Nuclear Weapons/RECA

The West has paid dearly for accepting government assurances that nuclear testing was safe.  To date, there has never been a government-sponsored scientific study published evaluating cancer rates or birth defects in the U.S. against total fallout deposition.  Did fallout in the 1950s and 1960s cause cancers in the 1990s?  Until we have the answers to that and other critical questions, Congressman Matheson will fight any attempt to produce more clouds of doubt from nuclear weapons testing.

 

RECA and the Downwinders

The U.S. conducted 904 domestic nuclear weapons tests, both atmospheric and underground, at the Nevada Test Site from 1951 until 1992. During most of this time, the federal government did not warn people who lived downwind of the test site about any of the likely effects of radiation exposure.  Many of the people who were exposed to dangerously high levels of radioactive fallout-commonly known as "downwinders"-lived in Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and other Western states.

A 1997 National Cancer Institute study found that fallout also traveled all the way to the East Coast, with some counties in Kansas, New York, Iowa and other states receiving more fallout than many western states. Iodine-131 is just one of over 150 radionuclides released by weapons testing.

After years of denial, the government finally admitted culpability for withholding this information in the 1980s, and additional pressure from concerned lawmakers resulted in passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, a compensation program for victims.  Congressman Matheson supports full funding for RECA and has fought to expand its coverage.

 

Safety for Americans from Nuclear Weapons Testing

Radioactive fallout from more than 900 weapons tests between 1951 and 1992 traveled to every single state in this nation and protecting Americans from radiation exposure should be a national issue. That's why Congressman Matheson introduced legislation that:

  • Requires the federal government to conduct an environmental review to assess the health and safety aspects prior to the resumption of any nuclear weapons tests at the Nevada Test Site.
  • Requires Congress to authorize the resumption of testing.
  • Requires Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency to more effectively monitor radiation levels, and also provides for independent radiation monitoring.
  • Provides for the study of health effects of radiation exposure, related illnesses and radioactive isotopes that are linked to adverse health effects.