A bipartisan House bill introduced this week would substantially expand the federal government’s radiation compensation program, adding communities and workers exposed to nuclear testing and extending the program for another 15 years.
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act of 2026 – introduced by Guam Delegate James Moylan (R) and co-led by Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Wesley Bell (D-Mo.) and Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) – seeks to address gaps left by Congress’ 2025 expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), according to a Wednesday press release by Leger Fernández. Lawmakers first alluded to the new bill in July.
The bill would increase the maximum RECA payment from $100,000 to $150,000, reimburse eligible medical expenses and expand the list of diseases covered by the program. It also would allow claimants to use affidavits to establish work history or physical presence when government records are unavailable, an issue sponsors say is particularly important for rural, Tribal and other communities with limited documentation.
The legislation would broaden eligibility to additional communities affected by radiation exposure, including Guam, and would expand coverage for atomic cleanup veterans. It also calls for research into potential radiation exposure and health effects in the Northern Mariana Islands, while directing a broader study of the long-term and multigenerational effects of radiation exposure.
RECA, enacted in 1990, provides compensation to people who developed certain illnesses after exposure associated with the U.S. nuclear weapons program. The law expired in 2024, but Congress expanded the program in 2025 in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act to include New Mexico downwinders and additional uranium workers, but the legislation left several groups outside the program.
“Congress watered down the final bill and drew arbitrary lines on a map that left out entire communities in Missouri, Colorado, Washington, Ohio, Arizona, Montana, Nevada, and Guam, where residents have raised concerns about contamination,” ReThink Media said in a press release emailed to Exchange Monitor.
The new bill would also establish a mechanism for adding future classes of eligible individuals without requiring Congress to pass separate legislation each time.
The legislation now faces the challenge of advancing through Congress before the current RECA authorization expires.