I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1630 

To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include the Territory 

of Guam in the list of affected areas with respect to which claims 

relating to atmospheric nuclear testing shall be allowed, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2009 

Ms. BORDALLO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include the Territory of Guam in the list of affected areas 

with respect to which claims relating to atmospheric nuclear testing shall be allowed, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. DEFINITION OF AFFECTED AREA TO INCLUDE 

4 ADDITIONAL DOWNWIND AREA EXPOSED TO 

5 IONIZING RADIATION (NUCLEAR FALLOUT). 

6 Section 4(b)(1) of the Radiation Exposure Com7 pensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara2 graph (B); and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(D) the Territory of Guam; and’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The United States conducted testing of 

8 atomic nuclear weapons on Enewetak and Bikini 

9 Atolls in the Marshall Islands, from 1946 to 1962. 

10 A total of sixty-seven (67) atomic and thermonuclear 

11 bombs were detonated which resulted in fallout 

12 across a wide area in the Pacific. 

13 (2) The Atomic Energy Commission detonated 

14 sixty-seven (67) nuclear devices with a total yield of 

15 one hundred eight thousand four hundred ninety-two 

16 point two (108,492.2) kilotons in or around the 

17 Marshall Islands. 

18 (3) There were at least ten (10) detonations 

19 that had a yield necessary of five (5) to ten (10) 

20 megatons to project material from the center of the 

21 explosion to the height of between twelve (12) to 

22 fifty-five (55) miles into the jet-stream. 

23 (4) On October 31, 1952 (GMT), the first true 

24 H-Bomb, Ivy Mike was detonated at Elugelab 

25 (‘‘Flora’’) Island, Enewetak Atoll. The 10.4 megaton 


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1 device was the fourth largest device ever tested by 

2 the United States. The mushroom cloud climbed to 

3 57,000 feet in only 90 seconds entering the strato4 sphere. One minute later it reached 108,000 feet, 

5 eventually stabilizing at a ceiling of 120,000 feet. 

6 Half an hour after the test, the mushroom stretched 

7 sixty (60) miles across, with the base of the mush8 room head joining the stem at 45,000 feet. 

9 (5) On April 27, 2005, the National Research 

10 Council of the National Academies submitted to 

11 Congress a report on the Assessment of the Sci12 entific Information for the Radiation Exposure 

13 Screening and Education Program. 

14 (6) The National Research Council stated in 

15 their report on ‘‘ADDITIONAL POPULATIONS 

16 ENVIRONMENTALLY AT RISK FOR RADI17 ATION EXPOSURE’’, Nuclear Testing: 

18 Downwinders and Onsite Participants, that the 

19 Committee to Assess the Scientific Information for 

20 the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education 

21 Program reviewed the locations where nuclear-weap22 ons tests were performed, and that ‘‘The current 

23 RECA downwinder population is concentrated in the 

24 area around the NTS, and the 1997 NCI 131 I re25 port (NCI, 1997) dealt with emissions from the 


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1 NTS. In RECA, Congress found that fallout from 

2 atmospheric nuclear tests exposed people to radi3 ation that is presumed to have caused an excess of 

4 cancer and that this risk was borne by these people 

5 to serve the national security interests of the United 

6 States. The United States has conducted nuclear7 weapons tests in areas other than NTS, and popu8 lations exposed to fallout from these tests may also 

9 be considered as possible candidates for RECA com10 pensation, if Congress so chooses. The tests in ques11 tion include the Trinity test near Alamogordo, New 

12 Mexico, and the Pacific tests. Onsite participants in 

13 the tests are already included under RECA, but 

14 RECA coverage may be extended to the downwinder 

15 populations in those areas. Over the last several 

16 years, there has been a concern about the health ef17 fects associated with radioactive fallout that reached 

18 Guam during the testing of nuclear weapons in Mi19 cronesia. The Pacific Association for Radiation Sur20 vivors was formed. In 2002, a blue ribbon panel, au21 thorized by the Government of Guam, submitted the 

22 Committee Action Report on Radioactive Contami23 nation in Guam between 1946 and 1958.’’. 

24 (7) The National Research Council’s assess25 ment and recommendation for Guam is stated on 


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1 page 200 of the ‘‘Assessment of the Scientific Infor2 mation for the Radiation Exposure Screening and 

3 Education Program’’, which reads: ‘‘Conclusions. As 

4 a result of its analysis, the committee concludes that 

5 Guam did receive measurable fallout from atmos6 pheric testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific. 

7 Residents of Guam during that period should be eli8 gible for compensation under RECA in a way similar 

9 to that of persons considered to be downwinders.’’. 

10 (8) In 1974, the Laboratory of Radiation Ecol11 ogy began a program to determine the radionuclides 

12 found in food, plants, animals, and soils of the Cen13 tral Pacific. As part of this program, the study was 

14 undertaken to determine the radionuclides found in 

15 common foods and soils in Guam. All samples were 

16 analyzed for gamma-emitting radionuclides while 

17 some were also analyzed for Strontium 90 or Pluto18 nium 239,240. Cesium 137,210 PB and 235 U 

19 were also on the soil on Guam. ‘‘Plants; Most values 

20 of 137 Cs were less than 1 pCi/g, but a value of 

21 18. pCi/g was measured in the edible portion of a 

22 pandanus fruit from Guam. The inedible portion of 

23 this fruit also had a high 137 Cs value, 16 pCi/g.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY TO FILE A CLAIM BASED ON PRESENCE 

2 DURING PERIOD OF TESTING. 

3 (a) CLAIMS RELATING TO LEUKEMIA.—Section 

4 4(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Radiation Exposure Compensation 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended— 

6 (1) in subclauses (I) and (II), by inserting ‘‘de7 scribed in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of sub8 section (b)(1)’’ after ‘‘affected area’’; 

9 (2) in subclause (II)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘in the’’ before ‘‘affected 

11 area’’ and inserting ‘‘in an’’; and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

13 (3) by redesignating subclause (III) as sub14 clause (V); and 

15 (4) by inserting after subclause (II) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(III) was physically present in 

18 the affected area described in sub19 section (b)(1)(D) for a period of at 

20 least 1 year during the period begin21 ning on June 30, 1946, and ending on 

22 November 30, 1974; 

23 ‘‘(IV) was physically present in 

24 the affected area described in sub25 section (b)(1)(D) for the period beginVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:09 Mar 20, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1630.IH H1630

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1 ning on June 30, 1946, and ending on 

2 November 30, 1974;’’. 

3 (b) CLAIMS RELATING TO SPECIFIED DISEASES.— 

4 Section 4(a)(2) of the Radiation Exposure Compensation 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraphs (A) and (B)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘in the’’ before ‘‘affected 

8 area’’ and inserting ‘‘in an’’; and 

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘described in subpara10 graph (A), (B), or (C) of subsection (b)(1)’’ 

11 after ‘‘affected area’’; 

12 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

13 the end; 

14 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub15 paragraph (E); and 

16 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(C) was physically present in the affected 

19 area described in subsection (b)(1)(D) for a pe20 riod of at least 2 years during the period begin21 ning on June 30, 1946, and ending on Novem22 ber 30, 1974. 

23 ‘‘(D) was physically present in the affected 

24 area described in subsection (b)(1)(D) for the 


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1 period beginning on June 30, 1946, and ending 

2 on November 30, 1974.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO RECA. 

4 (a) ADDITIONAL RELIEF.—Section 4 of the Radi5 ation Exposure Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL RELIEF.— 

8 ‘‘(1) OTHER AREAS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who re10 sided in the Territory of Guam not covered 

11 under subsection (b)(1)(D) during the time pe12 riod described in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i) may 

13 apply for compensation under this Act. 

14 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURE.—The National Cancer 

15 Institute, in collaboration with the Centers for 

16 Disease Control and Prevention, shall evaluate 

17 whether an individual submitting an application 

18 under subparagraph (A) is eligible for com19 pensation under this Act on a case-by-case 

20 basis. 

21 ‘‘(2) OTHER EXPENSES.—An individual who is 

22 eligible for compensation under subsection (b)(1)(D) 

23 or paragraph (1) shall also receive compensation 

24 from the Fund for the costs of screening, complica25 tions of screening, follow-up referrals, work-up diagVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:09 Mar 20, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1630.IH H1630

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1 nosis, and treatment related to the specific disease 

2 contracted by the individual.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

4 The Health Resources and Services Administration 

5 shall conduct an enhanced program of education and com6 munication about the health risks posed by ionizing radi7 ation exposure from fallout from the United States nu8 clear-weapons testing. 

Æ 


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