K. Z. Morgan the father of the health physics profession wrote: “Certainly the purpose of government is not to protect its agencies and to guarantee that these agencies never make a mistake, but rather that these agencies serve the people in their best interests. If some people in the United States have been damaged – and certainly some have been if large numbers of children received doses from 20 to 100 rads to the thyroid – it is a pressing obligation of our government to compensate these people and to provide them with the best possible medical care” (Fradkin, 199).
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RECA Act Apology
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"The United States should recognize and assume responsibility for the
harm done to these individuals. And Congress recognizes that the lives
and health of uranium miners and of innocent individuals who lived
downwind from the Nevada tests were involuntarily subjected to increased
risk of injury and disease to serve the national security interests of
the United States. The Congress apologizes on behalf of the Nation to
the individuals...and their families for the hardship they have
endured."
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RECA Act Summary
"Congress responded by devising a program allowing partial
restitution to individuals who developed serious illnesses after
exposure to radiation released during the atmospheric nuclear tests or
after employment in the uranium industry: the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act (RECA) was passed on October 5, 1990. The Act’s scope of coverage was broadened in 2000.
The Act presents an apology and monetary compensation to individuals who contracted certain cancers and other serious diseases:
RECA establishes lump sum compensation awards for individuals who contracted specified diseases in three defined populations:
The Act presents an apology and monetary compensation to individuals who contracted certain cancers and other serious diseases:
- following their exposure to radiation released during the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, or
- following their occupational exposure to radiation while employed in the uranium industry during the Cold War arsenal buildup.
RECA establishes lump sum compensation awards for individuals who contracted specified diseases in three defined populations:
- Uranium miners, millers, and ore transporters – $100,000;
- “Onsite participants” at atmospheric nuclear weapons tests – $75,000; and
- Individuals who lived downwind of the Nevada Test Site (“downwinders") – $50,000."
"The societal impact of this is the emotional scars it has left. When someone dies, that's about as bad as it gets, but the emotional scars left on the survivors and the families. There can be no price attached to it. It's like taking to a Holocaust victim and asking how they can be compensated." — Dennise Nelson, director, Support and Education for Radiation Victims (serv)
As of July 15, 2012, 25,804 claims under the act were approved (with 9,869 denied), expending a total of $1,707,998,044.