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25,000 more Hanford nuclear disease victims likely

More Hanford workers could be compensated The News Tribune By Annette Cary,

10/29/09 As many as 25,000 former Hanford building trades workers may have developed illnesses covered by the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, said Knut Ringen, principal investigator for the building trades screening program. But he estimated that less than 10 percent of those have applied.

The compensation program pays $150,000 in compensation for cancers likely caused by radiation exposure and up to $250,000 for wage loss and impairment caused by exposure to toxic substances, which could include radiation, chemicals, solvents, acids and metals. Medical expenses are covered, and if workers have died, their survivors may be eligible for compensation.

The program has paid out about $420 million to former Hanford workers, including production workers, ………. The screenings have found ample evidence that working at Hanford put workers’ health at risk, he said. Rates of diseases linked to asbestos and a type of blood cancer linked to radiation are higher than in the general population.

About a third of those screened have some kind of lung disease, including about 3.5 percent with probable lung cancer…. http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/934052.html

October 30, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive