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Overview:

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Program (RECP) provides financial restitution to individuals who became seriously ill as a result of nuclear testing and uranium mining during the Cold War. RECP is managed by the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Torts Branch, which draws money from a special trust fund to make payments to eligible claimants. Compensation ranges from $50,000 to $100,000 depending on which category an individual falls under. As of May 8, 2008, the RECP had approved 19,420 claims and rejected 8,071. Most of the successful claimants have been Downwinders (12,063) and Uranium Miners (4,819). The rest have been Onsite Participants, Uranium Millers and Ore Transporters. Onsite Participants have had the hardest time winning claims, with an approval rate of only 44.7% compared to more than 70% for the other categories.

History:

From the early 1940s until the 1960s, the federal government’s nuclear weapons complex demanded certain dangerous activities that caused thousands of citizens to become exposed to radiation. In order to develop new nuclear weapons for the US arsenal, the Atomic Energy Commission conducted a series of aboveground nuclear weapons tests in southern Nevada (the Nevada Test Site). Energy officials also managed underground uranium-mining operations and related activities to produce fuel for nuclear warheads.

Radiation exposure from nuclear testing and uranium mining was believed to have caused certain serious diseases, including various types of cancer. As the Cold War came to an end in the late 1980s, lawmakers began examining the legacy of the nuclear weapons program. To address the needs of those who contracted cancer while living downwind from the Nevada Test Site or while working at uranium mines, Congress adopted the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) in October 1990.

RECA provided that the US Attorney General be responsible for processing and

adjudicating claims under RECA. The Department of Justice (DOJ) established the

Radiation Exposure Compensation Program (RECP), which is administered by its

Civil Division’s Torts Branch. RECP began processing claims in April 1992. DOJ officials set up a trust fund from which compensation was issued to claimants.

Throughout the 1990s, many Native American widows were denied compensation because they were unable to establish a legal connection to their deceased counterparts. In response to the issue, DOJ officials revised RECP regulations in 1999 to assist Native American claimants.

The following year, Congress adopted a series of amendments to the RECA. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2000 added two new categories of workers eligible for federal compensation: uranium mill workers and ore transporters. The amendments also provided additional compensable illnesses, lowered the radiation exposure threshold for uranium miners, included above-ground miners within the definition of “uranium miner,” modified medical documentation requirements and removed certain lifestyle restrictions. Additional geographic areas to the “downwinder” claimant category were put into law.

Since April 1992, RECP has authorized payments totaling $1.3 billion for 19,402 claims, according to the program’s claims to date (PDF) statistics. Almost half of the $1.3 billion was paid to claimants who lived downwind of the Nevada Test Site during nuclear weapons testing. The 19,420 claims represented about two-thirds of the 28,176 claims filed since the beginning of the program. The remaining one-third of the claims were either still pending or were denied because RECA’s eligibility criteria were not satisfied.

Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation

What it Does:

Administered by the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Torts Branch, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program (RECP) provides financial restitution to those who became seriously ill as a result of nuclear testing and uranium mining. Using a special trust fund, RECP disburses fixed payments to eligible claimants 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
$100,000 for uranium mining and mill workers and ore transporters

Uranium Miners and Mill Workers

A payment of $100,000 is available to individuals who were employed in aboveground or underground uranium mines or uranium mills located in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon and Texas at any time from January 1, 1942, to December 31, 1971. Miners must have been exposed to 40 or more working level months of radiation while employed in a uranium mine or worked for at least one year in a uranium mine during the relevant time period. Mill workers must have worked in a uranium mill for at least one year. Compensable diseases for miners and mill workers include primary lung cancer and certain nonmalignant respiratory diseases. Mill workers suffering from renal cancer and other chronic renal disease including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury may also be eligible.

Ore Transporters

Like miners and mill workers, truckers who transported uranium ore may be eligible for a payment of $100,000. Claimants must have been employed for at least one year in the transport of uranium ore or vanadium-uranium ore from mines or mills located in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon and Texas from January 1, 1942, until December 31, 1971. Compensable diseases include primary lung cancer, certain nonmalignant respiratory diseases, renal cancer and other chronic renal disease including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury.

Downwinders

A payment of $50,000 is available to individuals who were physically present in one of the affected areas downwind of the Nevada Test Site during a period of atmospheric nuclear testing. Claimants must have lived or worked for a period of at least two years between January 21, 1951, and October 31, 1958, or from June 30, 1962, to July 31, 1962 in one of the following areas: the Utah counties of Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington and Wayne; the Nevada counties of Eureka, Lander, Lincoln, Nye, White Pine and that portion of Clark County that consists of townships 13 through 16 at ranges 63 through 71; or the Arizona counties of Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo, Yavapai and that part of Arizona that is north of the Grand Canyon. Diseases covered are leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's disease), primary cancer of the thyroid or any of the following types of cancer: male or female breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated) or lung.

Onsite Participants

Those who participated onsite in a test involving the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear device may be eligible for a payment of $75,000. A claimant must have been present above or within the official boundaries of the Nevada, Pacific, Trinity or South Atlantic Test Sites at any time during a period of atmospheric nuclear testing and must have participated during that time in the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear device. Diseases covered are leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), lung cancer, multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's disease), primary cancer of the thyroid, or any of the following types of cancer: male or female breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated) or lung.

Where Does the Money Go:

Eligible claimants make up the key constituency of the RECP. These individuals consist of people who lived downwind from the Nevada Test Site, uranium mine and mill workers and ore transporters.

FY 2009 Performance Budget

Controversies:

America’s Radiation Victims: The Secret Files (by Clifford T. Honicker, New York Times)

The Hanford Downwinders Litigation Information Resourse (Downwinders)

Suggested Reforms:

RECP Lacking Scientific Criteria

In 2005, the National Academy of Sciences released a report stating that the radiation compensation program was not utilizing the latest science to determine eligibility of claimants. The study, conducted by the National Research Council, pointed out that only “downwinders” who lived in certain counties of Arizona, Nevada and Utah at the times of nuclear tests were eligible for compensation under RECA.

But NRC experts concluded that residents in other counties and states, even some far from the Nevada Test Site, may have been exposed to higher amounts of radiation than those in the currently eligible areas. Other factors such as age at the time of exposure, consumption of contaminated milk or food and age when a disease is diagnosed should also be considered when determining whether someone’s illness was likely caused by nuclear test radiation.

“To be equitable, any compensation program needs to be based on scientific criteria and similar cases must be treated alike,” said R. Julian Preston, director of the Environmental Carcinogenesis Division at the US Environmental Protection Agency, who worked on the study. “The current geographic limitations are not based on the latest science.”

NRC officials added that this change in eligibility criteria was not likely to significantly increase the number of claimants to the program. But neither Congress nor DOJ officials running RECP decided to endorse the new criteria.

Academy Study Saying More Claimants Should be Allowed (National Academies Press Release)

Downwinders

Mohave Down Winders

Hanford Downwinders

See all 171 comments

Comments

Laurie Harris 6 years ago

My father died from lung cancer. He was in the Navy in the bomb tests at Bikini Island. I was told by NCBC, that I have a claim.

Pamela Large-Wooten 7 years ago

My former spouse died from lung cancer in 2008. He and I lived in Pinal County (county next to Gila county) our entire lives. I now live in Navajo county. I strongly believe Pinal county should have been included, as I know many people that died from every type of cancer mentioned. He also was born in 1951 with neurofibromatosis (benign tumors under the skin attached to nerves). No prior family history. We have a daughter and 2 granddaughters with this condition. I feel he and our child and her children were affected from this fallout beginning with his birth in 1951, as well as him dying from lung cancer. I think you should look into Pinal county as well. We lived in Mammoth, AZ which is not far from Gila county. Thank you.

terryrs 8 years ago

Why do RECA participants denied equal equity as Energy workers under EEOICPA. We served equally.

terryrs 8 years ago

1962/63 Johnston Island participant. Worked for DOD U S NAVY contract worker. Got canc

Josh 8 years ago

I had a guy in my town that fought the VA for 40 years over cancers related to exposure from radiation from atmospheric testing. The only reason he stayed alive so long was dumb luck and stubbornness, I'm sure. He was exposed as a photographer/developer in the Air Force. Now we have another whole generation of Vets who are fighting exposure issues to. http://lilaccitylaw.com/2016/03/01/gulf-war-veterans/ Here's a good example. SMH

Curtis Adair 8 years ago

My mother and her parents were exposed to Hanford WA.radiation in the late 1940s early 1950s. Both of my mothers parents died of thyroid cancer in the 1950s. My mother underwent treatment with radio active iodine about the time of my birth. my mother has since had her thyroid removed and i am being treated for hyperthyroidism that was discovered until 2011. My mother told me this just last Nov. 2015. What can be done?

Virginia E Alfred 9 years ago

I Virginia E Alfred, child of a uranium miner, Virgil A Loving. We have applied with the dept of labor and now we need papers to fill out a claim for RECA. Virginia E Alfred 240624 Highland Rd Scottsbluff, Ne 69361

screwedbyGOV 9 years ago

When was the last time the Govt. adjusted the wrongful death amounts to compensate for inflation? It seems to me that on top of getting screwed by radiation, if the Govt. has failed to adjust the amounts for inflation then currently they are only paying about 50% of what the original value was back in 1990 (at face value). This is compounded even further by the increased current day costs of many other things, relative to inflation, such as medical costs, etc. So the reality today is that if someone was eligible for say, a 100,000.00 compensation in 1990 then today it may be worth only 50,000.00 (in 1990 value) and probably less due to the increased costs today. So by not compensating for inflation the Govt is REALLY screwing them over. On top of getting exposed in the first place.

lean 9 years ago

Is the 50,000 the only compension?

Harry Nichols 9 years ago

I grew up in Eastern Idaho - Lemhi & Bingham counties 1938-1980. After the Nevada blasts the geiger counters the miners used would go "crazy indicating radiation". Some miners staked claims thinking they had found uranium, when all it really amounted to was radiation fallout. Many of my friends, and my brother are dead from leukemia - caused by radiation - and I have it but am still living with it. My Oncologist tells me that my condition IS from radiation fallout. My heart goes out to those who have it or who have relatives with it. For all these years our government has ignored us in hopes that we will all die out and they won't have to take the blame for it. I could say more, but the Lord has his hands on my tongue, even though HE knows that I continue suffer. My "faith" has helped me more than our government will ever help. God bless all!

Table of Contents
Overview
History
What it Does
Where Does the Money Go
Controversies
Suggested Reforms
Comments
Leave a comment

Founded: 1992

Annual Budget: $40 million

Employees:

Official Website: https://www.justice.gov/civil/common/reca

Radiation Exposure Compensation Program

Bracey, Kali

Deputy Assistant Attorney General

Kali N. Bracey was named deputy assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division’s Torts Branch in July 2014. The appointment put her in charge of the division’s Radiation Exposure Compensation Program, which provides financial restitution to individuals who became seriously ill as a result of nuclear testing and uranium mining during the Cold War.

Bracey graduated Massachusetts’ Amherst Regional High School in 1989 and went on to Spellman College, earning her B.A. in sociology in 1993. She then attended Yale Law School, where she received her J.D. in 1996. That September, she took a year-long job as a law clerk for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In October 1997, she became a staff attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, representing indigent defendants charged with offenses ranging from misdemeanors to felonies and murder. In 2001, her final year at the service, she handled cases in the appellate division.

In February of 2002, Bracey joined the Washington, D.C., law firm of Jenner & Block, where she worked as an associate until becoming a partner in January 2007. She focused on the areas of insurance litigation, white-collar crime, entertainment and new media, and represented clients in state and federal courts throughout the U.S. in cases involving copyright, redistricting, telecommunications and product liability.

Bracey left the firm in March 2012 to join what was then a new federal agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). She worked as senior counsel in its Office of Supervision Policy and was involved in student loan servicing, auto lending, and CFPB rulemaking. A year later, she was named the Bureau’s senior counsel and executive secretary, and then continued up the ladder to become counsel to the director and executive secretary. She held that post until her appointment at the Justice Department the following year.

Bracey and her husband, Eric Brown, have a young daughter, Zora.

-Danny Biederman

Fischer, Gerard

Previous Assistant Director

As the assistant director of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Torts Branch, Gerard W. Fischer oversaw the management of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program. He did so for more than ten years.