Bryan says Nevada workers to be included in compensation package

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Wednesday, April 12, 2000 | 10:29 a.m.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson is expected to detail the compensation program at a news conference later today in Washington, D.C.

Bryan said the announcement ends decades of denial and secrecy by the U.S. government.

Bryan, who worked briefly at the test site as a young man and watched the tests as a boy growing up in Las Vegas, said Nevadans were assured there were no risks to the program.

The nation's nuclear weapons were tested at the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, beginning in January 1951 and running through 1992.

Thousands of Southern Nevadans worked at the site over the years and many are now coming forward with reports of health problems believed related to their work in the testing program.