Nuke workers compensation talks break down

Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 | 11:35 a.m.

Negotiations by a congressional panel broke down Thursday night, likely killing a plan to compensate nuclear weapons workers for their illnesses.

The stalemate means that workers from the Nevada Test Site and at other government and nongovernment locations across the nation are not likely to receive financial relief this year.

Republican House leaders on Tuesday revived hopes for a compensation package to pass this year after critics said GOP leaders were blocking the legislation that would have cost about $1.9 billion and covered roughly 4,000 workers who helped build the nuclear arsenal.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said he was willing to make a deal on Tuesday if the compensation package delivered benefits to the workers and was fiscally responsible. Hastert aide John Feehery said more congressional hearings might be necessary.

The Nevada delegation has been pushing for a compensation package to be passed this year.

"I think this is all for show," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said today. "I don't think that Congress is going to pass this bill this year."

Reid this morning urged Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the ranking minority member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to continue fighting for benefits covering workers exposed to beryllium, radiation and silica.

But Reid and Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., denounced the latest proposal, including a call for more studies of the nuclear workers.

No joint congressional talks on the defense authorization bill were scheduled for today or Monday. Congress is trying to adjourn for the year in a week or two.

The Department of Energy, after conducting hearings around the nation, admitted in April that some of the thousands of laborers who built and tested the nuclear weapons during the Cold War got sick because of their exposures to toxic and radioactive materials. DOE Secretary Bill Richardson urged Congress to compensate the workers.

At issue after the latest round of talks is the amount of money.

Workers would have received $200,000 under the original version of the plan. A second draft of the bill offered $100,000 per worker or family, Republican aides said.

The appropriations bill that emerged Thursday night enhanced medical benefits for military retirees by $39 billion, but left out nuclear workers. Those additional benefits could add as much as $5 billion a year to the defense budget by paying the equivalent of free full Medigap insurance to veterans who are receiving Medicare.

Former DOE workers such as Ray Slaughter made a last-minute plea to Congress recently. Slaughter hauled blasted rock out of tunnels carved under the Test Site after nuclear bombs exploded during experiments. He now has silicosis, which affects his lungs. He testified that he got the disease from breathing silica dust in the tunnels.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., refused to give up on the compensation, vowing to battle to the end of the session.

Nevada's lone Republican in Congress, Rep. Jim Gibbons, said he would continue pressuring the House leadership to compensate the nuclear workers.