Ground-breaking legislation was recently introduced in the Senate by Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch. The bill, titled the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2010, would expand coverage for cancer victims and their survivors who were exposed to radiation during above ground nuclear testing from 1946 to 1962.
For those not familiar with the program, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program provides payments to persons exposed to radiation by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s, and those who worked with uranium ore. There are five types of claims: Downwinders (those who lived around the test sites), Onsite Participants (those who participated in the testing), and Uranium Workers (millers, miners and ore transporters).