The Radiation Exposure Reauthorization Act would expand compensation for Americans exposed to radiation.
Specifically, the bill looks to extend eligibility under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to veterans who took part in cleanup missions at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands, Palomares, Spain, and Thule, Greenland.
These are all sites where nuclear accidents or weapons testing left behind radioactive contamination. Representative James Moylan, a Republican from Guam and a sponsor of the bill, said the proposal would change RECA eligibility to “reflect the realities ofThe group of veterans affected was exposed to dangerous levels of radiation during cleanup operations, but has largely been excluded from federal compensation programs available to other atomic veterans.
Many of the affected service members have spent decades battling cancers, heart disease, bone disorders, and other illnesses that may be connected to those missions. If approved, the proposal would also double the maximum RECA payment available to eligible claimants, increasing it from the current level of $75,000 to $150,000. The legislation, which is expected to be introduced by Moylan and a bipartisan group soon, would build on the original Radiation Exposure Compensation Act enacted in 1990.
Veterans involved in cleanup operations at Enewetak Atoll, Palomares, and Thule would become eligible for RECA benefits. Additional cancers and illnesses would qualify for compensation.
“We have learned a lot about exposure to radiation over the past 50-plus years, and we now realize these civilians and veterans have been overlooked for benefits,” Drew Powers, the founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, toldThe U.S. military sent service members after a hydrogen bomb accident scattered radioactive materials near the Spanish town in 1966. The PACT Act previously recognized veterans from these locations as having presumptive radiation exposure for VA disability claims, but they’ve been kept outside RECA compensation coverage.
“This bill would expand presumptive conditions for atomic veterans,” Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told. “Translation, if your service fits the profile and you have a radiogenic illness, VA presumes the connection. No reconstruction of a 40-year-old mission. No ‘prove it was us’ anymore.
”The population of veterans who would be eligible for this type of payment is relatively small. Keith Keifer, national commander of the National Association of Atomic Veterans, told Task & Purpose that the organization estimates fewer than 6,000 veterans participated across the three cleanup sites combined. Of those, only several hundred may still be alive today, according to the group.
Keifer said the organization has identified fewer than 400 surviving veterans from the Enewetak cleanup mission alone, while the number of surviving Thule and Palomares participants is also believed to be relatively small.
“The bill would remove one of the biggest hurdles these veterans face today: proving the exact amount of radiation they were exposed to decades ago,” Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told“I believe the bill has a moderate chance of passing, but the legislative environment makes it more challenging. With other veterans' bills still being debated, particularly the Take Care of America's Veterans Act, lawmakers are already divided over how benefits should be funded.
”Moylan's office said the bill is expected to be formally introduced in Congress in the coming days as sponsors work to build bipartisan support. If put into law, the proposal would expand the RECA program, which has already paid more than $2.6 billion to over 41,000 claimants since its creation, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
“As we are seeing with other proposed legislation aiming to increase benefits to veterans, this will face an uphill battle,” Powers said. “Every dollar is hotly contested, even for veterans. ”
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