Senators Seek Changes in Coverage Rules for Nuclear Workers

Friday, April 8, 2016 | 0

A pair of U.S. senators from Washington state are asking the federal government to abandon its position that workers at nuclear facilities have not had any significant radiation exposure since 1995.

Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both Democrats, said in a letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez the government’s position could create an “institutional bias” against workers through an inaccurate assumption that any exposure to toxins at nuclear facilities after 1995 is within existing standards, according to a report by the Seattle Times.

The comments pertain to a Dec. 17, 2014, directive saying significant improvements in occupational safety and health programs, engineering controls and regulatory enforcement at Department of Energy facilities have limited worker exposure to toxic materials.

“Therefore, in the absence of compelling data to the contrary, it is unlikely that covered Part E employees working after 1995 would have been significantly exposed to any toxic agents at a covered DOE facility,” the directive says.

As a result, claims administrators can assume that any potential exposure after 1995 “would have been maintained within existing regulator standards and/or guidelines” and deny compensability of a claim.

The senators said in their letter to Perez, who is in charge of the federal nuclear workers’ compensation program, that cleanup missions at nuclear sites necessarily expose workers to hazardous materials.