Federal aid for those sickened by U.S. nuclear testing set to expire

With negotiations on Capitol Hill at a standstill, a 34-year-old federal benefits plan for survivors of the country’s nuclear testing program is now set to expire on Friday.

Legislation to reauthorize and expand the program known as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, has been stalled in the Republican-led House for months.

It’s a fact that vexes supporters of RECA, including the bill’s bipartisan Senate sponsors.

“It’s disappointing,” Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., said in a statement to NPR. “I’m continuing to have conversations with my colleagues and advocates on the path forward if the House fails to pass my legislation in time. All options should be on the table to find a vehicle to extend and expand RECA.”

Sens. Luján and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., have pushed to expand RECA to cover others sickened by fallout from the atomic bomb testing program. Both have seen the impacts on constituents in their own states, and want the program to recognize uranium mine workers and so-called downwinders caught in the path of toxic exposures.

Although the legislation passed in the Democratic-led Senate numerous times in recent months, House Republicans, led by House Speaker Mike Johnson, have failed to reach an agreement to put a new expanded version of the program before members for a vote.

Last month,two dozen RECA advocates met with officials on Capitol Hill, including Johnson, to urge the bill’s passage. Last week, Johnson looked at potentially putting a more limited RECA extension on the floor, but reversed course after advocates raised alarm.

Since 1990, RECA has provided lump sum payments of up to $75,000 to the so-calledatomic veterans and others sickened by the nuclear testing program. The plan, administered by the