Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 28, 2019
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019
This bill increases the amount of compensation provided to individuals exposed to radiation and expands eligibility requirements for compensation to include additional individuals.
Specifically, the bill extends 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.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Read full official summaryShow less
The bill revises the requirements governing the compensation of individuals who were exposed to radiation, including by
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 expands eligibility requirements for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program with respect to chronic beryllium disease.
Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
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.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.947 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.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.947 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.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.947 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.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.947 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.