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OPA Press Release:
CONGRESS CHANGES SURVIVOR DEFINITION Eligibility Expanded For
Compensation From Nuclear Workers Program
WASHINGTON- Congress has enacted legislation that changes the
eligibility requirements for children of workers who died after contracting
certain work-related illnesses in work performed for the Department of Energy's
nuclear weapons program.
"This amendment will help the department fairly compensate workers and
their families for their sacrifice in protecting America during the Cold War,"
Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao said. "The thousands of families that
Congress had in mind when it created the program will now be eligible for
help."
The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act
(EEOICPA) went into effect on July 31, 2001, to compensate nuclear weapons
workers who became ill as a result of exposure to radiation, beryllium or
silica on the job. Chao presented the first compensation check to Clara Harding
of Paducah, Ky., on Aug. 9, 2001, whose husband was a nuclear weapons worker
who died of abdominal cancer.
The amendment that was passed changes the definition of "survivor" in
EEOICPA to also include adult children of nuclear weapons workers.
As the law was originally written, surviving children were eligible for
compensation only if, when their parent died, they were under the age of 18,
full-time students under age 23, or any age but incapable of self-support.
Eligible survivors receive a lump sum payment not to exceed $150,000 per family
($50,000 for survivors of uranium workers).
The definition of "survivor" was an issue at more than 50 town hall
meetings held throughout the country during the summer with nuclear weapons
employees and their surviving family members. Because of the long latency of
the diseases covered by this program, many of the people who attended these
meetings were adults when their parent died.
In addition to changing eligibility for EEOICPA compensation, the
amendment also:
- adds a type of leukemia to the list of cancers for which certain
workers can receive benefits and makes it easier for claimants who are
suffering from silicosis to meet the eligibility standard
- changes attorney fee provisions and clarifies what workers with
pending lawsuits against certain employers must do to be eligible for benefits
under this program.
- requires the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) to study residual radiation and beryllium contamination in certain
facilities where nuclear weapons are no longer produced. NIOSH is to determine
whether the residual contamination is significant and could have caused or
contributed to cancer in a covered employee.
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