Commissioner Hails Congressional Relief For Workers Sickened In Amchitka Nuclear Tests

Oct. 14, 2004
No. 05-23

JUNEAU – State Labor Commissioner Greg O’Claray today thanked U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski for her leadership in securing congressional passage of legislation that will ease compensation claims for Alaskans who became ill while working on Amchitka Island during a series of nuclear bomb tests in the sixties.

Two-thousand workers were employed at the sites of three nuclear bomb tests on the desolate island in the Aleutians, 1340 miles west-southwest of Anchorage. An estimated 300 test-site workers still live in Alaska with about 100 eligible to receive government compensation for work-related illnesses.

“There is no reasonable excuse for those workers having had to wait so long for compensation,” O’Claray said. “They served the United States in a challenging time. Treating their health claims fairly is long overdue.”

The commissioner added, “This important legislation amends federal policy. However, we want resident workers to know that the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development can assist with information and direction to federal resources.”

The new legislation amends the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act of 2000 covering employees at federal nuclear energy sites.

In the past, workers employed on the Amchitka project had to prove that their illnesses were directly caused by radiation exposure.

The reforms obtained by Senator Murkowski and her colleagues simplify the process of confirming radiation-linked illness and speed up federal compensation claims.

The legislation was included in the Defense Authorization bill approved by a conference committee. The President is expected to sign the measure.

The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission created the Amchitka test site in the early sixties, first exploding an 80 kiloton “Long Shot.” A one-megaton test, “Milrow,” followed, detonated 4,000 feet underground.

The Amchitka facility was shut down after the five megaton underground detonation of “Cannikan” in 1971, the largest underground nuclear explosion in U.S. history.

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News Media Contacts:
Paul Lisankie, Director of Worker’s Compensation, 907.465.2790 or
Joe Holbert, Special Assistant/Communications, 907-465-5673

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