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A look at where some leading nuclear powers stand on offering compensation to victims of nuclear tests. UNITED STATES: The U.S. is the only nation that currently compensates nuclear test victims. Since the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was enacted in 1990, more than $1.38 billion in compensation has been approved. It goes to people who took part in the tests, notably at the Nevada Test Site, and to anyone exposed to the radiation. FRANCE: The French government offered Tuesday to compensate victims for the first time. A draft bill to be submitted to parliament soon would allow payments to people who suffered health problems related to the tests. The payouts would be available to victims' descendants and would include Algerians, whose country was part of France when the French started nuclear testing in the Sahara in 1960. Victims say the eligibility requirements are too narrow. BRITAIN: No formal British government compensation program exists. Nearly 1,000 veterans of Christmas Island nuclear tests in the 1950s are seeking to sue the Ministry of Defense for negligence. They say they suffered health problems and were warned of potential dangers only after the experiments. RUSSIA: Decades afterward, Russia offered compensation to veterans who were part of the 1954 Totsk test, in which a Hiroshima-yield bomb was set off and then soldiers were sent in to test how fighting would proceed in a post-blast environment. Anti-nuclear groups say there has been no blanket government compensation for other tests. There was no compensation to civilians sickened by the Totsk test. CHINA: China's nuclear program is highly secretive, as are its atomic tests in remote deserts in a Central Asian border province. Anti-nuclear activists say there is no known government program for compensating victims.

"Death triggers fear among kin of other patients The death of a radiation victim on Monday, who was undergoing treatment at AIIMS, has created panic among families of other victims. Kin of four critically ill victims, undergoing treatment in AIIMS, Apollo and Army hospitals, are doubtful about their recovery. Most of the victims are the sole bread-winners for their families. Sources said AIIMS was not equipped to handle radiation cases. This has resulted in the death of one of the five patients admitted to the hospital. "AIIMS does not have the first-hand experience in treating such patients who are exposed to radiation," said sources. The condition of the two patients admitted to AIIMS is reported to be critical. Dismissing the claims, doctors at AIIMS said the victims were being provided with medical care on a par with international standards. "We are treating these patients according to the international protocol to be followed in such cases as there is no specific treatment for such cases and only supportive treatment could be given," said Dr AB Dey, Professor, Department of Medicine at AIIMS. He said the next four weeks would be crucial for the patients. "Next four weeks are very critical for these patients and we are taking every possible measure to save their lives. Only after four weeks we will be able say something about the future course of treatment," added Dey."

France's parliament has passed a law to compensate victims of nuclear tests in Algeria and the South Pacific, a response to decades of complaints by people sickened by radiation. The law cleared France's Senate on Tuesday, its final legislative hurdle following approval in the National Assembly in June. France "can at last close a chapter of its history", Defence Minister Herve Morin said in a statement. He called the law "just, rigorous and balanced." The text, hammered out with help from victims' associations, recognises the right for victims of France's more than 200 nuclear tests to receive compensation. Some 150,000 people, including civilian and military personnel, were on site for the 210 tests France carried out, both in the atmosphere and underground, in the Sahara Desert and the South Pacific from 1960-1996.

France's parliament has passed a law to compensate victims of nuclear tests in Algeria and the South Pacific, a response to decades of complaints by people sickened by radiation. The law cleared France's Senate on Tuesday, its final legislative hurdle following approval in the National Assembly in June. France "can at last close a chapter of its history", Defence Minister Herve Morin said in a statement. He called the law "just, rigorous and balanced." The text, hammered out with help from victims' associations, recognises the right for victims of France's more than 200 nuclear tests to receive compensation. Some 150,000 people, including civilian and military personnel, were on site for the 210 tests France carried out, both in the atmosphere and underground, in the Sahara Desert and the South Pacific from 1960-1996.

"The government on Tuesday admitted its helplessness in providing adequate compensation to victims of radiation exposure in Mayapuri market in the absence of a specific law backing compensation to victims of radioactive accidents. Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan told the Rajya Sabha that such a law needs to be enacted and welcomed suggestions in this regard. "Let us accept that there is no law today, and we need to enact the law for civil compensation for victims of radioactive accidents," Chavan said in response to a call attention motion in which Opposition members repeatedly raised the issue of compensation to victims of Mayapuri incident. "

"As Ukraine comemmorates the victims who perished on the 24th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster on Monday, people around the world protest against the dangers of nuclear power. Addressing the psychological and social effects of the Chernobyl disaster and securing the site are still key priorities, experts say. A man lights a candle and lays flowers in front of memorial for Chernobyl victims in Slavutich, 200 kilometers north of capital Kiev on Monday. Ukraine paid homage on Monday to the victims of the Chernobyl disaster while still struggling with the legacy of the world's worst nuclear disaster 24 years ago. Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych said the victims should be remembered forever and promised to find financial resources for expanding social security for the people affected by the Chernobyl disaster."

MONTICELLO - Cancer victims and their families here have launched a new phase of their campaign for recognition of the cruel legacy left by a government uranium mill. Steve Young, organizer of the Monticello Victims of Mill Tailings Exposure, encouraged his neighbors to push the federal government for a long-term program that would help pay for cancer screening and expenses related to the old mill.

Victims killed by the atomic bombs which exploded in Japan more than 60 years ago have been remembered at a ceremony in Leeds. More than 200,000 people died in the US attacks, which took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August, 1945. A wreath was laid at the city's Park Square followed a by a two-minute silence to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the bombings. The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Judith Elliott, is leading the service.

Victims killed by the atomic bombs which exploded in Japan more than 60 years ago have been remembered at a ceremony in Leeds. More than 200,000 people died in the US attacks, which took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August, 1945. A wreath was laid at the city's Park Square followed a by a two-minute silence to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the bombings. The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Judith Elliott, is leading the service.

Victims killed by the atomic bombs which exploded in Japan more than 60 years ago have been remembered at a ceremony in Leeds. More than 200,000 people died in the US attacks, which took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August, 1945. A wreath was laid at the city's Park Square followed a by a two-minute silence to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the bombings. The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Judith Elliott, is leading the service.

The head of a group representing the victims of nuclear testing in French Polynesia says a law to provide them compensation is a public relations exercise. France's Minister of Defence recently outlined the main points of a proposed Bill to compensate, for the first time, victims of nuclear testing it conducted both in Algeria and later in French Polynesia, between 1966 and 1996. The compensation announcement precedes a court hearing in which the French government will answer to charges it failed to protect its French Polynesian workers from nuclear fallout during that time.

Court rules damages paid earlier 'adequate' Twelve victims of radiation poisoning have lost their appeal for 12 million baht in compensation from an engineering and electrical equipment distributor over its reckless storage of radioactive materials. Sonthaya: Right hand crippled SURAPOL PROMSAKA NA SAKOLNAKORN The members of the group claimed Kamol Sukosol Electric Co Ltd was negligent when it stored radioactive materials not properly secured in its car park. This allowed a cylinder of cobalt-60 - a radioactive isotope that can cause cancer - to be stolen from the company property. But the Appeals Court yesterday ruled in the company's favour saying the 640,276 baht in compensation the Civil Court had earlier ordered Kamol Sukosol to pay was sufficient.

Court rules damages paid earlier 'adequate' Twelve victims of radiation poisoning have lost their appeal for 12 million baht in compensation from an engineering and electrical equipment distributor over its reckless storage of radioactive materials. Sonthaya: Right hand crippled SURAPOL PROMSAKA NA SAKOLNAKORN The members of the group claimed Kamol Sukosol Electric Co Ltd was negligent when it stored radioactive materials not properly secured in its car park. This allowed a cylinder of cobalt-60 - a radioactive isotope that can cause cancer - to be stolen from the company property. But the Appeals Court yesterday ruled in the company's favour saying the 640,276 baht in compensation the Civil Court had earlier ordered Kamol Sukosol to pay was sufficient.

"At last, victims of Japan's nuclear crisis can claim compensation. And they are angry. They are furious at the red tape they have to wade through just to receive basic help and in despair they still cannot get on with their lives seven months after the huge quake and tsunami triggered the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years. Shouts fill a room at a temporary housing complex where seven officials, kneeling in their dark suits, face 70 or so tenants who were forced to abandon their homes near the Fukushima nuclear plant after some of its reactors went into meltdown after the March 11 quake struck."

Arab nations accused Israel on Monday of blasting Gaza with ammunition containing depleted uranium and urged the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate reports that traces of it had been found in victims of the shelling. In a letter on behalf of Arab ambassadors accredited in Austria, Prince Mansour Al-Saoud, the Saudi Ambassador, expressed "our deep concern regarding the information ... that traces of depleted uranium have been found in Palestinian victims." A final draft of the letter was made available to The Associated Press on Monday. It urgently requested IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to "carry out a radiological and physical assessment in order to verify the presence of depleted uranium in the weaponry used by Israel ... in the Gaza Strip."

One hundred survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki returned to Tokyo on Tuesday from a four-month voyage around the world to call for the abolition of nuclear weapons and share their experiences with global audiences. During the voyage, organized by the nongovernmental organization Peace Boat, the survivors visited 20 countries to meet with the local people to seek nuclear abolition. In Danang, Vietnam, in September they visited victims of Agent Orange, a chemical dropped by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, at the Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Agent Orange, while in Papeete, Tahiti, in December, they met with those who were affected by French nuclear tests at the Mururoa Atoll, according to Peace Boat. From Japan, 94 survivors participated in the voyage, with four from South Korea, two from Brazil, and one each from Australia, Canada and Mexico, according to Peace Boat.

KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine paid tribute Saturday to victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 22 years ago while anti-nuclear demonstrators at home and abroad also recalled the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history. A group of Ukrainians led by President Viktor Yushchenko laid a wreath during the night at a monument to the victims of the catastrophe in which a reactor exploded one night in April 1986.

The French National Assembly approved a landmark bill on compensating the victims of nuclear tests carried out in French Polynesia and Algeria over more than three decades. Some 150,000 civilian and military personnel took part in 210 nuclear tests carried out in the Sahara desert and the Pacific between 1960 and 1996. Many of them later developed serious health problems.

Ukraine paid homage to victims of the Chernobyl catastrophe 23 years after the worst nuclear accident in history. "Today we remember with profound sadness those heroes who fought against the nuclear storm and sacrificed themselves for us and our children," President Viktor Yushchenko said in an address published by his press service. Some 100 Ukrainians, including Yushchenko and other top officials, laid wreaths overnight before the monument to Chernobyl's victims in Kiev and lighted candles during a religious service dedicated to the tragedy, an AFP photographer reported.

French victims of nuclear bomb testing are getting a multimillion-pound payout... while British veterans are still being ignored. This week the French government announced it was "time to be true to its conscience" and revealed a £9million compensation package. In Britain the Ministry of Defence continues to fight claims by veterans who suffer health problems such as cancers, skin conditions, bone disorders and 10 times the normal rate of birth defects in their children. But after more than 40 years of similar denials, the authorities in France have agreed to pay out to veterans and civilians who fell ill following tests in the Pacific.

A ten-million euro compensation package for the victims of nuclear test is being described as "peanuts". The French Defence minister Hervé Morin has outlined the main points of a proposed Bill to compensate, for the first time, victims of nuclear testing conducted by France both in Algeria and later in French Polynesia, between 1966 and 1996. Roland Oldham, the president of the French Polynesian nuclear test veterans' group, Mururoa o Tatou, says the deal is a bad joke. "They announce a few million like that, just like we should be very happy, we should drop on our knees and say thank you to the French Government. But that's not the case at all, because it's peanuts , it really is peanuts when you compare how the French government spends a lot of money on defence."

"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." "

The scale of the Chernobyl disaster is not exaggerated and even understated," a victims representative and leading nuclear expert told Xinhua in an exclusive interview Wednesday. Alexander Zenchenko, the chairman of the Focal Alliance of Chernobyl Disaster Victims, also said the nuclear power plant catastrophe in Ukraine in 1986 and the current crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan were very different. Zenchenko, who is a famous Ukrainian nuclear chemist and physicist, is in a good position to know. He was rec

A three-part exhibit titled "Against Nuclear Arms" opened Monday at the United Nations as testament to the victims of the atomic bombings in Japan and 40 years of nuclear tests carried out in Kazakhstan. The exhibit is being presented by the Japan and Kazakhstan missions as part of ongoing efforts for nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. It will be on display until Sept. 30.