Historic Expansion of RECA Passes in Reconciliation Bill

In a historic and hard-fought victory for communities harmed by U.S. nuclear weapons testing, waste, and uranium exposure, Congress has passed the largest expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) since its original enactment in 1990.

RECA provided compensation to individuals with serious illnesses resulting from radiation exposure from nuclear testing and uranium work. Despite its role in delivering justice—providing payments to communities suffering from unknowing nuclear exposure—the program expired on June 10, 2024 when the House failed to vote on Senate-passed legislation, leaving vulnerable populations without support.

Expanded legislation has now passed in the reconciliation bill that the president signed into law on July 4th. The passage of this expansion legislation is a significant achievement and is the result of unrelenting grassroots advocacy by impacted communities—including uranium miners, mothers from St. Louis, Missouri, veterans, and members of several sovereign nations from the Navajo to the Pueblo among others exposed to nuclear contamination across the country who organized as a cohesive coalition known as the RECA Working Group. The RECA Working Group includes many notable advocates who have been fighting for justice for impacted communities for decades—from Tina Cordova a sixth-generation New Mexican cancer survivor and co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium (TBDC), who has documented generational radiation exposure effects in New Mexico, to Mary Dickson, a journalist and thyroid cancer survivor from Salt Lake City, Utah, who has tirelessly worked to bring national attention to the suffering of downwind communities. Allies from NGOs to lawyers, and elected champions—including most prominently Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) (who has become the face of RECA expansion efforts on the Hill) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM)—have helped lead a diverse, bipartisan charge for justice.

On July 8th, Senator Hawley, advocates, and allies gathered in St. Louis for a press conference to discuss the expansion’s impact. Speakers included  Dawn Chapman and Karen Nickels of Just Moms St. Louis, who founded their nonprofit after discovering that high rates of cancer and other serious health complications affecting themselves, their families, and community were directly linked to a nearby radioactive landfill. Other speakers included Maggie Billiman of the Navajo Nation, whose Code Talker father died from nuclear fallout-related cancer, and Laura Greenwood who is now newly eligible for compensation as a result of the RECA expansion. Greenwood lost both her husband and father to cancer from nuclear contamination, leaving her family with crippling medical bills during a devastating time—underscoring why RECA’s expansion is a critical step in beginning to address the grievous harm inflicted on impacted communities. 

Key Program Expansion Highlights

• Geographic Coverage: All downwinders in New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, and Mohave County, Arizona are now eligible.
• New Eligible Groups: Remediation workers, core drillers, and uranium workers through 1990 included.
• First-Ever Coverage: For claims related to Manhattan Project nuclear waste exposure.
• Compensation Increase: New claimants receive $100,000 (up from $50K–$75K previously).
• Estimated Cost: $7.7 billion over two years—tripling the scale of past RECA compensation.

Remaining Gaps and Ongoing Fight

While the passage of RECA expansion is a monumental achievement that should be celebrated, significant gaps remain. Key impacted communities have been excluded from the current legislation, and some critical benefits advocates had hoped for were not included:

• No retroactive parity for earlier recipients of partial payments of $50K or $75K
• Exclusion of vulnerable communities and zip codes, including:
  • Guam, Colorado, Montana, parts of Arizona,
  • Highly impacted zip codes in Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Washington states

Additionally, the vehicle for its passage—the Reconciliation bill—will harm many by cutting key supportive services from health care to food access. Medicaid, for example, faces severe cuts that will hit many of the newly covered communities hard—including residents of New Mexico, one of the states most reliant on Medicaid.

Lilly Adams, Senior Outreach Officer for the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists and facilitator of the RECA Working Group, has stressed that while this expansion represents meaningful progress, it’s not the finish line. Many impacted communities are still excluded. “Today we celebrate—but tomorrow, we continue the fight.”