The Department of Justice is now reviewing amendments to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act–better known as RECA–after Congress reauthorized the trust fund on Thursday. The expanded amendments were included in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” after the compensation act expired last year.
In 2024, Speaker Mike Johnson chose not to bring the act to a vote due to cost concerns. That meant, for the first time in over 30 years, uranium-impacted families were responsible for paying for their own health costs without federal compensation. Many of these families were impacted by the uranium mining that occurred during World War II, an element that was necessary to build the atomic bomb.
Phil Harrison, with the Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims Committee, a lobbyist group, said it took 16 years to see this type of change. The act now doubles compensation from $50,000 to $100,000, adds coverage for kidney disease, and recognizes combined work histories across multiple mine sites. The funding goes through December 2028.
"Senator Hawley partnered with the Navajo Nation to ensure that our longstanding priorities to provide coverage for Post-71 miners, increased compensation for recipients, coverage for downwinders across Northern Arizona and New Mexico, and the inclusion of new diseases now known to be linked to radiation exposure, such as renal cancer and chronic kidney disease," Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said.
Since 1990, the federal government has paid over $2 billion in benefits to more than 55,000 people, including nearly 14,000 in Arizona–the most of any state.
The Department is advising claimants to wait until additional guidance is published before filing a claim.
