New Bipartisan Bill Would Expand Radiation Compensation for Colorado Victims

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**PRESS BRIEFING**

Bipartisan Bill to Expand Radiation Compensation Introduced on Trinity Test Anniversary, Atomic Veterans Day, Rocky Flats, Cotter Mill, and Nuclear Testing Downwinders

Featured photo: Tina Cordova and Laura Greenwood of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. Courtesy Save RECA.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tens of thousands of veterans, miners, downwinders, and uranium workers around the United States have been exposed to harmful radiation by the U.S. government’s nuclear weapons program. Through events like the Trinity test (July 16, 1945), the Church Rock uranium mill spill (July 16, 1979), and other nuclear tests and incidents, these workers and communities have suffered devastating health consequences, including cancers and other chronic illnesses. While last year’s expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) provided long-overdue relief to some, many survivors and their families continue to be denied justice.

On July 16—the anniversary of both the Trinity test and the Church Rock spill, as well as National Atomic Veterans Day—lawmakers, alongside impacted community members and RECA expansion advocates, will announce new bipartisan legislation to address the critical gaps in the program. This legislation would expand RECA compensation eligibility to three exposed communities in Colorado:

Rocky Flats as a Manhattan Project Waste site
Cotter Mill in Cañon City as a Manhattan Project Waste site
the entire state of Colorado as a nuclear testing Downwind area.

The proposed bill will extend eligibility for additional qualifying illnesses, include atomic cleanup veterans, allow the parents of radiation victims to apply, and support Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program clinics. Crucially, the bill also expands geographic eligibility:

Expanded Downwinder coverage: Broadens eligibility beyond Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, and select counties to fully cover Arizona, Colorado, Guam, Montana, and Nevada.
New communities added: Covers individuals exposed to Manhattan Project waste in or near St. Louis (MO), the Hanford Site (WA), the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (OH), the Rocky Flats Plant (CO), and the Cañon City Mill (CO).

WHAT: Virtual press briefing with Members of Congress and impacted individuals on a new bipartisan effort to expand compensation for radiation-exposed communities

WHEN: Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 12:30 p.m. ET

WHERE: Zoom (Register Here)

WHO:

Congressman James Moylan (R-Guam)
Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium and Trinity Test survivor
Robert Celestial, Sgt. U.S. Army (Ret.), president of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors, and Enewetak Atoll cleanup veteran
Additional speakers to be announced

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