Nuke workers will have to wait

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, April 19, 2001 | 11:38 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- As expected, Nevada Test Site workers who became ill after testing nuclear weapons for the federal government will be compensated later than originally promised, Labor Department Secretary Elaine Chao confirmed Wednesday.

The Labor Department will manage the compensation program, which aims to give up to $150,000, plus coverage for future medical costs, to ailing nuclear bomb workers and surviving family members around the nation. Congress approved the plan last year, budgeting $60 million for start-up. But the Labor Department balked at the timeline. Congress intended to launch the program by July 31.

"The one thing people have realized is how unlikely the July 31 deadline was from the very beginning, and I hope we can reach agreement on a more reasonable time, while making benefits fully retroactive (to July 31)," Chao said. "The first down payment we need to make with affected workers and their families is to tell them the truth."