Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups.

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA) was passed into law by a bi-partisan Congress in October 2000 and signed into law by two presidents. Nuclear weapons workers who contracted various cancers, chronic beryllium disease, silicosis, or a host of other disabling and life threatening diseases as a result of their exposures to toxic substances believed they would now receive compensation. These workers were placed in harm’s way while employed at ultra-hazardous facilities without being fully informed of the potential health effects of working with the plethora of poisons. Finally, after decades of denial, these workers believed they would now be able to receive the medical care and monetary compensation for some of the diseases they had suffered from through a “nonadversarial” and claimant friendly process.