Several Western senators have introduced a bill seeking to triple the compensation for downwind cancer victims of Cold War atomic testing. The bill would also make it easier to prove claims and would expand eligibility for compensation payments to all of Utah — instead of just 10 counties that now qualify.
But opposing the changes is Sen. Orrin Hatch — co-author of the original 1990 Radiation Exposure Compensation Act that created such compensation.
"I fear it is overly broad and prohibitively expensive," he said, worrying that high costs might sink the program in budget battles and take current compensation programs with them. Hatch added, "I also believe it is important to continue to base any expansion of the program on sound science" — and add only those changes warranted by new scientific findings.