If you, your parent (step-parent), or your grandparent worked as a uranium miller, miner, or transporter and developed a condition related to uranium exposure then you are eligible to apply for compensation under RECA’s program for uranium miners, millers, or transporters.
RECA Claims & Covered Illnesses
A number of illnesses are covered under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) for onsite participants. Onsite participants are those individuals who were present for an atmospheric nuclear test.
These conditions include leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin’s disease), and certain primary cancers including cancer of the thyroid, as well as brain, lung colon, stomach, pharynx, bile ducts, bladder, ovary, pancreas, gall bladder, urinary, esophagus, small intestine, salivary gland, male or female breast, and liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated) cancer. You can check this list of conditions against diseases covered under the EEOICPA (Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act).
The cancers diagnosed are important because certain types of cancer must be primary cancers to qualify, and that becomes a difficult issue to deal with if the primary cancer is unknown. The whole idea is that if radiation caused the cancer, it caused only the primary cancer. Of course, the primary cancer sometimes spreads and can become metastatic disease. If you have lung cancer and it spreads to the bone, for example, the lung cancer will be in the bone, and the bone cancer will be metastatic (and therefore not primary).
The primary cancers must be diagnosed as “primary,” and that presents an issue that we’ve seen from time to time. It’s not unusual for cancer to be discovered at a stage where it has spread throughout the body, thereby making it difficult to identify the primary cancer.
RECA claims for onsite participants are treated similarly to Downwinder claims. The Downwinder claims do not have different illnesses listed.
Nevada Test Site
There are a number of tests at the Nevada Test Site for which an onsite participant may have been toxically exposed. These are listed here chronologically. From 1951 through 1992, they are Ranger, Buster-Jangle, Tumbler-Snapper, Upshot-Knothole, Teapot, Project 56, Plumbbob, Project 57, Project 58 + 58A, Hardtack, Nougat, Plowshare, Sunbeam, Dominic, Fishbowl, Storax, Niblick, Whetstone, Flintlock, Latchkey, Crosstie, Bowline, Mandrel, Emery, Grommet, Toggle, Arbor, Bedrock, Anvil, Fulcrum, Cresset, Quicksilver, Tinderbox, Guardian, Praetorian, Phalanx, Fusileer, Grenadier, Charioteer, Musketeer, Touchstone, Aqueduct, Sculpin, and Julin.
If you have one of the diseases listed and want to file or refile a RECA claim, we are here to help.