Shortcomings of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA)

The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) conducted more than 100 atmospheric atomic detonations at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) between 1951-1962, depositing radioactive fallout downwind. It is generally assumed that the towns, ranches, and Native American communities within a roughly 150-mile radius from due north to southeast of the test site–consistent with the prevailing winds-bore a disproportionate burden of radioactive contamination. The data, however, illustrate fallout deposited much farther afield than is generally recognized.

In 1982 the U.S. Congress mandated a dose reconstruction of one particular radionuclide–radioactive iodine (I-131). Fifteen years later the National Cancer Institute (NCI) released a report illustrating cumulative radioiodine exposure in every county in the contiguous U.S. (NCI 1997). Radioiodine is just one radionuclide falling out upon the public, but it is a good proxy for the overall radioactive toll imposed upon the public.

In between the authorization of the NCI study in 1982 and its eventual publication–fifteen years late–Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) in 1990. One category of RECA compensation is for injuries due to fallout from weapons testing in Nevada between 1951-1962. Many of the hardest hit counties identified in the NCI study are not the counties compensated under RECA. There is a remarkable mismatch, in this regard, that has persisted for decades. Indeed, there are numerous counties in the Intermountain West, primarily Idaho and Montana, and scattered throughout the Midwest with per capita levels of radioiodine deposition, and by proxy other radionuclides, higher than the counties eligible for compensation.

The 1990 RECA legislation included 8 counties in Utah, 5 in Nevada as well as a section of Clark County, and a segment of Mohave County in Arizona. These areas were identified through the DOE’s Off-Site Radiation Exposure Review Project, epidemiological studies at the time, and–in crucial respects–the grassroots efforts of people living in these counties who had experienced atmospheric testing firsthand. RECA was amended in 2000 and two counties in Utah were added as well as five in Arizona. RECA has never been amended in accordance with the NCI’s 1997 study, however, although there have been numerous attempts to do so. In turn, congressional legislation has compensated radiation induced from open-air atomic detonations in Nevada in a circumscribed manner inconsistent with the totality of harm imposed upon the public.

As depicted in Figure 1, the heavily shaded counties are those with the highest per capita dose. There are eleven counties across Idaho and Montana with a per capita dose ranging from 10.5 to 15.8 rads. Children in these areas drinking fresh cows’ milk may have accumulated a dose up to seven times higher due to greater consumption of milk, on average, and the concentrating effects of radioiodine in smaller thyroid glands. According to the NCI, around 50 percent of consumption in the 1950s was fresh (raw) milk. The dose is highest for infants up to two months and then decreases with age. Individuals drinking fresh goats’ milk may have obtained a dose 20 times higher than those drinking raw cows’ milk (NCI 1997).

Radioiodine is associated with thyroid cancer, and it is anticipated that this will primarily occur among individuals younger than 5 years of age when exposed (NCI 1997). Of note, females are more radiosensitive than males. Of the estimated geometric mean of 49,000 additional cases of thyroid cancer as a consequence of open-air detonations in Nevada, the majority are likely to occur among those who were children in the 1950s and, in particular, young girls. Moreover, Figure 1 suggests where many were living at the time-and it is not in the counties included in RECA.

As highlighted in Figure 1, there are 434 medium-exposure counties ranging from southern Utah, up through the Intermountain West, and down the Midwest. The data resemble an eastward-drifting plume and includes locales as distant from the NTS as Colorado, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Arkansas. There are also several counties in Oklahoma, Texas, and one in Vermont. Proximity is a fluid and indeterminant category in the atomic era.

What is particularly striking in Figure 1 is the lower ingestion in Nevada. Per the NCI report, southern Nevada and Utah recorded higher ground deposition but lower per capita doses than many other places, including counties in Idaho and Montana. Radioiodine contamination is influenced by the extent of pastureland and, in tandem, the consumption of locally sourced milk. Although many in Nevada drank fresh milk from their cow or a local herd, much of the area consists of the arid expanse of the Great Basin Desert. It is not known for its rich and expansive pastureland. Further, the NCI estimated both radioiodine deposition and the movement of milk across counties in deriving the doses outlined in Figure 1. In the 1950s, milk was typically produced close to where it was consumed. In later years the use of refrigerated tank cars and bulk processing increased the distance between producers and consumers.

Table 1 outlines the 30 counties with the highest estimated per capita doses. Nineteen are in Montana. Five are in Idaho. Meagher County, Montana, and Custer, Gem, Blaine, and Lemhi counties in Idaho are the most heavily impacted places in the country. Table 1 also includes one county in South Dakota, a county in Colorado, and four counties in Utah. All are rural areas. Indeed, rural individuals and families likely ingested far more radioiodine, and other radionuclides, than urban residents.

Why does the mismatch between the data and the RECA-eligible counties persist? In short, money. In recent years, there have been repeated attempts to amend RECA to include counties in Idaho, Montana, Colorado, and elsewhere, but these efforts have not been successful. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo explained (Miller 2020): “The reason it’s been so hard to get through Congress is that on the one hand, there is a small number of states that are concerned about it…And on the other hand, the more states involved, the price tag goes up and the budget makes it more difficult to pass.”

RECA endeavors to provide recognition and recompense for Americans harmed by the fallout of radioactive debris from atmospheric detonations in Nevada. However, it is largely a symbolic gesture inconsistent with the data the NCI spent 15 years assembling. Many of the most heavily impacted counties were in Idaho and Montana as well as scattered throughout the Midwest-far beyond the geographic limits of RECA eligibility.

Sources:
Miller, Ashley. 2020. “‘They Know What They’ve Done’: America’s Nuclear Past Threatens Idaho’s Future,” Idaho Press. April 18. Available: https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/they-know-what-theyve-done-americas-nuclear-past-threatens-idahos-future/article_a02826ba-b62f-5964-9b08-09dbe300d596.html.

National Cancer Institute (NCI). 1997. Estimated Exposures and Thyroid Doses Received by the American People from Iodine-131 Fallout Following Nevada Atmospheric Nuclear Bomb Tests. Bethesda, Maryland.