Compensation to nuclear workers

["Tsurikov, Nick" <nick.tsurikov@iluka.com>]

Dear RADSAFERS,

Fresh from the wire:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
WIRE:12/07/2000 22:48:00 ET
Clinton signs order to compensate U.S. nuclear workers

WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - President Bill Clinton on Thursday signed an
order authorizing payments to thousands of U.S. nuclear workers who got sick
after being exposed to radiation as the United States built up its atomic
arsenal during the Cold War era. The order helps implement a law passed by
Congress in October to compensate workers exposed to radiation in the
building and testing of nuclear weapons. "These individuals, many of whom
were neither protected from nor informed of the hazards to which they were
exposed, developed occupational illnesses as a result of their exposure to
radiation and other hazards unique to nuclear weapons production and
testing," the president said in a statement. "While the nation can never
fully repay these workers or their families, they deserve fair compensation
for their sacrifices. I am pleased to take the next critical step in
ensuring that these courageous individuals receive the compensation and
recognition they have long deserved." The order directs three federal
agencies -- the departments of energy, labor and health and human services
-- to implement the compensation program. The White House gave no exact
estimate of the cost of the compensation program, but the administration
last year estimated the cost to U.S. taxpayers would be about $13 million a
year for the next decade. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson last year
apologized to former and current nuclear workers suffering from chronic
beryllium disease, various radiation-linked cancers and other occupational
illnesses, reversing a decades-old U.S. policy of resisting injury lawsuits
from workers who were once employed by private companies contracted to build
nuclear weapons. Since the Manhattan Project developed the first nuclear
bombs in the mid-1940s, U.S. workers have been exposed to beryllium, a
rigid, lightweight silver-gray metallic element used to make precise nuclear
weapons components. 
PROGRAM WILL AFFECT THOUSANDS "We"ve come a long way since I apologized on
behalf of the government last year. This is one of the most meaningful new
federal programs in decades, impacting the lives of thousands of Americans,"
Richardson said in a statement. He said the executive order would ensure
that all weapons plant workers -- past, present and future -- would be
compensated for illnesses linked to their work, even after the sites where
they once worked has shut down. Chronic beryllium disease is a treatable but
incurable disease that destroys the lungs and eventually suffocates the
victim. It takes between 10 and 15 years from the inhalation of beryllium to
the onset of the terminal illness. Radiation exposure is also linked to
various kinds of cancer. A report released in September concluded that U.S.
nuclear weapons workers may have been exposed to as much potentially deadly
radiation as their Soviet counterparts in the early Cold War, and without
knowing the risks they ran. Some of the U.S. workers were exposed to far
higher levels of radioactivity in the 1940s and 1950s than prevailing
standards prescribed - comparable to tens of thousands of times the
radiation from a dental X-ray - and rather than being warned of the risk,
were deceived about it, said the Institute for Energy and Environmental
Research, an environmental watchdog group. That exposure meant an increased
risk of potentially lethal cancer and kidney damage, the institute said in
its report. Under the order, the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) will provide the scientific analysis and information needed for the
Labor Department to appropriately adjudicate claims. HHS will develop
guidelines to determine whether a cancer is likely to be related to a
worker"s occupational exposure to radiation, establish methods to estimate
worker exposure, and develop estimates for those who have applied for
compensation. The White House said a presidential advisory board will be set
up to oversee the scientific validity and quality of this work. The order
also creates an interagency working group, and directs the Department of
Energy (DOE) to publish a preliminary list of facilities where workers may
be eligible for benefits, including private contractors. DOE officials have
said 26,330 workers were exposed to beryllium at the 20 nuclear production
sites it administers. Most of the 120 cases of chronic beryllium disease
were discovered among current and former workers who worked at DOE plants in
Rocky Flats, Colorado; Hazelton, Pennsylvania; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Kind regards
Nick Tsurikov
Eneabba, Western Australia
http://eneabba.net/ <http://eneabba.net/>  
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