HRSA Awards $1.5 Million to Raise Cancer Awareness in Nuclear Test Areas, Among Uranium Miners

HRSA has awarded $1.5 million in grants under the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program (RESEP) to increase cancer awareness in individuals who could have been affected by radiation from above-ground nuclear blasts in the mid-20th century or who worked in the uranium mining industry.

“RESEP helps those who are diagnosed with radiation-related cancer or illness get the care they need,” says HRSA Administrator Elizabeth M. Duke. “The program also aids in preparing medical documentation and filing compensation claims with the Department of Justice.”

One of the groups RESEP targets is “downwinders” -- individuals who lived or worked near nuclear test sites in the Southwest and were exposed to fallout from at least one of the 227 above-ground nuclear explosions that took place there from 1951 until 1962.

Others eligible for RESEP are nuclear test site employees who worked at the Trinity (N.M.), Pacific, or South Atlantic test sites between 1945 and 1962. Workers who mined, milled or transported uranium between 1942 and 1971 in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington or Wyoming may also be eligible for RESEP services.

Services offered by RESEP clinics, located at health and medical centers in the Southwest, include:

• public education and information about radiation exposure;
• free or low-cost screenings for radiogenic (radiation-related) cancer and chronic illnesses; and
• treatment referrals.

HRSA first made RESEP awards in 2002 under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Amendments, which established the program in 2000. Under RECA, DOJ awards $50,000 to $100,000 in compensation to affected individuals or surviving family members. A second round of awards was made in 2005.

In May of this year, HRSA launched a national RESEP outreach effort aimed at those no longer living near nuclear test site areas.

RESEP is administered by HRSA's Office of Rural Health Policy.

FY 2008 Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program Grants

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The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable. For more information about HRSA and its programs, visit www.hrsa.gov.