Clinton signs new nuclear-compensation bill

Wednesday, July 12, 2000 | 9:37 a.m.

President Clinton on Tuesday signed an expanded radiation compensation bill that includes more residents who lived downwind from the Nevada Test Site during above-ground testing of atomic bombs from 1951 until 1963.

However, the legislation sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, does not cover Las Vegas residents who grew up watching the mushroom clouds rise over the mountains northwest of the valley nor workers at the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the new law may cover those living in Lincoln County, northeast of the Test Site, who have developed cancer after exposure to the radioactive fallout.

The new law, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2000, also makes it easier for individuals to prove they were injured, Reid said.

It is expected to benefit 9,600 victims not covered under the original law, passed in 1990.

"Growing up in Searchlight I vividly remember watching the blasts at the Nevada Test Site, but I also vividly remember the health problems these blasts caused to people living downwind," Reid said.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the new bill will cost about $750 million over the next five years. As of March 1 the Justice Department had paid 3,302 claims worth $244 million and denied another 3,500 claims.

Another new feature of the updated act adds to the eligibility list open-pit uranium miners and those who transported or milled uranium. It also increases the number of sites where miners and downwinders can seek compensation.

The House approved the bill last month. The Senate passed it in December.

Some critics have said the legislation does not cover enough illnesses or increase compensation amounts. Uranium miners who worked after 1971 are not covered.

While the 1990 law already covered uranium miners in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Washington, the extended measure includes workers from South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho, Oregon and Texas.