Radiation Exposure Injury Lawsuits. Uranium industry workers, including uranium miners, uranium mill workers, ore transporters or their survivors, are eligible for compensation under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) if they contracted certain cancers and other serious diseases as a result of their overexposure to radiation and radioactive materials. Our RECA lawyers are currently offering free legal consultations to any individual, including uranium miners, uranium mill workers, and ore transporters, as well as their survivors, who became sick as a result of radiation exposures covered under this important legislation.
RECA was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1990, and amended in 2000 to include uranium mill and ore workers to the list of individuals eligible for compensation. RECA covers situations where the disease was caused due to overexposure during employment in underground uranium mines or as a result of the nuclear weapon tests. If you or a loved one worked as a uranium miner, uranium mill worker, or an ore transporter and contracted a radiation overexposure disease covered under RECA, we urge you to contact one of our RECA lawyers today to protect your legal rights.
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
RECA offers an apology and monetary compensation to individuals who contracted certain cancers and other serious diseases following their overexposure to radiation released during above-ground atmospheric nuclear weapons tests or, following their occupational overexposure to radiation while employed in the uranium industry during the build-up to the Cold War. This unique statute was designed as an expedient, low-cost alternative to litigation.
The Act’s statutory criteria do not require claimants to establish causation. Rather, a claimant qualifies for an award by establishing the diagnosis of a listed compensable disease after working or residing in a designated location for a specific period of time. RECA provides compensation to individuals who contracted one of 27 medical conditions and covers all states where uranium was mined and processed as well as specified counties in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, where fallout from the nuclear testing was significantly measured.
Eligible RECA Claimants
RECA established lump sum compensation awards for individuals who contracted specified diseases in three defined populations:
Uranium Industry Workers ($100,000):
Uranium Miners, Uranium Mill Workers, and Ore Transporters: Eligible individuals employed in aboveground or underground uranium mines or uranium mills in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, and Texas at any time during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1971. Uranium miners must have been exposed to 40 or more working level months (WLMs) of radiation while employed in a uranium mine or worked for at least one year in a uranium mine during the relevant time period. Uranium mill workers and ore transporters must have worked in a uranium mill for at least one year during the relevant time period. Compensable diseases for uranium miners include primary lung cancer and certain nonmalignant respiratory diseases. Compensable diseases for uranium mill workers and ore transporters include primary lung cancer, certain nonmalignant respiratory diseases, renal cancer, and other chronic renal disease including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury.
“Onsite Participants” – Individuals present at atmospheric nuclear weapons tests ($75,000)
Eligible individuals who participated onsite in a test involving the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear device, and later developed a specified compensable disease. The claimant must have been present “onsite” above or within the official boundaries of the Nevada, Pacific, Trinity, or South Atlantic Test Sites at any time during a period of atmospheric nuclear testing and must have “participated” during that time in the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear device. After the onsite participation, the claimant contracted one of the following specified diseases: leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), lung cancer, multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin’s disease), and primary cancer of the thyroid, male or female breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, or liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated), or lung.
“Downwinders” – Individuals who lived downwind of the Nevada Test Site, ($50,000)
Individuals or relatives of deceased family members who have lived or worked downwind of atmospheric nuclear tests in certain counties in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona for a period of at least two years during the period beginning on January 21, 1951, and ending on October 31, 1958, or, for the period beginning on June 30, 1962, and ending on July 31, 1962. Covered cancers include larynx, thyroid, female breast, male breast, small intestine, pancreas, ovary, salivary gland, lung, esophagus, stomach, brain, urinary bladder, bile ducts, liver, colon, gall bladder, leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), multiple myeloma lymphomas (other than Hodgkin’s disease.)
Need Legal Help for Radiation Exposure?
If you or a loved one were employed as a uranium miner, uranium mill worker or ore transporter, and were sickened by a radiation-related illness, you may have valuable legal rights under RECA. To find out how our RECA lawyers can help you, please fill out our online form, or call 1-800-YOURLAWYER (1-800-968-7529).
Radiation Overexposure Links:
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA)
Radiation Exposure Environmental Contamination
Radiation Overexposure Medical Devices
Radiation Overexposure TERM NORM TENORM
CT (CAT) Scan Radiation Overdose – See more at: /topics/overview/radiation-exposure-compensation-act-overexposure-lawsuit-lawyers#sthash.Cavn4HOy.dpuf