The U.S. Department of Labor invited both current and former nuclear-weapons workers to Richland, Wash., near the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, to discuss eligibility for occupational illness benefits.
The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act outreach session will be held at 9 a.m. Pacific Time at the Holiday Inn Richland, according to a Wednesday press release and meeting notice from the Labor Department.
This program provides lump-sum payments and medical benefits to nuclear-weapons workers who got sick with an illness stemming from exposure to toxic substances at a DOE facility.
“Survivors of qualified workers may also be eligible to receive compensation,” according to Labor’s notice.
Illnesses covered under the act include radiation-induced cancer, chronic beryllium disease, beryllium sensitivity, chronic silicosis, a lung disease caused by breathing in silica often found in sand and rock, and any illness caused by occupational exposure to toxic substances, the Labor Department said.
To date, the program has paid out more than $23.2 billion nationwide and $1.7 billion in compensation and medical benefits to claimants living in Washington state, according to the news release.
Among those encouraged to attend are current and former workers at Hanford, the plutonium production complex now undergoing cleanup, as well as the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Labor said.
“The U.S. Department of Labor encourages all former nuclear weapons workers and their families in southeast Washington’s Tri-Cities area to attend this event to learn more about eligibility for benefits under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act,” said Rachel Pond, director of the department’s Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation.
The compensation act was passed by Congress in 2000, chiefly for civilian employees who worked at Department of Energy nuclear sites, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
