NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RADIATION SURVIVORS

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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RADIATION SURVIVORS

 

 

PO Box 1587

 

Marysville, CA 95901-1587

 

Phone (800) 798-5102 Phone/fax (530) 741-9654 Email

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY OF ISSUES

 

(Revised1/28/2002)

 

 

 

 

WHO WE ARE

 

 

The National Association of Radiation Survivors (NARS) is a national,

membership- based non-profit organization whose members are generally, although

not exclusively, U.S citizens exposed to ionizing radiation from the

development, production, testing, use, or storage of nuclear weapons and nuclear

waste.

 

 

NARS was founded in 1982 by a diverse group of survivors who believed that all

radiation survivors needed to work together in order to demonstrate the

widespread harm created by the nuclear weapons and nuclear power programs. The

original purpose was to obtain health care and, where appropriate, compensation

for those who have been harmed. NARS has grown from its original 17 founding

members to a database of over 11,000.

 

 

As members began performing outreach to others, research, and obtaining

scientific and government documents regarding the nuclear weapons program, our

goals were expanded to include:

 

 

1. To obtain Health care and compensation for those exposed.

 

 

2. To work with others to obtain an objective scientific basis for

establishing allowable exposure standards.

 

 

3. Reinstatement of Survivors' constitutional right to a redress of their

injuries through the judicial system.

 

 

4. To have Congress pass a National Nuclear Ethics Law that would make it

a Criminal offense for government employees or contractors to lie to, or

otherwise deceive citizens about a potential or actual exposure to radiation.

 

 

5. To work for a Comprehensive, mutually verifiable, test ban treaty and

for the end of the development and testing of nuclear weapons.

 

 

To accomplish these goals, NARS has worked to educate the public and

legislators about radiation survivors, advocated for specific legislation to

benefit those survivors, and filed class action lawsuits on behalf of survivors.

The results of these efforts have been mixed. Some legislation has been passed,

but has been inadequate in terms of the numbers of people benefiting and in

terms of the types of illnesses and other problems covered under the

legislation. Almost all court cases have been dismissed due to various

protections afforded the government and its#146; contractors. (See page for a

discussion of these protections).

 

 

NARS is made up of Atomic Veterans, Southwest Downwinders, Uranium Miners

and Millers, Hanford Downwinders, Civilian Test Site Workers, South Pacific

Islanders, Hibakusha, Medical Experiment Victims and widows and children of the

radiation exposed.

 

 

 

WHO ARE THE SURVIVORS?

 

 

NARS estimates that at least two million citizens have been directly

exposed to ionizing radiation from the development, production or testing of

nuclear weapons. Millions of others have been exposed by the fallout from

atmospheric tests or their proximity to nuclear materials, hardware or waste.

Still others have been exposed in medical therapy or actual human experiments.

Many of these citizens did not realize they were being exposed and, in fact,

many were told they were not or that their exposure was nothing to worry about.

Almost all now realize their exposure was indeed costly in terms of their

health, ability to work, the high cost of medical bills and for families, the

loss of a loved one.

 

 

As members of the Occupation Forces of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan after

the bombs were dropped on those cities in August of 1945, 195,000 Army, Navy,

and Marine Corps personnel had no idea what radiation was or what if might do to

them in the future. Working in a wide range of tasks from demolition and

clean-up to the rescue of POWs, these men were exposed to the residual radiation

from those bombs, and performed their tasks without protective clothing or

dosimeters.

 

 

As participants of Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Testing, from shots Able

and Baker of Operation Crossroads in 1946, to the tests of Operation Dominic in

the South Pacific, 200,000+ servicemen were specifically told they had nothing

to fear. Few had special clothing or dosimeters, none were told to have

on-going health check-ups due to the increased risk of health problems from

their exposure.

 

 

The Storage, Transportation, Loading and Disposal of weapons potentially

exposed an unknown number of servicemen to ionizing radiation as guards,

transportation specialists, weapons assembly teams and disposal technicians.

They too, believed there was no risk to their health. Many similarly employed,

including those serving on nuclear submarines, continue to be exposed to

radiation hazards inherent in the nuclear weapons program.

 

 

The Gulf War Veterans may in fact have been exposed to radiation as well

from the depleted uranium used on the turrets of M1A1 tanks, armor piercing

shells, and shells from attack aircraft. A large number of these veterans have

experienced undiagnosed health problems that replicate those of veterans of

atmospheric testing and other exposures to radiation. While depleted uranium is

considered very low level radiation, it becomes toxic when burned, and

inhalation or ingestion could cause severe problems. This is being investigated

by both governmental and non-governmental bodies.

 

 

CIVILIAN TEST SITE WORKERS

 

 

The Nevada Test Site, 65 miles north of Las Vegas, and South Pacific

Islands and Atolls were the primary nuclear weapons testing sites for the U.S.

weapons program. U.S. corporations, such Reynolds Electric & Engineering and

Holmes & Narver were government contractors that carried out such tests, using

civilians with the skills needed for such work.

 

 

Over time there may have been 200,000+ such workers if post-testing

monitoring and cleanup are included. These workers, particularly those in the

South Pacific, often would be on short term contracts of 18 months spending most

that time in the test area, exposed to dozens of shots over that time period.

They too thought it was safe.

 

 

When the Limited Test Ban, banning atmospheric testing, became effective

in 1963, many thought the dangers of nuclear weapons testing was over since

future tests would take place underground. However, venting of these explosions

occurred, causing the ground to erupt and radiation to leak into the

environment. Civilian Test Site Workers were exposed during those ventings and

remained at risk while testing continued. There is currently a moratorium on

underground testing although there are strong efforts by nuclear weapons

advocates for " subcritical " testing at the Nevada test site.

 

 

CIVILIAN RESIDENTS AROUND/WORKERS IN NUCLEAR FACILITIES

 

 

The Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Complex that produces and assembles

the nuclear weapons components, is spread around the country in what used to be

rural areas, and has put those working in or living in the vicinity or downwind

of these facilities at risk due to radiation releases, leaks and accidents.

Studies have shown higher incidences of illnesses than expected (for example at

Oak Ridge, TN) and have shown a pattern of sloppy management and oversight on

the part of the nuclear weapons contractors and the DOE as the government agency

responsible for monitoring operations.

 

 

One of the most blatant examples to date is the Hanford Nuclear

Reservation in SE Washington State, where radioactive iodine and other nuclides

were deliberately released in some bizarre experiment in the late 1940s.

Ongoing leaks and releases occurred frequently during and after that time.

These citizens were always told that the Hanford plant was safe and information

on these incidents was not given to citizens until 1986, almost forty years

later.

 

 

URANIUM MINERS AND MILLERS AND TRANSPORTERS

 

 

Uranium Mining and Milling are the first steps in the nuclear production

process. Uranium Miners and Millers in the Four Corners area of the United

States, many of whom were from the Navajo Nation, worked in closed, unventilated

mines for years. Even after recommendations were made by public health

officials to provide ventilation and other safety mechanisms for the miners,

many mines continued to operate under the same conditions.

 

 

Not being aware of the dangers of the mining and milling of uranium, some used

the

 

tailings from the milling process as material for their homes, resulting in

young children and their parents being exposed to the deadly radiation every day

of their lives. Piles of these tailings remain on the reservation today, and

while they contain signs warning of radioactivity

 

officials claim there is no danger to the health and safety of residents.

 

 

SOUTH PACIFIC ISLANDERS

 

 

Indigenous Peoples of the Marshall Islands were exposed to radiation

through atmospheric nuclear weapons testing and through the fallout that

remained on their islands and atolls after atmospheric testing was banned.

Many, like those from Bikini, were removed from their island so testing could

take place there. Many have never been able to return.

 

 

The Rongelap people are an example of one of the most tragic incidents in

the Marshall Islands. After the 1954 test, Shot Bravo of Operation Castle, the

Rongelap were moved from their atoll and later returned, being told it was safe.

As birth defects and other health problems began to escalate among the people,

their cries for relocation to a safer home were ignored. It took a private

organization to evacuate them. They now live in over-populated and desperate

conditions with an extremely high suicide rate among their young people.

 

 

HIBAKUSHA

 

 

Bomb Survivors in Japan are called Hibakusha. There were American

citizens of Japanese descent trapped in Japan at the outbreak of WWII and in the

cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the atomic bombs were dropped on those

cities in August of 1945. They, too, have been seeking recognition of their

health problems from the U.S. government to no avail. While a comprehensive

list of radiogenic illnesses has been generated in Japan due to studies of the

Hibakusha, the Japanese citizens are apparently experiencing the same

difficulties in obtaining health care and appropriate compensation as their

counterparts in this country.

 

 

MEDICAL EXPERIMENT VICTIMS

 

 

Medical Experiments involving at least several thousand citizens were

carried out beginning in the 1940s and continuing at least until the early

1970s. These experiments, carried out in universities, hospitals, and even

prisons, involved the injection, ingestion, or inhalation of various radioactive

isotopes in an effort to determine their effect on human beings. Most were

carried out without informed consent, often on ethnic minorities, the old or

infirm, or those incapable of understanding what was being done to them. There

are however, several notable cases where pregnant mothers or their fetuses were

injected and where newly born infants were used in these experiments.

 

 

Our government was forced to admit to these experiments due to a series of

newspaper articles and other media getting close to the truth.

 

 

SO-CALLED " STANDARD MEDICAL THERAPY "

 

 

Starting as early as the 1930s a new field of medical radiation therapy

began. While radiation was still a new science, there was already beginning

evidence that x-rays and radium could cause health problems. Madam Curie

herself died of cancer which was attributed to her work with x-rays. The watch

dial painters, who painted radium onto dials in order to make them glow in the

dark, began having cancers of the mouth and face. Clearly the long term effects

of radiation use were unknown because of the short history, but medical

personnel went ahead and used it as a short term treatment.

 

 

New born babies and young children in particular, received treatments for

a variety of things: Radium or cobalt pellets on a birth mark (hemangioma);

Radium rods up the nostrils to treat adenoids, thymus or thyroid glands; As

well as the treatment of turmors and other medical problems. Many of these

people have experienced health problems all their lives, never knowing, or at

least understanding, that these so-called standard medical practices may have

contributed to their health problems.

 

 

RADIATION SURVIVOR HEALTH EFFECTS

 

 

The only known long-term, on-going study of the health effects of

radiation exposure has been of the Japanese citizens exposed to the bombs of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki.. And even this study was not begun until five years

after the bombings. The findings from this study have been the primary basis

for establishing " safe " exposure standards and for defining which illnesses

experienced by survivors are truly radiogenic.

 

 

There appears to have been little or no follow-up of U.S. citizens exposed

through the nuclear weapons program although some follow-up has been done with

those exposed in medical experimentation. While almost 400,000 veterans were

exposed to radiation in the atmospheric tests or in the occupation forces, no

on-going studies have taken place, only sporadic " snapshot " studies that have

all ultimately been declared flawed. There has been no known follow-up of the

other exposed groups either.

 

 

A recent study completed in late 1996 on military participants in the 1946

blasts of Operation Crossroads found that there was indeed a higher mortality

rate among such participants when compared to a similar non-participant cohort

group. However, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that this higher

mortality was due to " unknown " factors at the test and a self-selection bias

rather than radiation exposure because they did not find the radiation-induced

cancers they believe would indicate the connection to radiation.

 

 

This focus on cancer has led to a very narrow examination of radiogenic

health problems that has focused almost exclusively on cancers and, as time

passed, on a very narrow range of cancers. Only by exception has a non-cancer

been determined to be a radiogenic illness by government officials.

 

 

Yet in the NARS database of over 11,000 survivors, non-cancers such as

bone and muscle deterioration, premature cardiovascular and neurological

problems, auto-immune deficiency syndromes, sterility, anemia, and dental

problems are as common as cancers. While leukemia, lymphoma, cancers of the

bladder, bone, colon, lung, throat and kidney exist, non-cancers of these same

organs exist in almost the same numbers. Yet in laws covering veterans, only

non-cancerous thyroid nodules, posterior subcapsular cataracts and brain and

central nervous system tumors are covered as non-cancers.

 

 

About 20% of those reporting to NARS have had several miscarriages,

stillborn children or children with some form of physical or mental problem.

Yet as far as we know, very little has been done in terms of studying the

relationship between exposure to radiation and genetic effects on children and,

in July 1995, the National Academy of Sciences determined that such a study was

not feasible. Some of these problems have moved into the next generation

involving the grandchildren of the exposed citizen.

 

 

The few scientists and medical people willing to look at the broad range

of health effects related to radiation exposure have come under extreme pressure

and criticism from their mainstream peers. Many have lost government and other

contracts due to their " out of mainstream " findings and many have trouble

obtaining peer review for articles they wish to publish in the established

scientific and medical journals

 

 

NARS has concluded that despite official edicts to the contrary, no one

has the scientific data to exclude any illness as radiogenic. The lists created

by legislation are based more on politics than scientific knowledge and created

to play down the reality of the nuclear age rather than deal with it. The lists

are designed to limit claims for harm rather than help the individuals who have

been harmed. Business as usual.

 

 

EXISTING COMPENSATION LEGISLATION

 

 

The first legislation acknowledging the existence of radiation-affected

citizens was PL 98-542, passed in 1985 as the Veterans Dioxin and Radiation

Exposure Compensation Act. This law, after subsequent amendments covers 16

cancers and four non-cancers* as radiogenic but, the veteran must prove his

radiation exposure was sufficiently high to have caused the cancers.

Essentially this requires a sick and disabled veteran to prove that the Defense

Nuclear Agency assigned dose is inaccurate, a very difficult and expensive task.

 

About three dozen claims have been granted under this law out of thousands

filed.

 

 

PL 100-321, passed in 1988 and subsequently amended contains only 16

cancers** considered presumptively radiogenic. In this law the veteran only has

to show he was in a specified nuclear risk activity and that s(he) has the

politically correct cancer to be compensated. The verification of presence in

such an activity falls to the Nuclear Threat Reduction Agency (formerly Defense

Nuclear Agency [DNA]). This law as been so strictly interpreted by the DVA that

less than 3% of all claims filed have been granted.

 

 

PL 101-426, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) administered by the

Justice Department, was passed in 1990 with two classes of claimants:

Downwinders from the Nevada Test Site and Uranium Miners. This law covers 13

cancers for the Downwinders and several respiratory illness*** for Uranium

Miners. downwinders were to receive a lump sum $50,000 payment and Miners a

lump sum $100,000 payment for which they had to waive further claims for their

health problems.

 

 

PL 101-510 was an amendment to the above law that added a class of

claimants referred to as " On-site Participants. " This included both veterans

and civilians working for nuclear weapons contractors and various government

agencies. They would receive $75,000 for the same cancers listed for the

Downwinders. This was done in order to ensure continued immunity from suit for

nuclear weapons contractors.****

 

 

Recently Congress passed the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Program

to cover those who worked in Department of Energy facillities around the country

who have experienced certain kinds of diseases.*****

 

 

 

All legislation passed has been the result of years of effort by radiation

survivors,

 

including lawsuits, but has always come down to political negotiation and

compromise in

 

order to avoid a major battle when the bill came to a vote in congress. While

passing the

 

legislation as compassionate payments, the congress has allowed the

bureaucracies

 

administering the programs to define the parameters of the legislation, thus

ensuring that

 

few of the thousands of claims actually get paid. The Justice Department's

chief administrator for the RECA defined her role in administering the Act as

the " prevention of fraud. "

 

 

*Summary of PL 98-542 is on page 10

 

**Summary of PL 100-321 and amendments is on page 11

 

***Summary of RECA and amendments is on page 12

 

****See discussion of Warner Amendment below

 

***** See discussion of this program on page

 

 

LEGAL OBSTACLES TO JUSTICE FOR RADIATION SURVIVORS

 

 

Part of the strategy of the government-corporate-university nuclear

weapons triad has been to avoid a public forum on the health effects of

radiation exposure by shutting off potential claimants from the judicial system.

No discovery, no truth. This has been done in a number of ways.

 

In general radiation survivors have been denied the right to sue the

government itself through the government's claim of Sovereign Immunity. The

claim of the Discretionary Function Exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act has

been used extensively. This exception says that any government decision based

in social, economic or political policy is immune from suit by citizens. The

government can do whatever it wants and there is nothing citizens can do about

it.

 

 

 

****In 1985, Senator John Warner of Virginia, at the request of the Reagan

Administration, introduced the Warner Amendment to the Defense Authorization Act

providing immunity from suit for the nuclear weapons contractors such as AT & T

and the University of California, by decreeing that any suits filed against the

contractor would have the government substituted as the defendant in the suit.

The government would then use its sovereign immunity/discretionary function

defenses to have the suit dismissed.

 

 

Attempts were made by survivor groups to have the Warner Amendment

repealed. In 1990, in one of the most cynical moves of any congress, when the

conference committee on the 1991 Defense Authorization Bill met, they repealed

the Warner Amendment in one section of the bill and reinstated in another. Thus

Warner II was born and is still operable.

 

 

Veterans have two additional obstacles to overcome. The Feres Doctrine, a

1950 court decision, says that veteran cannot sue the government for injuries

incidental to his or her military service. Originally intended to apply to

battlefield injuries, it has expanded to include almost anything. In addition,

a Civil War Era law prohibits veterans from paying an attorney more than $10.00

to represent them in the VA claims process, a law kept on the books because the

VA claims process has been declared non-adversarial by the congress.

 

 

Time after time suits have been dismissed, denied, overturned, or ignored

by the judicial system all the way to the Supreme Court. The legal cards have

been stacked against radiation survivors and in favor of those who make the

money, benefit from the technology, and believe they have the right to

experiment with the lives and health of U.S. citizens in the name of their

self-defined national security. No one has asked citizens in general or those

exposed to radiation if they agree that it is ok for the government to

" sacrifice a few good people " for what it believes is the good of the whole.

 

 

 

WHAT WOULD BE JUSTICE FOR RADIATION SURVIVORS?

 

 

1. Declassification of all documents that relate to both military and

civilian radiation exposures regardless of site, source or past statements of

the government or nuclear weapons contractors.

 

 

2. Passage of a National Nuclear Ethics Law that would make it a

criminal, as well as civil, offense for any government or government contractor

employee to lie to, deceive, or cover-up any citizen exposures or potential

exposures through radiation releases, leaks, accidents, etc.

 

 

3. Repeal all legislation and doctrines that limit survivors' rights to redress

through the judicial system, including Sovereign Immunity, Discretionary

Function, Warner II, Feres and the $10.00 attorney fee limitation on veterans.

 

 

4. Create one comprehensive Atomic Veteran Bill that not only includes

cancers, but common non-cancerous illnesses* on a presumptive basis and

eliminates dose reconstruction requirements.

 

 

5. Create civilian legislation that at least is the equivalent of

anything veterans law contains.

 

 

6. Ensure that any and all legislation provides specifically for health

care along with any proposed compensation.

 

 

7. Legislate and appropriate sufficient funds for a comprehensive

epidemiological study, morbidity as well as mortality, of all radiation

survivors including a comprehensive study of the genetic effects in survivors'

children.

 

 

8. Investigate the VA claims process and enforce the concept that the VA

is supposed to help the veteran and provide benefit of the doubt to the veteran.

 

 

9. Ensure that non-governmental witnesses before Congressional Hearings

are provided the same access as paid government witnesses, i.e., transportation,

housing and payment of lost wages if appropriate.

 

 

10. Pass a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to eliminate all nuclear weapons

testing and end the development and production of nuclear weapons and the

radioactive waste created by these activities.

 

 

11. Cease the use of depleted uranium for military purposes.

 

 

12. Retain the Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty.

 

 

 

PARTIAL LIST OF ILLNESSES EXPERIENCED BY RADIATION SURVIVORS

 

 

 

CANCERS NON-CANCERS

 

Bile Ducts Anemia

 

Bladder, Gall Arthritis

 

Bladder, Urinary Bone Deterioration/Disease

 

Bone Bleeding Disorders

 

Brain Cardiovascular Disease

 

Breast Cataracts

 

Colon Cerebrovascular Disease

 

Esophageal Collagen Disease

 

Hodgkins Dizziness

 

Kidney Endocrine System

 

Larynx Eyes (non-cataract)

 

Large Intestine Fatigue

 

Leukemia Gynecomastia

 

Liver Hair Loss

 

Lung Headaches

 

Lymphoma, non-Hodgkins Heart Disease

 

Melanoma Hypertension

 

Mouth Kidney

 

Multiple Myeloma Liver

 

Nasal Cavity & Sinuses Lung

 

Nervous System Respiratory

 

Ovaries Nervous Disorders

 

Pancreas Neurological

 

Parathyroid Nose Bleeds

 

CANCERS NON-CANCERS

 

Pharynx Prostate

 

Pituitary Gland Skin

 

Prostate Sleeping Disorders

 

Rectal Sterility

 

Salivary Gland Stomach

 

Skeleton Thyroid

 

Small Intestine Thyroid nodules, Non-Malignant

 

Stomach Polycythemia Vera

 

Testes

 

Thyroid AUTO-IMMUNE

 

Uterine Rheumatoid Arthritis

 

Diabetes

 

GENETIC DEFECTS Systemic Lupus

 

About 20% of survivors in the Allergies

 

NARS database have indicated Thyroiditis

 

that they have had children and Pernicious Anemia

 

or grandchildren with some form Addison's Disease

 

of genetic defect. Connective Tissue Disorder

 

Multiple Sclerosis

 

Hypersensitivity

 

 

 

RADIATION EXPOSED COMPENSATION PROGRAMS

 

 

PUBLIC LAW 98-542: VETERANS DIOXIN AND

 

RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT (1984)

 

 

The complete operating regulations for this law can be found in the Code

of Federal Regulations @ 38 CFR 3.11 (b) which incorporates all the amendments

made to the law subsequent to its passage in 1984. This law is designed to

benefit veterans who either served in the occupation forces of Hiroshima and

Nagasaki or in atmospheric nuclear testing in the South Pacific or Nevada Test

Site.

 

 

This law lists the diseases below as radiogenic under Department of

Veterans Affairs (DVA) regulations but requires that the veteran or survivor

demonstrate that the veteran received a high enough dose of radiation to have

caused the claimed illness. The regulation relies on the dose estimates

provided by the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) unless the veteran provides an

independent dose estimate prepared by a " credible " source that is at least

double that of the DNA. This has been very difficult for veterans due to the

high cost of obtaining an independent dose estimate. The radiogenic diseases

include:

 

Leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic) Multiple Myeloma Thyroid Cancer

Breast Cancer Lung Cancer Pancreatic Cancer Stomach Cancer Kidney Cancer

 

Bone Cancer Liver Cancer Skin Cancer Colon Cancer

 

Esophageal Cancer Salivary Gland Cancer Urinary Bladder Cancer

 

Rectum Cancer Ovarian Cancer. Lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's)

 

Tumors of the Brain and Central Nervous System problems were recently added to

this list. In addition, three non-cancers: Posterior Subcapsular Cataracts,

Thyroid nodules and Parathyroid Adenoma have been added to the list.

 

 

 

 

 

PUBLIC LAW 100-321 (as amended):

 

RADIATION-EXPOSED VETERANS ACT OF 1988

 

 

This law lists certain cancers as radiogenic and presumptive by the DVA.

This means that all a veteran or survivor has to show is that the veteran was in

the occupation forces of Hiroshima or Nagasaki or in an atmospheric nuclear test

AND that s(he) has one of the following cancers:

 

Leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic) Breast Pharynx Esophagus Stomach

Pancreas Small Intestine Bile Ducts Gall Bladder Salivary Gland

Liver

 

Urinary Tract(Bladder, Kidney, etc) Multiple Myeloma Lymphoma (non-Hodgkin's)

Cancer of the Thyroid Bronchiolo-aAveolar Carcinoma (aka non-smoker lung

cancer)

 

 

Claims for both laws may be filed directly with the DVA or with the

assistance of one of the national service organizations (DAV, VFW, American

Legion, etc), or through a State Veterans Affairs Office. Claimants will need

at the minimum, proof of participation and proof of illness.

 

 

HOW WELL ARE THESE LAWS WORKING?

 

 

Because of the onerous requirement of " dose " under PL 98-542 we estimate that

somewhere around 3 dozen claims have been granted under this law. The DVA has

not provided a breakdown between the two laws so this is a rough guess. The

veteran must find a credible source capable of doing a dose reconstruction using

the data obtained from the Defense Nuclear Agency. In most cases this credible

source wants to be paid for such work and the minimum cost appears to be in the

range of $3,000.00 and in some cases went as high as $6,000.00. Needless to say

a sick veteran cannot afford these costs.

 

 

If s(he) can get the reconstruction done and if the dose is at least

double that of the DNA's, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs then is required to

submit the issue to the National Institute of Health where a third party is

selected to provide a reconciling dose estimate. The best we can tell this

reconstruction procedure has only been accomplished a few times, thus the low

numbers of granted claims.

 

 

PL 100-321 was purported to be of benefit to veterans by making certain

cancers presumptive and thus eliminating the dose requirement. The DVA in fact

recently responded to a congressional inquiry by stating that about 15,000

claims have been filed under the above laws and 1,400 have been granted. We

believe the latter number to be disingenuous at best.

 

 

A breakdown of granted claims provided to us by the DVA in 1991 explains

why. At that time they claimed 12,000 claims filed with 1,100 granted. But

their own fact sheet showed that only 258 total claims had been granted to a

veteran or his/her survivor for atmospheric testing or occupation forces. The

other granted claims had to fall in either the " occupational/therapeutic " or

" other " categories. The reality for atomic veterans/survivors at that time was

that 8,856 claims had been filed with 258 granted or a 2.9% success rate. Using

a 3% rate on their newest number of 15,000 would result in only 450 successful

claims.

 

 

There can be a number of explanations for this low success rate:

 

o Claims are being filed for diseases not listed as radiogenic by the DVA

without independent dose reconstructions to " prove " the claim.

 

o The DVA is requiring (despite the language of the regulations) that all

cancers must be primary. Often the veteran may have more than one with the

primary not identified

 

o The veterans records destroyed in the infamous St. Louis fire, thus not

being able to prove presence at an eligible risk activity or, more

often, unable to prove that s(he) had already experienced some ill effects

while still in the service.

 

o Inadequacy or incompleteness of claims filed due to the veteran's or

his/her veteran organization representative's, inability to understand and

properly prosecute such a claim.

 

o Finally, the absolute unwillingness of the DVA to provide the

assistance in the development of claims and benefit of doubt as required by

their own Regulations.

 

 

PUBLIC LAW 101-426 as amended by PUBLIC LAW 101-510:

 

RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT OF 1990 (1990)

 

 

Public Law 101-426 was passed to compensate Southwest Downwinders from the

Nevada Test Site and Uranium Miners predominately from the Four Corners area of

the country. This law is administered by the Department of Justice. Veterans

were added to the law with the amendment PL 101-510. Recent amendments add

other catergoies. Below is the most recent information on the law as found on

the web site: http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/torts/const/reca/text/about_t.htm.

 

 

 

There are now five categories of claimants: uranium miners, uranium millers, ore

transporters, downwinders, and onsite participants. Each category requires

similar eligibility criteria: exposure to radiation and existence of a

compensable disease.

 

 

Uranium Miners. RECA 2000 specifies a payment of $100,000 to eligible

individuals employed in an above-ground or underground uranium mine located in

Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho,

North Dakota, Oregon, and Texas at any time during the period beginning on

January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1971. Additional mining states may

be included for compensation upon application.

 

 

A. Exposure. The claimant must have been exposed to 40 or more working level

months (WLMs) of radiation while employed in a uranium mine.

 

B. Disease. Compensable diseases include primary lung cancer and certain

non-malignant respiratory diseases.

 

 

Uranium Millers. RECA 2000 specifies a payment of $100,000 to eligible

individuals employed in an uranium mill located in Colorado, New Mexico,

Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon,

and Texas at any time during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending

on December 31, 1971.

 

 

A. Exposure. The claimant must have worked for at least one year during the

relevant time period.

 

 

B. Disease. Compensable diseases include primary lung cancer, certain

non-malignant respiratory diseases, renal cancer, and other chronic renal

disease including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury.

 

 

Ore Transporters. RECA 2000 specifies a payment of $100,000 to eligible

individuals employed in the transport of uranium ore or vanadium-uranium ore

from mines or mills located in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South

Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, and Texas at any time

during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1971.

 

 

A. Exposure. The claimant must have worked for at least one year during the

relevant time

 

period.

 

 

B. Disease. Compensable diseases include primary lung cancer, certain

non-malignant respiratory diseases, renal cancer, and other chronic renal

disease including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury.

 

 

Downwinders. The Act specifies a payment of $50,000 to an individual who was

physically present in one of the affected areas downwind of the Nevada Test Site

during a period of atmospheric nuclear testing, and later contracted a specified

compensable disease.

 

 

A. Exposure. The claimant must have lived or worked downwind of atmospheric

nuclear tests in certain counties in Utah, Nevada and Arizona for a period of at

least two years during the period beginning on January 21, 1951, and ending on

October 31, 1958, or, for the period beginning on June 30, 1962, and ending on

July 31, 1962. The designated affected areas are: in the State of Utah, the

counties of Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier,

Washington, and Wayne; in the State of Nevada, the counties of Eureka, Lander,

Lincoln, Nye, White Pine, and that portion of Clark County that consists of

townships 13 through 16 at ranges 63 through 71; and in the State of Arizona,

the counties of Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo, and Yavapai.

 

 

B. Disease. After such period of physical presence, the claimant contracted one

of the following specified diseases: leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic

leukemia), lung cancer, multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's

disease), and primary cancer of the thyroid, male or female breast, esophagus,

stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary

gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, or liver (except if cirrhosis or

hepatitis B is indicated).

 

 

Onsite Participants. The Act specifies a payment of $75,000 to individuals who

participated onsite in a test involving the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear

device, and later developed a specified compensable disease.

 

 

A. Exposure. The claimant must have been present " onsite " above or within the

official boundaries of the Nevada, Pacific, Trinity, or South Atlantic Test

Sites at any time during a period of atmospheric nuclear testing and must have

" participated " during that time in the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear

device.

 

B. Disease. After the onsite participation, the claimant contracted one of the

following specified diseases: leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic

leukemia), lung cancer, multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's

disease), and primary cancer of the thyroid, male or female breast, esophagus,

stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary

gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, or liver

 

 

HOW IS THIS LAW WORKING?

 

 

This law appears to be a little more successful in terms of rate of granted

claims. However, there are many Downwinders in particular who have never filed

due to the fact they either do not have the politically correct cancer or fall

under one of the smoking, caffeine or alcohol limitations or do not meet

manifestation and latency requirements. Notice that the success rate for claims

of on-site participants (veterans and civilian test site workers) are less

successful than other groups.

 

 

However, as of October, 2001,the DOJ website provides the following summary

of claims to date.

 

 

Childhood Leukemia Other Downwinder Awards to Date

 

Total Number of Claims: 43 Total Number of Claims: 5,836

 

Number of Claims Pending: 1 Number of Claims Pending: 1,727

 

Number of Claims Approved: 23 Number of Claims Approved: 2,843

 

Number of Claims Denied: 19 Number of Claims Denied: 1,266

 

Percent Approved: 54.8 Percent Approved: 69.2

 

Dollar Amount Approved: 1,150,000 Dollar Amount Approved: 142,120,000

 

 

On Site Participant Awards to Date Uranium Miner Awards to Date

 

Total Number of Claims: 1,389 Total Number of Claims: 4,146

 

Number of Claims Pending: 330 Number of Claims Pending: 674

 

Number of Claims Approved: 302 Number of Claims Approved: 1,905

 

Number of Claims Denied: 757 Number of Claims Denied: 1,567

 

Percent Approved: 28.5 Percent Approved: 54.9

 

Dollar Amount Approved: 21,399,405 Dollar Amount Approved: 189,891,500

 

 

Uranium Miller Awards to Date Ore Transporter Awards to Date

 

Total Number of Claims: 192 Total Number of Claims: 38

 

Number of Claims Pending: 147 Number of Claims Pending: 34

 

Number of Claims Approved: 45 Number of Claims Approved: 4

 

Number of Claims Denied: 0 Number of Claims Denied: 0

 

Percent Approved: 100 Percent Approved: 100

 

Dollar Amount Approved: 4,500,000 Dollar Amount Approved: 400,000

 

 

For more information about the program or to obtain claims forms, you can write

the DOJ at U.S. Department of Justice Radiation, Exposure Compensation Program,

P.O. Box 146 Ben Franklin Station Washington, D.C. 20044-0146. Or call

1-800-729-RECP (1-800-729-7327). Or email to civil.reca.

 

 

You can download forms at the DOJ website

http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/torts/const/reca/text/about_t.htm)

 

 

ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS

 

COMPENSATION PROGRAM

 

 

(found on the DOL website at:

http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/regs/compliance/owcp/eeoicp/main.htm

 

 

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program provides benefits

authorized by the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program

Act. The Program goes into effect on July 31, 2001. The Department of

Labor#146;s Office of Workers#146; Compensation Programs is responsible for

adjudicating and administering claims filed by employees or former employees (or

their survivors) under the Act.

 

 

Compensation of $150,000 and payment of medical expenses from the date a claim

is filed is available to: Employees of the Department of Energy, its

contractors or subcontractors with radiation-related cancer if: the employee

developed cancer after working at a facility of the Department of Energy, its

contractors and subcontractors; and the employee#146;s cancer is determined at

least as likely as not related to that employment in accordance with guidelines

issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, or the employee is

determined to be a member of the Special Exposure Cohort (employees who worked

at least 250 days before February 1, 1992, for the Department of Energy or its

contractors or subcontractors at one or more of the three Gaseous Diffusion

Plants located at Oak Ridge, TN, Paducah, KY or Portsmouth, OH or who were

exposed to radiation related to certain underground nuclear tests at Amchitka,

AK) and developed one of certain listed cancers;

 

 

Employees of the Department of Energy or its contractors and subcontractors at

facilities where they were exposed to beryllium produced or processed for the

Department of Energy who developed Chronic Beryllium Disease; and Employees of

the Department of Energy or its contractors and subcontractors who worked at

least 250 days during the mining of tunnels at underground nuclear weapons test

sites in Nevada or Alaska and who developed Chronic Silicosis.

 

 

Compensation of $50,000 and payment of medical expenses from the date a claim is

filed is available for: Uranium Employees previously awarded benefits by the

Department of Justice under section 5 of the Radiation Exposure Compensation

Act.

 

 

Employees of the Department of Energy, its contractors and subcontractors who

were exposed to beryllium on the job and now have beryllium sensitivity will

receive medical monitoring to check for Chronic Beryllium Disease.

 

 

 

 

Special Exposure Cohort Employees

 

 

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act established a

Special Exposure Cohort of employees of the Department of Energy and its

contractors and subcon

 

 

tractors who: worked at gaseous diffusion plants in Paducah, Kentucky,

Portsmouth, Ohio, or Oak Ridge, Tennessee for a total of at least 250 days

before February 1, 1992, and were monitored for radiation exposure with

dosimetry badges or had jobs with similar exposures to those monitored; or

worked before January 1, 1974, on Amchitka Island, Alaska and were exposed to

radiation related to the Long Shot, Milrow or Cannikin underground nuclear

tests.

 

 

The Act also authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to add other

classes of employees to the Special Exposure Cohort. These employees, or their

survivors, are eligible for benefits if, after beginning covered employment,

they contracted: bone cancer; leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia)

provided that initial exposure occurred after the age of 20 and the onset of the

disease was at least two years after first exposure; lung cancer (other than in

situ lung cancer that is discovered during or after a post-mortem exam); One of

the following diseases, provided onset was at least five years after the first

exposure: multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin#146;s disease); Or

Primary cancer of the: thyroid, male or female breast, esophagus, stomach,

pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland,

urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B

is indicated).

 

 

One may obtain additional information or applications by contacting the DOL

District Office for your state (should be in the government pages of the

telephone book) or by calling the toll- free telephone number: 1-866-888-3322.

 

 

This program is too new to evaluate.

 

 

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

 

 

While NARS has supported the passage of legislation to help those exposed to

radiation from some aspect of the nuclear weapons program, we also recognize the

inequities that are built in to such legislation and continually advocate for

improvements. Generally speaking these compensation laws are not adequate in

terms of diseases compensated or payments authorized, generally require some

skill to properly file, often have onerous provisions that make it difficult to

succeed, take a considerable amount of time to process, strip claimants of their

dignity, and result in a great deal of frustration and anger.

 

 

Every year legislation is introduced to improve on the Veteran Administration or

Justice Department administrated programs. The Radiation Exposure Compensation

Act was the most recently amended in 2000. Although there were great

improvements in the law, it still left a lot of people without assistance.

 

 

The recently enacted Energy Employees Compensation program is an admission of

the breadth of citizens exposures and as group after group is acknowledged as an

exposed population, there has to be a rethinking of how to properly deal with

them and hopefully, how to prevent further citizen exposures.

 

 

 

PRESIDENT'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE

 

ON HUMAN RADIATION EXPERIMENTS

 

 

In 1993, Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary publicly announced that human

radiation experiments had indeed been conducted in dozens of hospitals,

universities and laboratories in the United States. This announcement was in

reaction to growing media interest in the subject due to a three-part series in

the Albuquerque Journal about plutonium injection experiments. The series

writer, Welcome, received a Pulitzer Prize for the series. While

O'Leary's revelation was not new, Congressman Markey had released the same

information in 1986, for whatever reason it created a furor among the press and

citizens.

 

 

President Clinton appointed an advisory committee to look into the issue of

radiation experiments and they began doing so in May of 1994. Their findings

and recommendation were released in October 1995. Radiation survivors/victims

and advocates have interacted with the committee since the beginning with

representatives attending every meeting held in DC and large groups attending

meetings held in other parts of the country. The primary purpose of the

interaction has been to push the committee to look at all survivors/victims as

part of experiments, ferret out the truth about the nuclear age, and then make

strong recommendations related to compensation and health care as well as

recommendations as to making those responsible, accountable for their actions,

including maintaining the rights of survivors/victims to seek redress in the

judicial system.

 

 

Unfortunately the Advisory Committee's Findings and Recommendations continue the

historical course taken by our government in denying any harm, except in about

30 individual cases, and attempts to close the books on the government's

exposure of its own citizens. Despite strong advocacy the committee did not

recommend seeking out those experimented on in order to warn them about possible

health consequences, nor did they recommend holding any of the hospitals,

universities, laboratories or staff accountable for their experimentation.

 

 

Very few of the people exposed or their survivors received compensation from the

government and the end result of the Advisory Committee work was to bury this

issue by convincing the media that the issue had been dealt with by the

government.

 

 

Although advocates for those experimented upon argued for notification to all

affected citizens so they could seek medical evaluation, the Advisory Committee

disagreed with this position, in some cases saying it was probably #147;too

late,#148; or migh cause #147;unnecessary worry or concern.#148;

 

 

RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT FROM ATMOSPHERIC

 

TESTING OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS WEAPONS

 

 

For almost fifty years our government assured citizens that they were in no

danger from atmospheric nuclear testing that took place in the United States

from the early 1950s through the early 1960s. Those who claimed otherwise were

dismissed as kooks, communists or peaceniks. Even medical personnel who spoke

out had their credibility and competence challenged in an effort to demean what

they had to say and possibly ruin their careers.

 

 

Yet in 1997 the National Cancer Institute, in a report that focused solely on

Iodine I-131, announced that fallout from atomic blasts had probably caused

10,000 to 75,000 extra thyroid cancers across the U.S. And this simple admission

took place seven or eight years after the report had been completed and clearly

downplayed the seriousness of the exposures even though the most vulnerable were

those who were infants and children during this time and would still be at risk

for the cancers. Besides showing the incestuous relationship between the

scientific community and the government, this report was just another example of

official lies and distortions related to the nuclear weapons program. Perhaps

the most significant is that I-131 was only one of about 200 radioactive

elements in a nuclear exposion and fallout. Much more harmful, and perhaps

deadly, radionucleides would have been distributed along with I-131 and would

have stayed on the ground longer and attacked other parts of the body.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO?

 

 

What are we going to learn next and what can any of us do to help those already

exposed and prevent future exposures?

 

 

1. Demand the complete truth about the nuclear era. There can be very few

reasons for continued security concerns when almost any country or terrorist

organization can now build nuclear weapons.

 

 

2. Demand that justice, in the form of health care and, where appropriate,

compensation be provided to those exposed.

 

 

3. Seek more, not less, controls on nuclear weapon production and use. Do not

get caught up in the sloganeering that takes place in support of military

action. It might mean a quicker end to a conflict but it might also means

thousands more of our servicemen being exposed.

 

 

In its final report to the president, the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation

Experiements said, #147;Nonetheless, important discussion of human experiments

took place in secret, and information was kept secret out of concern for

embarrassment to the government, potential legal liability, and concern tht

public misunderstanding would jeopardize government programs.#148; REMEMBER:

 

 

Government is a facilitator, not the dictator of our political, social and

economic well-being.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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