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SEC. 3602. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) Since World War II, Federal nuclear activities
have been explicitly recognized under Federal law as activi-
ties that are ultra-hazardous. Nuclear weapons production
and testing have involved unique dangers, including poten-
tial catastrophic nuclear accidents that private insurance
carriers have not covered and recurring exposures to radio-
active substances and beryllium that, even in small
amounts, can cause medical harm.
(2) Since the inception of the nuclear weapons pro-
gram and for several decades afterwards, a large number
of nuclear weapons workers at sites of the Department of
Energy and at sites of vendors who supplied the Cold War
effort were put at risk without their knowledge and consent
for reasons that, documents reveal, were driven by fears of
adverse publicity, liability, and employee demands for haz-
ardous duty pay.
(3) Many previously secret records have documented
unmonitored exposures to radiation and beryllium and con-
tinuing problems at these sites across the Nation, at which
the Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies
have been, since World War II, self-regulating with respect
to nuclear safety and occupational safety and health. No
other hazardous Federal activity has been permitted to be
carried out under such sweeping powers of self-regulation.
(4) The policy of the Department of Energy has been
to litigate occupational illness claims, which has deterred
workers from filing workers’ compensation claims and has
imposed major financial burdens for such employees who
have sought compensation. Contractors of the Department
have been held harmless and the employees have been de-
nied workers’ compensation coverage for occupational dis-
ease.
(5) Over the past 20 years, more than two dozen sci-
entific findings have emerged that indicate that certain of
such employees are experiencing increased risks of dying
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from cancer and non-malignant diseases. Several of these
studies have also established a correlation between excess
diseases and exposure to radiation and beryllium.
(6) While linking exposure to occupational hazards
with the development of occupational disease is sometimes
difficult, scientific evidence supports the conclusion that oc-
cupational exposure to dust particles or vapor of beryllium
can cause beryllium sensitivity and chronic beryllium dis-
ease. Furthermore, studies indicate than 98 percent of ra-
diation-induced cancers within the nuclear weapons com-
plex have occurred at dose levels below existing maximum
safe thresholds.
(7) Existing information indicates that State workers’
compensation programs do not provide a uniform means of
ensuring adequate compensation for the types of occupa-
tional illnesses and diseases that relate to the employees at
those sites.
(8) To ensure fairness and equity, the civilian men
and women who, over the past 50 years, have performed
duties uniquely related to the nuclear weapons production
and testing programs of the Department of Energy and its
predecessor agencies should have efficient, uniform, and
adequate compensation for beryllium-related health condi-
tions and radiation-related health conditions.
(9) On April 12, 2000, the Secretary of Energy an-
nounced that the Administration intended to seek com-
pensation for individuals with a broad range of work-re-
lated illnesses throughout the Department of Energy’s nu-
clear weapons complex.
(10) However, as of October 2, 2000, the Administra-
tion has failed to provide Congress with the necessary legis-
lative and budget proposals to enact the promised com-
pensation program...
Read
full article in a .pdf format |
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