Senate panel passes bill for 'atomic soldiers'

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has passed a bill expanding coverage for so-called "atomic soldiers" exposed to nuclear weapons experiments in the 1950s and 1960s.

Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., sponsored the Justice for Atomic Veterans Act that adds three new cancers -- lung, ovarian and brain/central nervous system -- to the list for which atomic veterans may receive Veterans Administration benefits.

Under current law, Veterans Administration claims are almost always denied because veterans' exposure to radiation is too low, below 5 millirems. The Veterans Administration estimated two years ago that less than 50 claims out of 18,000 filed were based on exposure to radiation from occupying Hiroshima or Nagasaki or witnessing blasts at the Nevada Test Site or in the Pacific Islands.

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