II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2439 

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

Act of 2000 to provide for certain nuclear weapons program workers 

to be included in the Special Exposure Cohort under the compensation 

program established by that Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16 (legislative day, MARCH 15), 2006 

Mr. REID introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to provide for certain 

nuclear weapons program workers to be included in the 

Special Exposure Cohort under the compensation program established by that Act. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nevada Test Site Vet5 erans’ Compensation Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 (a) Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Employees working on Cold War-era nu2 clear weapons programs were employed in facilities 

3 owned by the Federal Government and the private 

4 sector producing and testing nuclear weapons and 

5 engaging in related atomic energy defense activities 

6 for the national defense beginning in the 1940s. 

7 (2) These Cold War atomic energy veterans 

8 helped to build and test the nuclear arsenal that 

9 served as a deterrent during the Cold War, sacri10 ficing their personal health and well-being in service 

11 of their country. 

12 (3) During the Cold War, many of these work13 ers were exposed to radiation and placed in harm’s 

14 way by the Department of Energy and contractors, 

15 subcontractors, and vendors of the Department with16 out their knowledge and consent, without adequate 

17 radiation monitoring, and without necessary protec18 tions from internal or external occupational radi19 ation exposure. 

20 (4) The Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

21 Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

22 7384 et seq.) (in this section referred to as 

23 ‘‘EEOICPA’’) was enacted to ensure fairness and 

24 equity for the men and women who, during the past 

25 60 years, performed duties uniquely related to the 


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1 nuclear weapons production and testing programs of 

2 the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, 

3 and contractors by establishing a program that 

4 would provide timely, uniform, and adequate com5 pensation for beryllium- and radiation-related health 

6 conditions. 

7 (5) Research by the Department of Energy, the 

8 National Institute for Occupational Safety and 

9 Health (NIOSH), NIOSH contractors, the Presi10 dent’s Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker 

11 Health, and congressional committees indicates that 

12 at certain nuclear weapons facilities— 

13 (A) workers were not adequately monitored 

14 for internal or external exposure to ionizing ra15 diation; and 

16 (B) records were not maintained, are not 

17 reliable, are incomplete, or fail to indicate the 

18 radioactive isotopes to which workers were ex19 posed. 

20 (6) Due to the inequities posed by the factors 

21 described above and the resulting harm to the work22 ers, Congress designated classes of atomic weapons 

23 employees at the Paducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, 

24 Ohio, Oak Ridge K–25, Tennessee, and the AmVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:54 Mar 18, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2439.IS S2439

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1 chitka Island, Alaska, sites as members of the Spe2 cial Exposure Cohort under EEOICPA. 

3 (7) The contribution of the State of Nevada to 

4 the security of the United States throughout the 

5 Cold War and since has been unparalleled. 

6 (8) In 1950, President Harry S Truman des7 ignated what would later be called the Nevada Test 

8 Site as the country’s nuclear proving grounds and, 

9 a month later, the first atmospheric test at the Ne10 vada Test Site was detonated. 

11 (9) The United States conducted 100 above12 ground and 828 underground nuclear tests at the 

13 Nevada Test Site from 1951 to 1992. 

14 (10) Out of the 1,054 nuclear tests conducted 

15 in the United States, 928, or 88 percent, were con16 ducted at the Nevada Test Site. 

17 (11) The Nevada Test Site has served, and con18 tinues to serve, as the premier research, testing, and 

19 development site for our nuclear defense capabilities. 

20 (12) The Nevada Test Site and its workers are 

21 an essential and irreplaceable part of our nation’s 

22 defense capabilities. 

23 (13) It has become evident that it is not fea24 sible to estimate with sufficient accuracy in a timely 

25 manner the radiation dose received by employees at 


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1 the Department of Energy facility at the Nevada 

2 Test Site for many reasons, including the following: 

3 (A) The NIOSH Technical Basis Docu4 ment, the threshold document for radiation dose 

5 reconstruction under EEOICPA, has incomplete 

6 radionuclide lists. 

7 (B) NIOSH has not demonstrated that it 

8 can estimate dose from exposure to large, non9 respirable hot particles. 

10 (C) There are significant gaps in environ11 mental measurement and exposure data. 

12 (D) Resuspension doses are seriously un13 derestimated. 

14 (E) NIOSH has not been able to estimate 

15 accurately exposures to bomb assembly workers 

16 and radon levels. 

17 (F) NIOSH has not demonstrated that it 

18 can accurately sample tritiated water vapor. 

19 (G) External dose records lack integrity. 

20 (H) There are no beta dose data until 

21 1966. 

22 (I) There are no neutron dose data until 

23 1966 and only partial data after such date. 


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1 (J) There are no internal dose data until 

2 late 1955 or 1956, and limited data until well 

3 into the 1960s. 

4 (K) NIOSH has ignored exposure from 

5 more than a dozen underground tests that vent6 ed, including Bianca, Des Moines, Baneberry, 

7 Camphor, Diagonal Line, Riola, Agrini, Midas 

8 Myth, Misty Rain, and Mighty Oak. 

9 (L) Instead of monitoring individuals, 

10 groups were monitored, resulting in unreliable 

11 personnel monitoring. 

12 (14) Amchitka Island, where only 3 under13 ground nuclear tests were conducted, has been des14 ignated a Special Exposure Cohort under 

15 EEOICPA. 

16 (15) Some Nevada Test Site workers, despite 

17 having worked with significant amounts of radio18 active materials and having known exposures leading 

19 to serious health effects, have been denied com20 pensation under EEOICPA as a result of flawed cal21 culations based on records that are incomplete, in 

22 error, or based on faulty assumptions and incorrect 

23 models. 


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1 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF CERTAIN NUCLEAR WEAPONS PRO2 GRAM WORKERS IN SPECIAL EXPOSURE CO3 HORT UNDER ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPA4 TIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3621(14) of the Energy 

6 Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

7 Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384l(14)) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub9 paragraph (D); and 

10 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol11 lowing new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(C) The employee was so employed at the 

13 Nevada Test Site or other similar sites located 

14 in Nevada during the period beginning on Jan15 uary 1, 1950, and ending on December 31, 

16 1993, and, during such employment— 

17 ‘‘(i) was present during an atmos18 pheric or underground nuclear test or per19 formed drillbacks, re-entry, or clean-up 

20 work following such a test (without regard 

21 to the duration of employment); 

22 ‘‘(ii) was present during an episodic 

23 event involving radiation releases (without 

24 regard to the duration of employment); or 

25 ‘‘(iii) was employed at the Nevada 

26 Test Site for a number of work days agVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:54 Mar 18, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2439.IS S2439

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1 gregating at least 250 work days and was 

2 employed in a job activity that— 

3 ‘‘(I) was monitored through the 

4 use of dosimetry badges or bioassays 

5 for exposure to ionizing radiation; or 

6 ‘‘(II) worked in a job activity 

7 that is or was, comparable to a job 

8 that is, was, or should have been mon9 itored for exposure to ionizing radi10 ation through the use of dosimetry 

11 badges or bioassay.’’. 

12 (b) DEADLINE FOR CLAIMS ADJUDICATION.—Claims 

13 for compensation under section 3621(14)(C) of the En14 ergy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Pro15 gram Act of 2000, as added by subsection (a), shall be 

16 adjudicated and a final decision issued— 

17 (1) in the case of claims pending as of the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days 

19 after such date; and 

20 (2) in the case of claims filed after the date of 

21 the enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days 

22 after the date of such filing. 

Æ 


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