Senate honors nuclear and uranium workers with national day of remembrance

http://www.examiner.com/x-2071-DC-Special-Interests-Examiner~y2009m5d28-Senate-honors-nuclear-and-uranium-workers-with-national-day-of-remembrance?cid=examiner-email


The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a resolution designating October 30, 2009, a national day of remembrance for uranium and nuclear weapons workers who served their country during the Cold War Era. The House is expected to pass a companion resolution.

Cold War Patriots, a non-profit organization advocating for nuclear weapons complex workers, launched a campaign to honor workers in March 2009. Over the past six decades, these individuals made what some consider the country's nuclear deterrent possible. Many workers developed disabling or fatal illnesses because of exposure to radiation and toxic substances while producing and testing nuclear weapons. Cold War Patriots organized volunteers who traveled the country with a 40-foot petition and held public awareness events at nuclear weapons complex sites.

"America's nuclear deterrent would not be possible without these unsung heroes," said Dr. Maureen Merritt, retired physician and member of the Cold War Patriot's Advisory Committee.

During the Cold War, more than half a million people worked to build the U.S. arsenal of nuclear weapons. In 2000, the U.S. Congress passed an act to create a Department of Labor program to give cash and medical aid to workers who became ill after being exposed to radiation or toxic substances.
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If my parents had asked me if I wanted to grow up in
the shadow of nuclear reactors/industry...I would have said NO!!

But, I was just a little kid.


Tikki