Bill introduced to increase nuke fallout compensation

Wednesday, May 16, 2001 | 9:24 a.m.

Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Pete Domenici of New Mexico introduced amendments today to strengthen radiation compensation to residents living downwind of radioactive fallout from the Nevada Test Site.

The amendments would grant downwinders and others exposed to radioactive fallout an extra $50,000 and lifetime medical benefits. The proposal would cost $710 million over the next 10 years.

Between 2,000 and 4,000 claims have been paid since the original compensation bill was passed in 1990 to residents living under radioactive fallout, military personnel exposed to the fallout and uranium miners.

The amendments would also remove compensation funding from annual congressional review by making it a permanent and indefinite appropriation. People had complained that instead of checks, the Department of Justice was sending them IOUs after the annual fund ran dry late last year.

Domenici, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, was prepared to ensure the bill received funding, a spokesman said.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a major supporter of radiation compensation for Energy Department workers and downwinders, was reviewing the bill, a spokesman said.

Last year Congress had voted to expand compensation to hundreds of nuclear workers who risked their health to build the U.S. weapons arsenal during the Cold War with the former Soviet Union. The first checks from the new legislation were expected later this year.

However, an executive of the Downwinders, a 25-year-old organization that represents people affected by nuclear weapons radiation that drifted across the country from the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, said the amendments might trigger a fight between worker groups.

The amendments would definitely help downwinders, uranium miners and other groups exposed to the radiation, said Preston Truman, executive director of the Downwinders based in Idaho.

However, by adding an extra $50,000 and permanent medical benefits to people who have already been paid, the amendments could create problems, Truman said.

"The proposal could pit one victim's group against another," he said.