I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4588
To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include workers
who were employed on Amchitka Island, Alaska, in the construction
and maintenance of deep shafts for underground nuclear testing and
various other military purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 6, 2000
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to in-
clude workers who were employed on Amchitka Island,
Alaska, in the construction and maintenance of deep
shafts for underground nuclear testing and various other
military purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alaska Amchitka Is-
land Workers’ Relief Amendments of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) radiation emitted during the Federal Gov-
ernment’s underground testing program on Am-
chitka Island, Alaska, and from its construction of
radar installations on such Island, exposed Amchitka
Island workers to radiation that is presumed to have
generated an excess of cancers and other radiation-
related illnesses;
(2) the health of Amchitka Island workers, who
were exposed to radiation from the tests on such Is-
land and during the construction of radar installa-
tions on such Island, was put at risk to serve the na-
tional security interests of the United States; and
(3) the United States should recognize and as-
sume responsibility for the harm done to Amchitka
Island workers.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COM-
PENSATION ACT.
(a) AMCHITKA ISLAND WORKERS CLAIMS.—The Ra-
diation Exposure Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210
note) is amended by inserting after section 5 the following:
‘‘SEC. 5A. CLAIMS RELATING TO AMCHITKA ISLAND WORK-
ERS.
‘‘(a) Eligibility Criteria.—An individual shall receive
compensation for a claim made under this Act if such
individual—
‘‘(1)(A) was employed on Amchitka Island,
Alaska, for the construction, testing, maintenance,
support, or clean-up pertaining to the preparation
for, and detonation of, the Longshot, Milrow, and
Cannikin Nuclear detonations and on any post deto-
nation construction, clean-up, testing, or mainte-
nance; or
‘‘(B) was employed on Amchitka Island, Alaska,
during the construction of, or the maintenance, re-
pair, monitoring, testing, support, or operation of,
the Defense Early Warning, White Alice, Over the
Horizon, ‘‘back scatter’’, or any other military radar
installation located on Amchitka Island, Alaska; and
‘‘(2) submits written medical documentation
that the individual, after employment on Amchitka
Island, Alaska, developed a radiological disease.
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection (a),
the term ‘radiological disease’ includes—
‘‘(1) leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic
leukemia);
‘‘(2) multiple myeloma;
‘‘(3) lymphomas (other than Hodgkin’s dis-
ease);
‘‘(4) primary cancer of the thyroid, female
breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intes-
tines, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, or liver (ex-
cept if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated); and
‘‘(5) nonmalignant respiratory disease such as
fibrosis 
of 
the 
lung, 
pulmonary 
fibrosis,
corpulmonale related to fibrosis of the lung, silicosis,
or pneumoconiosis.’’.
(b) PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.—Section 6(c)(2)(A) of the
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210
note) is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause
(i), by striking the period at the end of clause (ii) and
inserting ‘‘, or’’, and by adding after clause (ii) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(iii) exposure to radiation from employ-
ment on Amchitka Island, Alaska, as described
in section 5A(a)(1).’’.
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