I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5021 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 28, 2006 
Ms. BERKLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education 
and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Com-
pensation Program Act of 2000 to provide for certain 
nuclear weapons program workers to be included in the 
Special Exposure Cohort under the compensation pro-
gram established by that Act. 
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 ‘‘Nevada Test Site Vet-
erans’ Compensation Act of 2006’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
(a) Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Employees working on Cold War-era nu-
clear weapons programs were employed in facilities 
owned by the Federal Government and the private 
sector producing and testing nuclear weapons and 
engaging in related atomic energy defense activities 
for the national defense beginning in the 1940s. 
(2) These Cold War atomic energy veterans 
helped to build and test the nuclear arsenal that 
served as a deterrent during the Cold War, sacri-
ficing their personal health and well-being in service 
of their country. 
(3) During the Cold War, many of these work-
ers were exposed to radiation and placed in harm’s 
way by the Department of Energy and contractors, 
subcontractors, and vendors of the Department with-
out their knowledge and consent, without adequate 
radiation monitoring, and without necessary protec-
tions from internal or external occupational radi-
ation exposure. 
(4) The Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 
7384 et seq.) (in this section referred to as 
‘‘EEOICPA’’) was enacted to ensure fairness and 
equity for the men and women who, during the past 
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60 years, performed duties uniquely related to the 
nuclear weapons production and testing programs of 
the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, 
and contractors by establishing a program that 
would provide timely, uniform, and adequate com-
pensation for beryllium and radiation-related health 
conditions. 
(5) Research by the Department of Energy, the 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health (NIOSH), NIOSH contractors, the Presi-
dent’s Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker 
Health, and congressional committees indicates that 
at certain nuclear weapons facilities— 
(A) workers were not adequately monitored 
for internal or external exposure to ionizing ra-
diation; and 
(B) records were not maintained, are not 
reliable, are incomplete, or fail to indicate the 
radioactive isotopes to which workers were ex-
posed. 
(6) Due to the inequities posed by the factors 
described above and the resulting harm to the work-
ers, Congress designated classes of atomic weapons 
employees at the Paducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, 
Ohio, Oak Ridge K–25, Tennessee, and the Am-
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chitka Island, Alaska, sites as members of the Spe-
cial Exposure Cohort under EEOICPA. 
(7) The contribution of the State of Nevada to 
the security of the United States throughout the 
Cold War and since has been unparalleled. 
(8) In 1950, President Harry S. Truman des-
ignated what would later be called the Nevada Test 
Site as the country’s nuclear proving grounds and, 
a month later, the first atmospheric test at the Ne-
vada Test Site was detonated. 
(9) The United States conducted 100 above- 
ground and 828 underground nuclear tests at the 
Nevada Test Site from 1951 to 1992. 
(10) Out of the 1,054 nuclear tests conducted 
in the United States, 928, or 88 percent, were con-
ducted at the Nevada Test Site. 
(11) The Nevada Test Site has served, and con-
tinues to serve, as the premier research, testing, and 
development site for our nuclear defense capabilities. 
(12) The Nevada Test Site and its workers are 
an essential and irreplaceable part of our nation’s 
defense capabilities. 
(13) It has become evident that it is not fea-
sible to estimate with sufficient accuracy in a timely 
manner the radiation dose received by employees at 
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the Department of Energy facility at the Nevada 
Test Site for many reasons, including the following: 
(A) The NIOSH Technical Basis Docu-
ment, the threshold document for radiation dose 
reconstruction under EEOICPA, has incomplete 
radionuclide lists. 
(B) NIOSH has not demonstrated that it 
can estimate dose from exposure to large, non-
respirable hot particles. 
(C) There are significant gaps in environ-
mental measurement and exposure data. 
(D) Resuspension doses are seriously un-
derestimated. 
(E) NIOSH has not been able to estimate 
accurately exposures to bomb assembly workers 
and radon levels. 
(F) NIOSH has not demonstrated that it 
can accurately sample tritiated water vapor. 
(G) External dose records lack integrity. 
(H) There are no beta dose data until 
1966. 
(I) There are no neutron dose data until 
1966 and only partial data after such date. 
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(J) There are no internal dose data until 
late 1955 or 1956, and limited data until well 
into the 1960s. 
(K) NIOSH has ignored exposure from 
more than a dozen underground tests that vent-
ed, including Bianca, Des Moines, Baneberry, 
Camphor, Diagonal Line, Riola, Agrini, Midas 
Myth, Misty Rain, and Mighty Oak. 
(L) Instead of monitoring individuals, 
groups were monitored, resulting in unreliable 
personnel monitoring. 
(14) Amchitka Island, where only 3 under-
ground nuclear tests were conducted, has been des-
ignated 
a 
Special 
Exposure 
Cohort 
under 
EEOICPA. 
(15) Some Nevada Test Site workers, despite 
having worked with significant amounts of radio-
active materials and having known exposures leading 
to serious health effects, have been denied com-
pensation under EEOICPA as a result of flawed cal-
culations based on records that are incomplete, in 
error, or based on faulty assumptions and incorrect 
models. 
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SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF CERTAIN NUCLEAR WEAPONS PRO-
GRAM WORKERS IN SPECIAL EXPOSURE CO-
HORT UNDER ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPA-
TIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3621(14) of the Energy 
Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 
Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384l(14)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub-
paragraph (D); and 
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) The employee was so employed at the 
Nevada Test Site or other similar sites located 
in Nevada during the period beginning on Jan-
uary 1, 1950, and ending on December 31, 
1993, and, during such employment— 
‘‘(i) was present during an atmos-
pheric or underground nuclear test or per-
formed drillbacks, re-entry, or clean-up 
work following such a test (without regard 
to the duration of employment); 
‘‘(ii) was present during an episodic 
event involving radiation releases (without 
regard to the duration of employment); or 
‘‘(iii) was employed at the Nevada 
Test Site for a number of work days ag-
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gregating at least 250 work days and was 
employed in a job activity that— 
‘‘(I) was monitored through the 
use of dosimetry badges or bioassays 
for exposure to ionizing radiation; or 
‘‘(II) worked in a job activity 
that is or was, comparable to a job 
that is, was, or should have been mon-
itored for exposure to ionizing radi-
ation through the use of dosimetry 
badges or bioassay.’’. 
(b) DEADLINE FOR CLAIMS ADJUDICATION.—Claims 
for compensation under section 3621(14)(C) of the En-
ergy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Pro-
gram Act of 2000, as added by subsection (a), shall be 
adjudicated and a final decision issued— 
(1) in the case of claims pending as of the date 
of the enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days 
after such date; and 
(2) in the case of claims filed after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days 
after the date of such filing. 
Æ 
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