An amendment to the Senate’s fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act bill could make it easier for nuclear-site employees to receive compensation for beryllium-related illnesses associated with their work.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) successfully won approval for her amendment to the Senate version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill Thursday.
The amendment would modify the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to “expand the ways beryllium sensitivity can be established” for purposes of compensation under that Act and to extend the authorization of the Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health of the Department of Labor.
The advisory board was set up in 2015 and deals with the issue of medical benefits for nuclear-weapons workers. A metallic element, beryllium started to be frequently used for industrial purposes in the 1940s including nuclear weapons work at what is now the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Inhaling airborne beryllium can lead to significant health effects including chronic lung disease, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Medical benefits for sick nuclear workers continues to be a front-burner issue for communities around the DOE weapons complex.
