Urgent call to action, Dec 9 2021:

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), a sorely inadequate but important effort to address generations of health damage caused by nuclear weapons production in the United States, is set to expire very soon, in July of 2022. 

A dedicated group of impacted community members, organizations, and elected officials been pushing for years to renew and expand this program. The new legislation they have put forward would add downwinders in all of Utah, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Guam, downwinders of the Trinity Test Site, and uranium miners and mill workers in the industry after 1971. It also would increase the amount of compensation from $50,000 to $150,000 for all claimants. These changes are decades overdue. 

On December 7 the bill to renew and expand RECA passed the House Judiciary Committee: now it goes to the House for a vote. Impacted communities are concerned there is not adequate support for the bill to pass the Senate.

Your voice is needed to help it move through both the House and the Senate! Let your elected officials know the entire country is watching to see if they will join this bipartisan effort to care for the thousands of US residents harmed by decades of nuclear weapons testing and uranium mining. Four potential action items are listed below, and sample text is included at the bottom of this post. Please select the items that make the most sense for you, and share these items with your network! 

Action item 1: Please contact your elected officials and urge them to support HR 5338 and SB 2798. Feel free to use text from the sample statement at the bottom of this message. Find their contact information here: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Action item 2: More senators are needed to co-sponsor S 2798. So far, only Senator Cory Booker has signed on as a cosponsor with sponsors Senators Mike Crapo and Ben Ray Luján. Urge your senators to co-sponsor this important bill! 

Action item 3: Is your senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee? Find out here: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members. Their support will be crucial to getting the bill to a senate vote.  Urge them to support S 2798. 

Action item 4: The following senators are viewed as important potential supporters of this bill. Ask them to support S2798. 

·      Senator Mitt Romney of Utah https://www.romney.senate.gov/contact  (202) 224-5251]

·      Senator Steve Daines of Montana https://www.daines.senate.gov/connect/email-steve (202) 224-2651]

·      Senator John Cornyn of Texas https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/contact 202-224-2934

·      Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado https://www.hickenlooper.senate.gov/contact/contact-form/ 202-224-5941

Every voice counts. Please take the time to contact your elected officials on behalf of all the radiation-impacted people who have been harmed by U.S. nuclear weapons production. 

Sincerely,

Sarah Fox

Historian, Author, Downwind: A People's History of the Nuclear West 

SAMPLE STATEMENT:

Representative/ Senator ______:

I am writing to implore you to support HR 5338/SB 2798, a necessary renewal and expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Manhattan Project officials and their successors in the federal Atomic Energy Commission knew full well that nuclear weapons development and testing and the uranium industry it generated were extremely dangerous, and still they did not warn the thousands of civilians, workers, and soldiers who were in harm’s way. Some communities were exposed to dangerous, mutagenic radiation for decades. Some are still at risk of exposure. This an unconscionable case of “collateral damage.” RECA as it exists now is sorely inadequate: if it is allowed to expire in 2022, an already horrible injustice will be made much more shameful. Renew, expand, and protect RECA. This history will not go away just because we turn our backs on it: our federal government needs to acknowledge and stand by the people it harmed. 

The entire country is watching to see if you will join this bipartisan effort to care for the thousands of US residents harmed by decades of nuclear weapons testing and uranium mining. Please do the right thing.

Sincerely,

___________

*****

Please remember: In the time of covid-19, individuals from radiogenic communities are at a heightened risk of contacting the virus.

As a recent open letter on medium.com asserted, “COVID-19 carries special health risks for many members of radiation and chemically exposed communities because individuals and communities impacted by the development, testing, and production of nuclear weapons often have so many underlying factors which magnify their risks, including these exposures, air and water pollution, poverty, poor nutrition and institutionalized racism, etc. These factors can result in weakened immune systems in veterans and civilians exposed to radiation through above-ground nuclear testing, civilians and workers exposed at or downwind of nuclear weapons production sites, uranium miners and their families, and people living near abandoned mines and waste sites. Compounding the problem, these exposed populations are disproportionately from indigenous communities, communities of color, low-income, or rural communities, and often face significant barriers to receiving adequate health care.” [Click here to read the full letter]

Please consider donating supplies or funds to support communities in the Navajo Nation, where families already devastated by the effects of nuclear testing and the uranium industry are confronting a pandemic. I donated supplies directly to Seamstresses United Navajo and Hopi Nation’s effort (link here, select “Theresa Hatathlie-Delmar's Gift Registry Address” for shipping). Their mission: “Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief - providing elders, elders raising grandchildren, immune compromised individuals and low income with food and essentials. Western/Eastern Seamstresses United COVID-19 Dooda's purpose is the provided support is the above areas and PPE, cloth masks, gowns, caps, shoe covers and other items.”

You can also donate directly to the Navajo Nation’s corona virus relief efforts here.

As states begin to “re-open” please prioritize the important work of shielding radiation-impacted communities and individuals from potential exposure to COVID-19. Activities like tourism, academic or journalistic field research, social visits, grassroots organizing, etc, can all put these communities and individuals at risk.

*****

One of the most powerful things you can do is talk about these stories with your friends, family, and community. Share resources about the legacy of nuclearism in the western United States, and help keep this history alive. (I share nuclearism news items, studies, and opportunities for action periodically on the Downwind Facebook page (click here). If you want to do more, here are a few places to start.

To hear more stories of life downwind, visit the Downwinders of Utah Archive website. The fantastic archivists there will also help you preserve and share your story of life downwind. Visit the website for more information.

To get involved with efforts working to address the ongoing uranium contamination crisis, follow organizations like Indigenous Action Media, Nuclear Issues Study Group, and Uranium Watch. Visit the Southwest Research and Information Center. Urge your elected officials to support increased funding for the Uranium Mines Tailing Remedial Action Project (which is facing a 14% cut to its Environmental Cleanup Fund)  to help clean up over 10,000 toxic uranium sites in 14 Western states. Learn more about the Navajo Birth Cohort Study, which has already produced evidence that women and infants on the Navajo Nation have high levels of uranium in their bodies. Read jetsonorama’s extraordinary piece about uranium legacies and see more of his incredible art.

To support downwinders and uranium-impacted people, add your voice to the efforts to preserve and expand RECA, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program. See Dec 2021 post at the top of this page. The Western Governors Association recently issued a letter in support of these critical efforts. RECA is currently scheduled to sunset in 2020.

·       Contact your elected officials (information in Dec 2021 post at top of this page.)

·       To learn more about RECA, or to see if you or a family member qualifies for compensation, visit the RECA website. 

·       Seek out organizations like the Idaho Downwinders or Trinity Downwinders to get involved in your community.

To support efforts to prevent of the resumption of nuclear testing in Nevada and advocate for a clean environment for Utahans, visit Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.

To raise your voice for the control and abolition of nuclear weapons,

·        Contact your elected officials and ask them to support HR 669, the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act.

·       Join the efforts of Nobel Peace Prize winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and get involved with their local chapter, the Utah Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. 

Request Downwind from your local independent bookstore or library

Contact Sarah Fox if you are a teacher or professor interested in teaching from the book.

I am happy to visit classes via zoom and share materials, activities, and resources for students to work with.

help keep these stories in circulation.