Victims of radiation exposure across Utah have been fighting for justice for years. Now, there is new life in the effort to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to cover all Utahns and communities elsewhere harmed by fallout from atmospheric testing in Nevada decades ago.
We just need our own congressional delegation to close the deal. The question is — will they?
On Nov. 20, United States Senate negotiators unveiled a compromise proposal to renew and expand RECA after the program officially lapsed on June 7. Since RECA expired, the Department of Justice stopped processing claims. Families and survivors across all of Utah are now stuck in limbo.
After the government detonated nuclear bombs and exposed Utahns and other downwind communities to cancer-causing fallout, it’s deeply disturbing that the remaining survivors have lost life-saving assistance.
The U.S. government formally apologized in 1990 for the harm inflicted on ordinary citizens by atmospheric testing during the 1950s and 60s. When President George H.W. Bush signed the original RECA (introduced by the late Sen. Orrin Hatch) into law, the government committed to “recognize and assume responsibility for the harm done to these individuals.”
RECA was always far too limited, covering only 10 counties in Utah and 12 others in Nevada and Arizona. Too many communities in northern Utah and the West were excluded, although evidence since RECA’s passage has shown much more about who was harmed by Cold War testing in Nevada, how much further radioactive fallout from above-ground tests spread, how the uranium industry endangered more workers, and how nuclear waste was negligently and illegally dumped in several U.S. communities.
In March, a bill to expand RECA passed the U.S. Senate with a bipartisan super majority. It adds the entire states of Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho, Colorado, Montana and Guam, as well as additional uranium miners and communities dealing with the aftermath of weapons production and waste storage — all of whom evidence has shown were heavily impacted by radiation exposure. Unfortunately, the legislation stalled in the House of Representatives where Speaker Mike Johnson held up its passage citing cost concerns.
After months of negotiations, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), one of the bill’s sponsors, has rolled out what he called a “reasonable compromise.” The new proposal takes the legislation already passed by the Senate and places a spending cap on it that reduces the projected cost by 90%. This solution is a significant sacrifice for downwinders and advocates, but we willingly agreed to it. It makes good sense.
The compromise keeps the expanded geographic areas and the increase into account for 34 years of inflation and dramatically higher cancer care costs.
The compromise proposal would mean that payouts to victims across the country would initially be capped at $5 billion in total, which is estimated to last over the next five to six years. If the Department of Justice, which administers the program, needs funds for more claims it can ask Congress for more. This is a reasonable middle ground to ensure that thousands of victims get compensation without the heavier $50 billion price tag over 19 years.
In the past, Speaker Johnson has been a problem. But now with the new proposal, he might play ball. Public reports have said he would support the compromise plan if the Utah delegation gets on board.
This means we are close. All we need is our congressional delegation — Reps. Owens, Malloy, Moore and Curtis — to support the compromise. If they say “yes,” the program is back in operation. If they say “yes,” thousands of additional Utahns are eligible for benefits. If they say “yes,” downwinders, uranium mine workers and atomic veterans in Utah can move on with their lives.
We ask our delegation to support his workable compromise that helps Utahns statewide. The Utah delegation now has no excuse. We are a dwindling population that can’t afford to wait for justice any longer. Rep. Celeste Maloy and Rep. John Curtis represent the areas of the state with the most past RECA claimants. They need to be our champions and get this passed before the current congressional session ends in a few weeks.
(Mary Dickson) Mary Dickson is a Salt Lake City writer and downwinder who has been a long-time advocate for victims of nuclear weapons.
Mary Dickson is a Salt Lake City writer and downwinder who has been a long-time advocate for victims of nuclear weapons. She is currently the Mellon Community Practitioner in the Environmental Humanities Program at the University of Utah.
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