LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — For decades, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act served as a lifeline for those who suffered health issues — often in the form of cancer — because of nuclear experimentation at the Nevada Test Site.
The program offered one-time payments to those who could prove eligibility, with most payments being in the general range of about $20,000. However, the program is now history after it expired on Friday with no Congressional action to expand it.
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In March, members of the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would extend RECA for another six years. However, a companion version of the bill is stalled in the House of Representatives.
On Monday, Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada held a press conference at the Atomic Museum in Las Vegas in an attempt to try to push the House bill to a vote.
Lee blames House Speaker Mike Johnson and other hardliner right-wing Republicans for a lack of action.
However, she also says there could be movement on that front this week.
"This week, we'll be voting on the Defense Authorization Act," Lee told reporters on Monday morning. "I understand the plan is to potentially bring that up as an amendment."
While nothing was certain as of Monday evening, if the Senate version of the bill — or something close to it — moves forward in the House, it could mean that more people could be eligible for RECA coverage. In the original RECA bill, most residents in Clark County were not included, though that could change with an extension.
For Linda Chase, it would be a welcome change. Chase moved with her family to Las Vegas in 1955. As a girl, she remembers watching bright flashes in the sky, following by mushroom clouds that would form.
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Those, of course, were above-ground nuclear tests being conducted at the Nevada Test Site, about 70 miles from Chase's home on Sutro Lane, which is in the Bonanza Village neighborhood.
"We were all assured, at the time, there was no health risk or, at least, minimal health risk," Chase said. "Everybody knew about [the tests] and everybody was supportive at the time. We knew the guy who was the head meteorologist at the Test Site back then. He sang in the choir at our church. We went to school with Test Site kids. Our neighbor next door was a scientist at the Test Site."
Chase says she developed an autoimmune disease from radiation exposure as a girl. Her father died of bladder cancer, one of the cancers outlined in the original RECA legislation.
"When people started getting sick, they didn't make the connection initially," Chase said. "It took time."
