Abstract
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (“RECA”), which offers one-time payments to designated individuals who have developed specific diseases and cancers due to radiation exposure, was set to expire on June 10, 2024. On March 7, 2024, the U.S. Senate passed Senate Bill 3853 (“S. 3853”), the “Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act” which would continue RECA payments for an additional six years and would allow for more individuals to be eligible for these payments. However, the bill has not become law because it is still pending review by the U.S. Congress. One of the groups that would be eligible for these expanded RECA benefits are New Mexico downwinders and their families. Downwinders include individuals who live “downwind” from nuclear weapons testing sites. Even though New Mexico was home to the development and testing of the atomic bomb, families who have developed diseases and cancers from radiation exposure in New Mexico are not eligible for compensation under RECA. This note explores the history of the RECA legislation and theorizes why New Mexicans were originally excluded. It also demonstrates the work that the New Mexico Tularosa Downwinders Consortium has done alongside numerous supportive lawmakers to lobby for the expansion of RECA yet, despite this advocacy and bipartisan support, S. 3853 still hangs in the balance to become law.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Angélica Ortega,
The Fallout of the Trinity Test: The Need to Expand RECA to Include New Mexico Downwinders,
65
Nat. Res. J.
235
(2025).
Available at:
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol65/iss2/6
