27 July 2023, 19: 14
DOSSIER – On July 16, 1945, the photo shows an aerial view after the first atomic explosion at the control site in Trinity, N. M. U. S. Senators from New Mexico and Idaho are making another effort to expand the federal government’s payment program for others exposed to radiation as a result of uranium mining and Cold War nuclear verification. Downwinders living near the site where the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped were verified in 1945 as a component of the top-secret Manhattan mission and would be among those added to the list. (AP Photo, File) Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo, File)
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
SANTA FE, N. M. (AP) — The U. S. Senate has been moving to the U. S. The U. S. government approved a primary expansion of a payment program for others who became ill due to radiation exposure, Cold War nuclear weapons testing and uranium mining, with a vote Thursday on a major defense bill.
Following an 86-11 Senate vote, the provisions would expand health care policy and reimbursement for so-called downwinders exposed to radiation gun testing to several new spaces stretching from Guam to the site in New Mexico where the world’s first atomic bomb was tested in 1945. .
The Senate-backed plan would also make a bigger refund to more former uranium industry workers. The proposed amendments to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act are still included in a defense bill passed by the House amid negotiations for final legislation.
The hit summer movie “Oppenheimer” about the top-secret Manhattan Project and the dawn of the World War II nuclear age drew attention to decades-long efforts to expand pay for families who were exposed to the fallout and are still grappling with similar problems. illness.
“We are very happy with today’s vote. We are incredibly optimistic,” said Mary Martinez White, who said her parents and several siblings suffered devastation from cancer after the circle of relatives exposed to radioactive fallout on a farm in Carrizozo, New Mexico, about 55 kilometers from Trinidad. On-site testing.
She blames her family’s suffering on decisions made early in the Cold War, and applauded efforts by lawmakers to make peace with federal compensation, Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.
“I’m sure the other people who are alive will make the right decisions and quickly, especially when so much is asked of New Mexico in terms of disposal” of radioactive waste and production of nuclear weapons, she said.
Supporters have also been seeking for years to raise awareness of the lingering effects of radiation exposure on the Navajo Nation, where millions of tons of uranium ore have been mined for decades for U. S. nuclear activities. U. S.
“The Navajo Nation has borne the brunt of the U. S. nuclear program. “The burden of U. S. Navy is the U. S. citizen’s toll on human lives, environmental devastation, and communities that are still suffering,” Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said Thursday. stand idly by and allow this legacy to be forgotten or rejected. “
The Senate bill would expand eligibility to more former uranium miners, processing and transportation who participated after 1971, the existing eligibility deadline.
Since the claims program began in 1992, more than 54,000 claims have been filed and approximately $2. 6 billion has been awarded for approved claims in Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Coverage would extend to New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana and in the past excluded areas of Nevada, Utah and Arizona.
Earlier this month, Hawley promised others with cancer and other illnesses linked to nuclear contamination in the St. Petersburg. Louis, Mo. . I cited reports from The Associated Press, Missouri Independent and the nonprofit newsroom MuckRock that detailed the indifference and indifference to the dangers posed by nuclear waste since the 1950s.
St. Louis component of the national crusade to build a nuclear bomb, with uranium processing generating destructive tea.
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Associated Press Michael Phillis contributed from St. Louis.