Cancer Care Neglected for Cold War Veterans

Following on the heels of stories about neglected Iraq War veterans at Walter Reed Hospital is this Washington Post account of Cold War workers denied care for cancers developed while building America's nuclear arsenal.

Walter McKenzie's assignment toward the end of the Cold War was to mop up after mishaps at a nuclear weapons factory. With a crew of other laborers from rural Georgia, he swabbed away leaks and spills inside the secret buildings, until one day his body became so contaminated with radiation that alarms at the factory went off as he passed. [...]

Later, when doctors discovered the first of 19 malignant tumors on his bladder, McKenzie followed the same torturous path as thousands of nuclear weapons workers with cancer: He filed a claim for federal compensation. It was denied.

Unable to access secret government files, or even some of his own personnel records, McKenzie could not sufficiently prove that he was exposed to something that may have made him sick. Nor can most of the
104,000 other workers, retirees and family members who have sought help from a federal program intended to atone for decades of hazardous working conditions at scores of nuclear weapons facilities around the country.

All in all, the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Program has rejected more than 60 percent of 72,000 applicants, and checks haven't been written to half of those accepted. Officials point to the difficulty of establishing cause and effect -- but given the dangerous nature of the work, the incomplete records and the fact that these people risked their lives for the country, bean-counting is simply wrong.

Previous Wired coverage here. Collection of nuclear test films here.

Thousands of Nuclear Arms Workers See Cancer Claims Denied or Delayed [Washington Post]

Image: Department of Energy