The Senate voted Thursday to reauthorize and expand a federal program that compensates victims of nuclear contamination.
Senators advanced the “Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act,” S. 3853, on a 69-30 roll call.
The bill would extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), currently set to expire in June, and expand claims eligibility to include people in Alaska, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee who have developed certain health conditions from radioactive waste that originated from the government’s nuclear weapons testing practices.
It would also extend the dates for eligibility to some former uranium miners and expand eligibility for residents with certain health conditions who lived in Guam or New Mexico.