Senator promises to attach RECA extension to all bills

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) vows to attach the extension of RECA exposure compensation to all bills moving in the Senate until it passes. RECA reauthorization passed the Senate with strong bi-partisan support. Now Hawley is pushing to pass an amendment reauthorizing the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) and expanding its coverage to more states, including to victims of the first atomic bomb test, Trinity, in New Mexico. President Biden has already reauthorized the law in 2022, when it was to sunset, but only until 2024. RECA is, again, set to expire this year unless further action is taken.

Residents in states covered under the current law include Downwinders in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, and uranium industry employees in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, and Texas. In addition to not including the victims of the Trinity nuclear blast, it does not cover residents of Missouri (Hawley’s home state) exposed to radiation through uranium processing at Mallinckrodt Chemical Works. Expansion of RECA would include compensation to residents of New Mexico, Missouri, Idaho, Montana, Guam, Colorado, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alaska.

Image: Estimated deposition density (Bq/m-2) of fission products from 94 non-zero yield atmospheric nuclear tests conducted in New Mexico and Nevada, across the contiguous United States. The highest deposition points indicate the ground zeros of the Trinity test in New Mexico and of the 93 atmospheric tests in Nevada. from: Fallout from U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests in New Mexico and Nevada (1945-1962)