BUSH Admin: Repeatedly Tried To Cut Payouts To NUKE Workers Sickened By Radiation

[kpete]

Memo: Administration tried to cut payouts to nuke workers
Updated 12/5/2006

By Peter Eisler, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration repeatedly sought ways to limit payouts to nuclear weapons workers sickened by radiation and toxic material, according to a memo written by congressional investigators and obtained by USA TODAY.

The investigation focuses on a federal program created in 2000 to compensate people with cancers and other illnesses tied to their work at government and contractor-owned facilities involved in Cold War nuclear weapons production. About 98,000 cases have been filed under the program, and the Labor Department has approved compensation in about 24,000 of those cases. However, program records show that not all of those approved claims have been paid.

Since 2002, "there is a continuous stream of (administration) communications … strategizing on minimizing payouts," according to the Nov. 30 memo by staff for the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, border security and claims. The memo, prepared for the panel's chairman, Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., summarizes and quotes from thousands of pages of records reviewed by the subcommittee in its probe.

The subcommittee holds a hearing Tuesday on the investigation. Hostettler is pressing ahead despite losing re-election last month, vowing to release key documents and urging Democrats to continue the probe when they take over in 2007.

Administration officials say the memos reflect internal brainstorming on how to avoid compensating workers who aren't eligible.

more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-12-04-nuke-workers_x.htm

[jpak]

1. 24,000 radiation victims?? But..but..radiation is good for you!!

Uranium mines and enrichment plants are clean and green!!

Monsterous lies...

:sarcasm:

[jbonkowski]

3. Hold on...

If these workers were involved in "Cold War weapons research" they were likely working on Plutonium enrichment. This is a lot more dangerous than working with Uranium for power generation. I don't think there is any Uranium enrichment for power plants being done at national labs.

It would be dishonest to use the plight of these workers (nuclear weapon makers) as an argument against nuclear power.

jim

[Porcupine]

4. Bullshit. Uranium reactors ALL produce plutonium.

The government has had the ability to manufacture reactors using a thorium cycle since 1970. These reactors would consume plutonium and high level wastes instead of producing it and would generate far less toxic/radioactive waste than standard light water reactors. Every uranium fueled reactor will produce plutonium and the wastes from that reactor are available for bomb making. I have been working to oppose nuclear plants and weapons since my teens (80's) and have just NOW learned that the wastes could be largely consumed by using a different reactor no more dangerous than existing reactors.

The AEC and the government has always been interested in producing plutonium. They needed that plutonium for all the trident, MX missiles and other missiles they were planning. That's why they have never built a single thorium reactor since 1970 when they closed the last one. The Nuclear promoters WANT to produce high level waste as it forces us, the taxpayers, to pay them money to deal with it.

Check it out: http://thoriumenergy.blogspot.com/2006/10/molten-salt-reactors-safety-options. http://arxiv.org/abs/nucl-ex/0506004, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten_salt_reactor

[jpak]

6. Hold on

The same mines that produced uranium for the US nuclear weapons program produced uranium for commercial power reactors...

(and you need uranium to produce plutonium)

...and the same uranium enrichment plants used to produce HEU for the nuclear weapons program enriched uranium for commercial power plants.

All those workers are eligible for compensation under the RECA.

A little honesty indeed...

[Hubert Flottz]

8. Check out this link for the truth about the government's victims...

http://home.comcast.net/~kknowlto/

[donsu]

2. kicking for justice

nt

[Quantess]

5. How Christian of them.

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[Deja Q]

7. Anti-Christian, surely?

[Quantess]

9. I figured I didn't need the sarcasm smilie that time. (no text)