I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2573 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to revise the eligibility criteria 
for presumption of service-connection of certain diseases and disabilities 
for veterans exposed to ionizing radiation during military service, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 21, 2009 
Mr. ABERCROMBIE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to revise the eligi-
bility criteria for presumption of service-connection of 
certain diseases and disabilities for veterans exposed to 
ionizing radiation during military service, and for other 
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 ‘‘Atomic Veterans Relief 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR PRESUMPTION OF 
SERVICE-CONNECTION RESULTING FROM EX-
POSURE TO IONIZING RADIATION DUE TO 
OPEN-AIR NUCLEAR TESTING. 
Section 1112(c)(3)(B) of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting before the period at the 
end of clause (i) the following: ‘‘or exposure occurring at 
any time to ionizing radiation from undetonated weapons 
or residual contamination resulting from such a detona-
tion’’. 
SEC. 3. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PERFORMANCE 
OF DOSE RECONSTRUCTIONS. 
Section 1154 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(c)(1) The Secretary shall include in the regulations 
pertaining to service-connection of disabilities referred to 
in subsection (a) additional provisions to ensure, in the 
case of a claim by a radiation-exposed veteran for service- 
connection of a nonpresumptive disability, that the proce-
dures for establishment of whether the disability is service- 
connected that require the mathematical calculation of the 
level of exposure of the veteran to ionizing radiation re-
quire the Secretary to carry out each of the following: 
‘‘(A) To determine the specific facts and cir-
cumstances of the claimed exposure based on the 
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evidence in the record while presuming the veteran’s 
recitation of the event is correct except where clear 
and convincing evidence establishes otherwise. 
‘‘(B) To obtain a reconstructed dose based on 
the specific facts and circumstances established by 
the evidence ensuring that no assumptions, bases, or 
other processes conflict with the evidence provided 
by the Secretary. 
‘‘(C) To require that each dose reconstruction 
required under subparagraph (B) include— 
‘‘(i) the calculated dose for each relevant 
radiation and organ; 
‘‘(ii) a description of the dose reconstruc-
tion process in sufficient detail to allow a rea-
sonable person with appropriate experience and 
training to assess the methodology used to 
produce the reported doses;. 
‘‘(iii) a listing of each assumption used in 
the dose reconstruction and the basis or bases 
for each such assumption; 
‘‘(iv) a listing of each deviation from the 
factual scenario established by the evidence, the 
reason for the deviation, and an explanation of 
the impact on the reconstructed dose, including 
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whether the deviation increased or decreased 
the final calculated dose; and 
‘‘(v) any other information that would fur-
ther clarify the bases of the reconstructed dose 
or aid the determination of its probative value. 
‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall provide to a radiation- 
exposed veteran the veteran’s dose that is reconstructed 
by the Secretary under paragraph (1), and the informa-
tion required under subparagraph (C) of that paragraph 
to be included with the dose reconstruction. 
‘‘(B) Failure to provide the information required by 
subparagraph (A) shall be considered a prejudicial error 
requiring the Secretary to readjudicate the prejudiced 
claim based on a dose reconstruction compliant with this 
section. 
‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘radiation-exposed veteran’ has 
the 
meaning 
given 
that 
term 
in 
section 
1112(c)(3)(A) of this title. 
‘‘(B) The term ‘nonpresumptive disability’ 
means a disability not specified in section 1112(c)(2) 
of this title.’’. 
Æ 
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