Race Against Time: To Extend RECA for Continued Provisioning of Compensation for the Victims of U.S. Nuclear Tests.

The Radiation Emissions Compensation Act, or the RECA; created by an Act of the U.S. Congress in the early 1990s to provide monetary compensation to the unsuspecting victims of U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests conducted between 1945 and 1962; is all set to expire and fade into the sunset on June 07, 2024 which would effectively put an end to the State support available to victims and their families who have suffered for decades battling cancers and other critical ailments for decades just for residing in the proximity of nuclear testing and mining sites across the nation.

The further extension of RECA has been on the agenda of Congress, under a new bill, as well as the lawmakers and even has unequivocal bipartisan support with the new bill having been passed by Senate in March with an overwhelming majority voting. However, the bill is stuck and currently stalled as House speaker Mike Johnson; who had virtually been under heavy fire over the recent months over delays in getting the military aid bill for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel passed; has been refusing to allow a house vote on the new Senate bill failing which the hopes of thousands of victims are going to be brutally crushed under the wheels of U.S. bureaucracy.

The Trinity downwinders; who have been kept out of the ambit of RECA, as it only covers residents and workers, who resided and operated around the primary U.S. nuclear testing site in the state of Nevada besides Utah and Arizona; have been clamoring for decades to be included in the RECA and their hopes are almost hanging by a thread. Similarly, Atomic Veterans (about whom we covered in our previous blog), who were engaged in clean-up operations nation-wide across nuclear sites post radiation leaks without adequate protective gear and/or were deployed in underground Minuteman-III silos and other radioactive sites,too, are sailing in the same boat like the downwinders as they, too, are not covered under the RECA and have been seeking inclusion for decades. Hope their long wait for justice proves worthwhile and they get their dues...Also, it reminds of former Astronaut and Senator John Glenn, who had aptly said, "What's the point in developing nuclear weapons to be able to defend our nation from external threats if we poison our own people with radiation in the process?"

The story of the victims of radiation poisoning has been covered in an excellent and recent opinion piece authored by W.J. Hennigan; who recently covered the visit to Capitol Hill by many of the radiation victims hailing from all across the nation who came to show the lawmakers their deep scars and heart-wrenching stories; and published by the New York Times titled, "The Victims of U.S. Nuclear Testing Deserve More Than This"

It's highly recommended and a must read if the issue resonates with you...

Image: Fireball from the Castle Bravo Nuclear Test of 1954 conducted at the Nevada Testing Site. The explosive yield of the test turned out to be 15 megatons, rather than the expected 6.5 megatons, and had led to significant radioactive fallout in the surrounding areas,

Image Credits: U.S. Department of Energy.