The Department of Justice (DOJ) manages the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA)External compensation program. This program provides payments to individuals who have certain cancers and other serious diseases caused by their exposure to radiation.
RECA Section 5 claimants may also be eligible for compensation and benefits under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act (EEOICPA).
Part B of EEOICPA pays eligible uranium workers (or their survivors) who received an award under RECA another lump sum payment of $50,000. They can receive future medical benefits that cover their accepted illness(es) listed in their RECA claim. Eligibility is entirely dependent upon a Section 5 RECA award. If the case is denied under RECA, it will also be denied under Part B.
In addition to the $50,000 compensation noted above, RECA Section 5 claimants (or their survivors) may also be entitled to compensation and benefits under Part E of EEOICPA. Part E medical and employment requirements differ greatly from those under Section 5. The case can still be compensated under Part E even if it was denied under RECA.
Part E provides medical benefits and compensation for impairment and/or wage loss related to an accepted illness ($10,000-$15,000 per year to the employee and a $125,000 lump sum to the survivor(s)).
Uranium miners, millers, and ore transporters are eligible for benefits under Part E if they develop an illness from toxic exposure and worked at a facility covered under Section 5 of RECA. Under Part E, a toxic substance includes things such as radiation, chemicals, solvents, acids, and metals.
DOL sends cancer cases involving toxic exposure to radiation to NIOSH for dose reconstruction. NIOSH gathers worker and work site information needed to estimate how much radiation dose the worker received at the cancer site. We send the dose reconstruction results to DOL.
DOL uses the results from our dose reconstruction to determine the likelihood that radiation exposures the worker received at the work site caused their cancer (probability of causation).
In May 2009, NIOSH developed a dose reconstruction exposure matrix for RECA Section 5 claims. The matrix helps us complete the dose reconstructions for RECA Section 5 cancer cases we receive from DOL.
The matrix provides default exposure estimates when no personal monitoring information is available. If worker information is available for a particular case, that information may be used instead of what is provided in the matrix.
The available personnel monitoring information and workplace exposure values in the matrix reflect the best available estimate of radiation exposures. It is not possible to produce a unique estimate for each individual’s radiation exposure because of the limitations in the available exposure information. If information was sparse or incomplete, we used claimant favorable assumptions in the exposure matrix.