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VETERANS ISSUES 2005
Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission and Unit 731
Charles W. Stone
All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2005
Almost immediately after US troops and officials landed in Japan in August 1945 efforts started to clean up the rubble and study the effects of the bombing on people both civilian and military. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians and military killed a small number of US POW’s were killed. A much larger number of US troops were exposed to substantial amounts of radiation while helping to clear the rubble. Later many developed skin lesions etc. typical of radiation. Some became disabled. No compensation was provided.
Dr. James Neel was chosen from The Manhattan Project to head the radiation exposure studies, which became known as the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC). All modern radiation exposure standards are based on these studies. The Japanese team included many former members of Unit 731, the infamous biological warfare unit.
Other biological (water purification) were used throughout East Asia. There is some question about their activities esp. in New Guinea. Several went on to head other important organizations in Japan! The Hiroshima bomb was an airburst and produced significantly lower levels of fallout than ground or water bursts which were produced in US tests especially at the Nevada Test Site.
More recently Dr. James Neel was accused of carrying out the largest fraud in the history of anthropology involving the Yanomani Indians. A close associate was a key player in efforts to set up an independent “FARC” like zone in Venezuela for gold and antiquities. A major effort by the University of Michigan, NAS and other groups was made to cover-up these frauds.
The exact mission of Dr. James Neel and his associates is not clear. It is known that radioisotope studies were performed for the AEC and similar groups from other countries including France. Again a combination of US Government and media efforts have been made to cover-up this and related stories.
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DOWN AND DIRTY
Charles W. Stone
All Rights Reserved, copyright2005
Only a few years after Hiroshima, the US govt. began a series of atomic tests involving real military personnel and real or simulated/civilian situations! From the beginning it was clear these tests were disastrous producing large amounts of radioactivity and significant exposures for humans.
Several Pacific Atolls were made uninhabitable for many years. Many years later compensation was provided. However, the military and civilian exposures have been treated much less generously. By 1950 a series of ground tests started at the Desert Test Site near Las Vegas, Nevada. This became the first known high tech facility known to be located in Southern Nevada.
We now know about Area 51 and Groom Lake. The atomic tests seem in retrospect to be of little value and were of high cost. A conservative estimate of 250,000 military personnel were exposed. Untold numbers of civilians and Downwinders also received significant fallout. Is estimated the total fallout from the Las Vegas tests to be at least 200 times Chernobyl. Many Nevada tests were ground bursts and had dirty designs. One series was appropriately named “Upshot-Knothole”.
The above ground tests lasted until the early 1960’s. A famous motion picture features the discovery that the training documents are an exact copy of those from 1950. The original US Government cover-up was carried out by the then Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Warren Burger.
He of course later was appointed the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. The Federal Courts have played a key role in these very dirty situations. In fact it is one of the largest and dirtiest in US Government history. Although in theory compensation was approved, it is not clear how many have received any significant compensation. There is substantial evidence of “cooking the books” by manipulating dose reconstruction. We will never know how many thyroid and other cancer were caused by airborne fallout. Ironically Warren Burger’s “Minnesota Twin”, current Chief Justice William Rehnquist, is dying of thyroid cancer.
Just the destruction of the veteran’s records in the late 1980’s is the domestic equivalent of the Iran Contra. It is not clear how well informed the Reagan Administration or President Nixon was on these issues. The current Atomic Test Museum and records center in Las Vegas are mailing a better effort to help surviving atomic veterans and exposed “Downwinders”and their families.
Several atomic activists or journalists who have spoken out were threatened or even murdered including Karen Silkwood. In 1986 the President of NARS (National Association of Radiation Survivors, Dorothy Legretta died in a similar accident also on the way to meet a New York Times reporter. This story has never been reported by the media. Dr. Legretta had a great deal of expertise and documentation. Eventually many of the documents also disappeared.
Much of the cover-up has been in the name of protecting atomic energy. However, II believe that with the newer and safer technologies available the risk of radiation exposure is much lower. To try to overcome the demonization of atomic energy the Federal Govt. created some of its bigger problems. Also in 1986 an effort was made to frame for murder an investigative writer for murder which involved the famous FBI Agent who helped inspire the movie “Silence of the Lambs”. Both the Justice Dept. and FBI went to great lengths to carry out the cover-up! This was also linked to corruption at the University of Michigan Medical School, the largest Federal case in Michigan history. The involvement of a major University is also an important part of the story.
As atomic energy enters a new age with much improved technology of many types. It appears that it will finally be able to reach its potential. No other large sources of energy are available for use worldwide!
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On October 5, 1990, Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act ("RECA" or "the Act"), 42 U.S.C. ? 2210 note, providing for compassionate payments to individuals who contracted certain cancers and other serious diseases as a result of their exposure to radiation released during above-ground nuclear weapons tests or as a result of their exposure to radiation during employment in underground uranium mines. The 1990 Act provided fixed payments in the following amounts: ,000 to individuals residing or working "downwind" of The Nevada Test Site; ,000 for workers participating in above-ground nuclear weapons tests; and ,000 for uranium miners.
Implementing regulations were issued by the Department of Justice and published in the Federal Register on April 10, 1992, establishing procedures to resolve claims in a reliable, objective, and non-adversarial manner, with little administrative cost to the United States or to the person filing the claim. Revisions to the regulations, published in the Federal Register on March 22, 1999, served to greater assist claimants in establishing entitlement to an award.
On July 10, 2000, Pub. L. 106-245, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2000 ("the 2000 Amendments") was passed. Introduced by Senator Hatch on August 5, 1999, the Amendments were one of many bills introduced in the 106th Congress with the intent to amend the existing law. Most significantly, the 2000 Amendments added two new claimant categories (uranium mill workers and ore transporters), provided additional compensable illnesses, lowered the radiation exposure threshold for uranium miners, included above-ground miners within the definition of "uranium miner," modified medical documentation requirements, and removed certain lifestyle restrictions. It also added additional geographic areas to the downwinder claimant category.
On November 2, 2002, the President signed the "21st Century Department of Justice Appropriation Authorization Act" (P.L. 107-273). Contained in the law were several provisions relating to RECA. While most of these amendments are "technical" in nature, some affect eligibility criteria and revise claims adjudication procedures. The following points describe the major impact of the "technical amendments":
• the "technical amendments" reinserted a previously covered geographical area for downwinder claimants that had erroneously been removed by the 2000 Amendments;
• clarifies requirement that lung cancer must be "primary" for all claimant categories;
• uranium miners provided the option of establishing exposure to 40 working level months of radiation or establishing employment in a mine for one year;
• all uranium workers diagnosed with lung cancer no longer required to submit evidence of a non-malignant respiratory disease; (Seemingly a draftsmanship error in the 2000 Amendments, the "technical amendments" eliminated the requirement that in cases where the claimant is living, a claimant with lung cancer must submit the medical documentation required for proof of a “non-malignant respiratory disease.” This requirement had the unintended effect of precluding most lung cancer claimants -- who may not suffer from a non-malignant respiratory disease -- from establishing eligibility for compensation.)
RECA Claimant Categories
Uranium Miners. A payment of ,000 is available to eligible individuals employed in aboveground or underground uranium mines located in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, and Texas at any time during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1971. Additional mining states may be included for compensation upon application.
A. Exposure. The claimant must have been exposed to 40 or more working level months (WLMs) of radiation while employed in a uranium mine or worked for at least one year in a uranium mine during the relevant time period.
B. Disease. Compensable diseases include primary lung
cancer and certain nonmalignant respiratory diseases.
Uranium Mill Workers. A payment of ,000 is available to eligible individuals employed in uranium mills located in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, and Texas at any time during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1971.
A. Exposure. The claimant must have worked in a uranium mill for at least one year during the relevant time period.
B. Disease. Compensable diseases include primary lung cancer, certain nonmalignant respiratory diseases, renal cancer, and other chronic renal disease including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury.
Ore Transporters. A payment of ,000 is available to eligible individuals employed in the transport of uranium ore or vanadium-uranium ore from mines or mills located in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, and Texas at any time during the period beginning on January 1, 1942, and ending on December 31, 1971.
A. Exposure. The claimant must have transported ore for at least one year during the relevant time period.
B. Disease. Compensable diseases include primary lung cancer, certain nonmalignant respiratory diseases, renal cancer, and other chronic renal disease including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury.
Downwinders. A payment of ,000 is available to an eligible individual who was physically present in one of the affected areas downwind of the Nevada Test Site during a period of atmospheric nuclear testing, and later contracted a specified compensable disease.
A. Exposure. The claimant must have lived or worked downwind of atmospheric nuclear tests in certain counties in Utah, Nevada and Arizona for a period of at least two years during the period beginning on January 21, 1951, and ending on October 31, 1958, or, for the period beginning on June 30, 1962, and ending on July 31, 1962. The designated affected areas are: in the State of Utah, the counties of Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington, and Wayne; in the State of Nevada, the counties of Eureka, Lander, Lincoln, Nye, White Pine, and that portion of Clark County that consists of townships 13 through 16 at ranges 63 through 71; and in the State of Arizona, the counties of Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo, Yavapai, and that part of Arizona that is north of the Grand Canyon.Up dates to the list can be found at coldwarsurvivors.tribe.net
B. Disease. After such period of physical presence, the claimant contracted one of the following specified diseases: leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's disease), and primary cancer of the thyroid, male or female breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, or liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated), or lung.
Onsite Participants. A payment of ,000 is available to eligible individuals who participated onsite in a test involving the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear device, and later developed a specified compensable disease.
A. Exposure. The claimant must have been present "onsite" above or within the official boundaries of the Nevada, Pacific, Trinity, or South Atlantic Test Sites at any time during a period of atmospheric nuclear testing and must have "participated" during that time in the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear device.
B. Disease. After the onsite participation, the claimant contracted one of the following specified diseases: leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), lung cancer, multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's disease), and primary cancer of the thyroid, male or female breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, or liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated), or lung.
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