Senators push to help state’s downwinders

BOISE – Idaho Sens. Mike Crapo and Larry Craig introduced legislation Wednesday that would include all of Idaho under an existing federal program to compensate residents who can show they have diseases linked to radioactive fallout from Cold War-era testing in Nevada.

Currently, the federal compensation program serves people in parts of Utah, Nevada and Arizona.

The program does not serve people in Idaho, where studies show some counties received some of the highest doses of fallout.

A recently released study by the National Academies of Science recommended that Congress change the Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act to base compensation on scientific standards and the medical history of applicants, not simply on geographic designations.

But the Idaho senators said some Idaho residents may not physically be able to wait for a new law, so they wanted to move forward quickly to change existing law.

The changes would allow affected people to apply for compensation under the current program while the new law is being drafted.

“The National Academy of Sciences has confirmed that compensation under RECA should not be confined to the Act’s current geographical borders,” Craig said in a prepared statement.

“While the scientific standards are being updated to reflect the best available science, we must ensure that Idahoans are made eligible so that there will be no delay for those who qualify for compensation today,” he said.

While introducing the legislation, Idaho’s senators said they would continue to make the program more comprehensive for future applicants.