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This week we commemorate two tragic anniversaries: The
dropping of the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of
Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the release of the second
bomb on Nagasaki three days later.
These come on the heels of yet another tragic anniversary:
The first atomic bomb test, called ‘Trinity’, was conducted in
south central New Mexico on July 16, 1945. Together, these
events plunged the world into a nuclear era that has cost
untold lives and caused incalculable environmental harm. The
anniversary of the Trinity test reminds us that, however much
damage and suffering nuclear technology causes abroad, its
first victims are always communities (usually indigenous
people of color) here at home.
Those communities are still living with the consequences of
Trinity and over 200 similar nuclear weapons tests—and they
haven’t been fully recognized or compensated yet for their
decades of pain and suffering. In 1990, Congress passed a law
meant to compensate victims of atomic bomb testing, but it
doesn’t go nearly far enough and will expire in 2022. A bill
in the House of Representatives—H.R.3783, the Radiation
Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019—would expand
compensation more fully to those affected by the tests. But
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Committee,
hasn’t even scheduled a hearing for the bill yet.
The communities that live downwind from nuclear test sites
(“Downwinders”) really need our help right now. Your member of
Congress can have a lot of influence over whether this bill
gets a hearing in the House. Tell
your member of Congress to ask Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Jim
Jordan (the committee’s Republican ranking member) to schedule
a hearing for this bill.
The current law compensates residents in parts of Nevada,
Utah, Colorado and Arizona who were Downwinders from the
Nevada Test Site, but it expires in two years. The new law
would extend this compensation to Downwinders in New Mexico,
parts of Idaho, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and to
uranium workers who joined the industry after 1971. It would
also extend the compensation fund to 2045.
Compensating the Downwinders is especially important now
that we’re in the middle of a pandemic. Because of their
exposure to radiation from nuclear tests, Downwinders suffer
from more preexisting conditions and are more
immunocompromised than average Americans. This makes them more
vulnerable to the effects of Covid-19 than other
populations.
The Downwinders are the first victims of America’s embrace
of nuclear power. They should be compensated fairly for their
pain and suffering. Tell
your member of Congress to ask Rep. Nadler and Rep. Jordan to
schedule a hearing for this bill. You can also
ask your member of Congress to become co-sponsors to the bills
that have bipartisan support.
This week we mourn the victims of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and
the Trinity test. But we can do more than just mourn. We can
start setting things right. Compensating the Downwinders is
the first step in the right direction.
Thanks for all you do,
The NIRS Team
Diane D'Arrigo
Luis Hestres
Denise Jakobsberg
Tim
Judson
Contact
Us:
Nuclear
Information
and Resource
Service
6930
Carroll Ave, Ste. 340
Takoma Park, MD
20912
(301)
270-6477
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