Senate approves bill that would give reparations to ‘downwinders’ in Utah

Hannah Murdock
·4 min read
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Vaughn Lovejoy lights a candle during the second annual Day of Remembrance for Utah Downwinders at the Skaggs Memorial Chapel, First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City on Jan. 27, 2013. The event was put on by the Utah Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (UCAN). January 27, 2012, was designated by the United States Senate as a "National Day of Remembrance for Americans who, during the Cold War, worked and lived downwind from nuclear testing sites and were adversely affected by the radiation exposure." Gov. Gary Herbert also designated Jan. 27 as a Day of Remembrance for Downwinders.

From 1945 to 1962, the United States conducted over 200 above-ground nuclear tests, leaving those living nearby — including, according to recent studies, the entire state of Utah — vulnerable to fallout that can lead to cancer and other diseases.

Those victims of radiation exposure from nuclear testing — or ‘downwinders’ — may soon see expanded compensation from the federal government.

The Senate voted 69-30 last week in favor of a bill that would extend and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, which is currently set to expire in June of this year. The bill, “Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2024,” was sponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and passed the senate with bipartisan support. The bill will now head to the House for a vote.

“This isn’t about a handout. This isn’t about some kind of welfare program. This is about doing basic justice by the working people of this nation, whom their own government has poisoned,” Hawley said in a press release provided to the Deseret News. “This is the day when we break the cycle of lies from the government, when we break the cycle of passing the buck and irresponsibility from the government.”

A fast-approaching deadline

The RECA program has been in effect since 1990 when the bill was passed in order to compensate uranium miners and other individuals that were diagnosed with cancer and other diseases associated with nuclear fallout.

Under RECA, uranium miners are be eligible to receive up to $100,000, those who worked at nuclear sites could receive up to $75,000, and downwinders in parts of Arizona, Nevada and Utah could receive up to $50,000.

RECA currently covers uranium miners from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, and Texas. Downwinders from these states (not including Arizona, Nevada and Utah) are not eligible for compensation.

Two years ago, legislation sponsored by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, extended RECA another two years after it was set to expire in 2022. If Hawley’s bill to extend RECA until 2030, does not pass the House, the RECA program will expire after June 10, leaving downwinders without financial compensation and free access to cancer screenings.

Hawley’s bill would double the compensation “downwinders” are eligible for from $50,000 to $100,00.

Expanded benefits to Utahns

The legislation to reauthorize and expand RECA not only would extend the program for another six years, it would also expand coverage to Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee and Guam. Hawley’s bill would also cover areas of Arizona, Nevada and Utah that are not currently covered.

Under the current version of RECA, only the southern half of Utah is covered, including Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington and Wayne counties. Around 10,000 Utahns — nearly 1 in 300 residents — have filed claims with RECA, a spokesperson for Hawley told the Deseret News.

“Although not all counties in Utah are covered by the current RECA program, Utah was in the direct path of that fallout due to wind patterns that carried radioactive contaminants in the atmosphere,” according to HEAL Utah, a local advocacy group.

If the bill passes the house and is signed into law by President Joe Biden tens of thousands of Utahns who currently are not covered under RECA could be eligible for compensation.

On the passing of Hawley’s bill in the Senate, “downwinder” Mary Dickson who lives in Salt Lake City told Utah Policy, “Justice has been served. Now for the House. Our fight is for all those we’ve lost. They were in that gallery with us today.”