Guaranteed Payments to Sick Miners Approved
Thousands of people sickened by radiation exposure during Cold War nuclear weapon development could be guaranteed compensation payments under a proposal adopted by the Senate.
In the past, payments to former uranium miners and “down-winders”--people unknowingly exposed to radioactive fallout from above-ground atomic tests--had been delayed because the program had run out of money.
The amendment to the Senate defense spending bill would set aside $655 million over 10 years to pay the claims, beginning with $172 million in the coming year.
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