Organizational Sign-On Letter: Support Survivors of U.S. Nuclear Weapons

A coalition of experts and organizations calls on the U.S. Congress to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) before its June 2024 expiration. The letter argues that RECA must be strengthened to include comprehensive health care benefits and expand eligibility to previously excluded groups, including those affected by the Trinity site test, residents of Guam, and uranium workers employed after 1971.

• The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), passed in 1990 to offset health care costs for those exposed to radiation, is described as being "significantly flawed" and requires strengthening through the addition of comprehensive health care benefits.
• Several groups are currently excluded from RECA benefits and are identified as needing support, including residents of Guam, uranium workers after 1971, civilians downwind from nuclear production sites, U.S. veterans who cleaned radioactive waste in the Marshall Islands, and people downwind from the Nevada Test Site and the 1945 Trinity site in New Mexico.
• The 2022 two-year extension of RECA is scheduled to expire in June 2024, necessitating immediate congressional action to ensure continued help for Americans with radiation-related illnesses.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2023). Organizational Sign-On Letter: Support Survivors of U.S. Nuclear Weapons. https://ucs-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/global-security/RECA-Oppenheimer-Congressional-Letter.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Organizational Sign-On Letter: Support Survivors of U.S. Nuclear Weapons. 2023. https://ucs-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/global-security/RECA-Oppenheimer-Congressional-Letter.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Organizational Sign-On Letter: Support Survivors of U.S. Nuclear Weapons |date=21 July 2023 |url=https://ucs-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/global-security/RECA-Oppenheimer-Congressional-Letter.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{unionofconcernedscientists2023organizational, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Organizational Sign-On Letter: Support Survivors of U.S. Nuclear Weapons}}, publisher = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2023}, month = jul, url = {https://ucs-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/global-security/RECA-Oppenheimer-Congressional-Letter.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }