US Senate votes to expand radiation-exposure compensation, from Guam to original A-bomb test site
By MORGAN LEE
Associated Press
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Senate has endorsed a major expansion of a compensation program for people sickened by exposure to radiation during nuclear weapons testing and the mining of uranium during the Cold War. Advancing on a 86-11 Senate vote Thursday, the proposal would extend aid to so-called downwinders exposed to radiation during weapons testing in several new regions stretching from Guam to the New Mexico site where the world’s first atomic bomb was tested in 1945. The Senate-backed plan also would extend compensation to more former uranium industry workers. Those proposed changes to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act are not yet included in a House-approved defense bill amid negotiations.