The U.S. Department of Justice has published new guidelines for those who plan to apply for the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
In 2024, Congress allowed RECA, as it is known, to expire, but it was revived under the recent reconciliation tax and spending bill passed in July.
Navajo Nation officials say the restored law will benefit thousands of tribal members who worked as uranium miners along with those known as downwinders.
“The passage of RECA was meaningful step forward, but we still need a long-term extension that reflects the lived experiences of Navajo families impacted by decades of uranium mining,” said Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty. “We encourage impacted individuals to submit claims before the deadline.”
Under the new RECA program, all claims must be filed by Dec. 31, 2027.
Its new incarnation expands eligibility for uranium miners who worked through Dec. 31, 1990.
It awards benefits to core drillers and remediation workers for the first time, increases compensation to $100,000, and covers additional kidney diseases for miners.
The new program also expands eligibility to areas of Mohave County that were previously left out of RECA along with those associated with Manhattan Project nuclear waste processing sites in Missouri, Tennessee, Alaska and Kentucky.
RECA was first passed in 1990 and amended 10 years later. It awards payouts to people who were sickened by fallout from nuclear weapons tests. Many throughout the West suffer from cancers and other grave medical conditions that are attributed to detonations in Nevada and New Mexico along with the mining and processing of uranium.
