provided that they were living. The Amendments to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico. Congresswoman Bordallo was one of eight original co-sponsors of the House bill. Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico introduced identical companion legislation in the Senate yesterday as well. "The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Amendments Act of 2010 will amend the RECA compensation program to expand the program to include geographic areas that were not part of the original legislation," Congresswoman Bordallo said. "Many people in the designated areas have been affected by nuclear testing, including downwinders on Guam. This bill is a coordinated and concerted effort by Members of Congress representing possible nuclear testing victims. I would like to thank Congressman Luján and Senator Udall for their leadership in introducing this legislation. I would also like to commend Mr. Robert Celestial for his many years of advocacy on behalf of the Pacific Association of Radiation Survivors.""

"A bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM, is requesting a hearing on a proposed expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), aimed at reaching victims throughout the western U.S. whose high rates of cancer and other diseases have been tied to radiation exposure. RECA currently provides funding to qualified "downwinders" in Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington and Wayne counties. The proposed expansion would extend coverage to all of Utah, along with the other six states, and increase the list of illnesses eligible for compensation. Introduced in April, the bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee for consideration, and the group wrote a letter to the committee requesting the hearing."

"Guam - A group of Guam lawmakers and residents will soon be headed to Washington to push for Guam's inclusion in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act known as RECA. alt Dim lights Embed From 1945 through 1962, the United States detonated nearly 200 atmospheric nuclear weapons, .many of the tests were conducted in the Marshells on Eniwetok Atoll. Guam is more than 1,600 miles downwind from the Marshalls. Until recently, many thought, it was too far away to suffer any radiation fallout from the atmospheric testing. But that turned out not to be true. That became apparent when President Clinton signed an Executive Order declassifying thousands of pages of documents showing Guam was exposed to fallout carried down wind from the Marshalls. And as "downwinders" Senator Ben Pangelinan says Guam should be included in RECA which would provide up to $50-thousand dollars in compensation to people who lived on Guam between 1946 and 1974. Robert Celestial is the President of the Pacific Islands Association for Radiation Survivors. He was the one who searched through the de-classified documents back in the 90's and found the evidence of Guam's exposure to fallout from the nuclear testing in the Marshalls. Both Pangelinan and Celestial believe that there are links to Guam's high cancer rates and the radiation that fell on island during the atmospheric nuclear testing in the Marshalls."

More than 40,000 people were exposed to radioactive fallout in Southern Utah from 1951 to 1958 and July of 1962 during nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site. The RESEP clinic at Dixie Regional exists to aid those individuals who were exposed to the testing, as well as those who worked in the uranium industry. The RESEP clinic also helps eligible individuals receive compensation from the government through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Over the last 15 months, Dixie Regional's RESEP clinic has given out RECA information to more than 2,000 people, helped more than 750 people with their RECA claims and more than 114 people have received compensation through RECA.

A group of island residents and members of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors met yesterday to discuss legislation that proposes to include Guam in the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Advertisement The federal RECA law, passed in 1990, compensates people who have been diagnosed with specific cancers and chronic diseases that could have resulted from exposure to agents associated with nuclear weapons testing, according to a 2005 report published by the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council. The law covers exposure to nuclear tests carried out for more than 20 years during and after World War II. According to the report, both on-site participants of above-ground nuclear tests and "downwinders" in areas designated by RECA are eligible for compensation. Areas of Nevada, Utah and Arizona are covered in the law as "Downwind Counties," the report states.

A group of island residents and members of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors met yesterday to discuss legislation that proposes to include Guam in the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Advertisement The federal RECA law, passed in 1990, compensates people who have been diagnosed with specific cancers and chronic diseases that could have resulted from exposure to agents associated with nuclear weapons testing, according to a 2005 report published by the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council. The law covers exposure to nuclear tests carried out for more than 20 years during and after World War II. According to the report, both on-site participants of above-ground nuclear tests and "downwinders" in areas designated by RECA are eligible for compensation. Areas of Nevada, Utah and Arizona are covered in the law as "Downwind Counties," the report states.

"When one lusts for the bottom line of financial windfalls or political benefits, compassion always falls by the wayside. Only a lust for the bottom line of compassion itself will not leave any soul un-nurtured. :::::::: When late last month U.S. Senator John McCain was asked by a woman at a Springerville, Arizona, town hall meeting what he was doing about getting Mohave County, Arizona, added to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (or RECA, a 1990 law that compensates radiation victims of U.S. nuclear weapons activities including fallout victims called "downwinders'), his answer: "We are still doing everything we can to see that happens" - must have sounded to those in the audience like a hollow assurance. It sure did to me. The group Mohave Downwinders, led by Eleanore Fanire until her passing last November, and that group's allies, had feverishly lamented the cold shoulder given to them by their longtime Senator, Mr. McCain. But it must be April Fools day all this month because McCain actually followed through on his word and formally stated on April 28th his intention in a press release to introduce legislation to add Mohave County "to the list for counties eligible for downwinder compensation under RECA." "

"It's the story of some Arizona residents who believe they have been victimized by the U.S. government not once, but twice. In February, Rep. Trent Franks introduced H.R. 4712, a measure meant to remunerate Mohave residents who were adversely affected by above ground nuclear testing that took place in the 1950s and '60s. The bill would allow those in Mohave County to make claims under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which was designed to proved payment to those who developed serious illnesses, including cancer, as a result of radiation exposure in the wake of those tests. Mohave County was not included as an eligible compensation area when RECA was passed in 1990. It was overlooked again when RECA was amended in 2000 to include more areas."

"Senators want uranium compensation on fast track Colorado's two U.S. senators are seeking a hearing on a bill that would expand the compensation program for the nation's nuclear-weapons industry workers. Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, both Democrats, wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-N.J., urging a quick hearing on the measure, S. 3224, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2010. The measure "would address key deficiencies in RECA, and extend compensation to a number of currently unqualified but suffering uranium workers and downwinders," the senators wrote. The amendments would expand the qualifications for compensation for radiation exposure to include post-1971 uranium workers for compensation; equalize compensation for all claimants to $150,000; expand the downwind exposure area to include seven states; and fund an epidemiological study of the health impacts on families of uranium workers and residents of uranium-development communities. "

On October 5, 1990, Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act ("RECA" or "the Act"), 42 U.S.C. § 2210 note, providing for compassionate payments to individuals who contracted certain cancers and other serious diseases as a result of their exposure to radiation released during above-ground nuclear weapons tests or as a result of their exposure to radiation during employment in underground uranium mines. The 1990 Act provided fixed payments in the following amounts: $50,000 to individuals residing or working "downwind" of The Nevada Test Site; $75,000 for workers participating in above-ground nuclear weapons tests; and $100,000 for uranium miners.

"The U.S. Justice Department announced today that it has launched an "intensive outreach effort" in the Four Corners area to Native Americans and their families whose work in the uranium industry during the Cold War benefitted the United States but exposed them to radiation. Tony West, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a news release that workers and their families may be entitled to compensation under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). Under the act, people in the following categories may receive payments: uranium miners, millers and ore transporters; people who were present at nuclear weapons test sites; and people who lived in certain areas "downwind" of the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. In the latest outreach in the Four Corners area - Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona - the Justice Department has developed an internship program using part-time college and graduate students recruited from tribal communities."

"People throughout seven Western states --- including anywhere in Utah -- who were exposed to radiation from atomic testing and the uranium industry would be eligible for government compensation, under proposed new congressional legislation. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico, has lined up support from Republicans and fellow Democrats for his bill to update the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, the measure championed exactly two decades ago by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. A House version of the bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, is expected to be introduced later this week. And, while the possible expansion of RECA is being applauded by many of Utah's "downwinders," as the radiation-exposed group calls itself, neither Hatch nor fellow Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett are listed as co-sponsors of Udall's bill. "

All four Senators representing Idaho and Montana are sponsoring new legislation that would make residents of the two states eligible for a federal government program that compensates people who lived in affected areas downwind of the Nevada Test Site during periods of atmospheric nuclear testing during the 1950s and 60s. Under the legislation, those victims would be compensated if they contracted cancer or other specified compensable diseases following the testing. The bipartisan legislation introduced today, S. 1342, would amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to include all of Idaho and Montana.

"Ever since he became a member of Congress in 1999, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., has been fighting to bring justice to the issue of compensation for uranium workers and downwinders. "My father had a 30 year crusade for justice in the case of the miners and the downwinders, and during the course of that 30 years, he probably involved most of our family. While I was in private practice I worked with him on many of these cases," Udall said last week regarding his introduction of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2010. Udall's father, Stewart Udall, who passed away last month at age 90, was a former Secretary of the Interior and a strong advocate of compensation for Navajo uranium miners. He was instrumental in getting the Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act of 1990 passed and testified to its inadequacies at a June 5, 1993, congressional hearing in Shiprock."

"The Department of Labor (DOL) Site Exposure Matrices (SEM) Website is a repository of information gathered from a variety of sources regarding toxic substances present at Department of Energy (DOE) and Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) facilities covered under Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). In putting together SEM, DOL held round table meetings with workers from DOE facilities all over the country and gathered their input on the hazards at these sites. DOL also obtained copies of thousands of documents from DOE regarding toxic substances at those facilities. In addition to toxic substance information, the SEM Website also contains information regarding scientifically established links between toxic substances and illnesses. Displayed links for diagnosed illnesses show how these correlate to toxic substance exposures. The relationship between toxic substances and diagnosed illnesses shown in SEM is derived from records of research by recognized medical authorities maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). DOL continually updates these relationships as new disease associations are recognized by NLM. The causal links provided by NLM do not represent an exclusive list of the pathways necessary for an affirmative Part E causation determination. Every case is evaluated on its own evidentiary merits. (Please note, however that SEM does not address the relationship between radiation and cancer. For purposes of EEOICPA, the relationship between radiation and cancer is evaluated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH))."

A grassroots effort to help uranium mine workers' children affected by diseases and birth defects is picking up steam on the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation Dependents of Uranium Workers Committee will meet for the second time in a month to update community members and hear feedback from residents who suffer from cancer, kidney disease, birth defects and other illnesses resulting from prolonged radon exposure from uranium mines. The health problems date back to work in the 1950s and '60s, said Phil Harrison, Council Delegate for Red Valley/Cove Chapter of the Navajo Nation. During that time, uranium mine workers were exposed to high levels of radon, which has caused inter-generational bouts of illnesses in communities across the Navajo Nation. "A lot of people don't want to talk about this in the public," Harrison said. By holding public meetings, organizers hope to garner enough support to lobby government officials in Washington, D.C., to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

"To date, the U. S. government has paid out $61,650,000 on some 1,213 claims prepared right here in Globe under the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The majority of these claims are called "downwinders," filed on behalf of persons who became ill with one of the certain type of cancers on a government approved list while living here in Gila County between Jan. 21, 1951 and October 1958, for a total period of 24 months, or for the period of June 1962 through July 3l, 1962. However, one needs to examine the U.S. Justice Department's list of approved cancer diseases, because not all cancers are eligible for compensation for "downwinders." In addition, the compensable disease list differs for other types of claims available under this federal act, if they are used. "