PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jan 24, 2017
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2017
This bill amends the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund until 19 years after this bill's enactment. The trust fund compensates individuals who contract cancer or other diseases as a result of their exposure to radiation during nuclear testing undertaken by the United States during the Cold War.
The bill revises the requirements of that Act, including by:
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
increasing the amount of compensation that an individual may receive;
expanding the affected area to include Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and New Mexico;
expanding eligibility requirements to include additional individuals, such as certain employees of uranium mines or mills; and
extending until 19 years after this bill's enactment the statute of limitations for the filing of claims.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences must establish a grant program for institutions of higher education to study the epidemiological impacts of uranium mining and milling among non-occupationally exposed individuals.
The bill amends the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 by expanding eligibility requirements for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program with respect to chronic beryllium disease.
People & committees
Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] · R–ID
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.197 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.197 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.197 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.197 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.