Biden open to aid for ‘Oppenheimer’ nuclear test victims

President Biden said Wednesday he is “prepared to help” secure aid for the families impacted by the first nuclear test in New Mexico, which was featured prominently in the new film “Oppenheimer.”

“I’m prepared to help in terms of making sure that those folks are taken care of,” Biden said at an event in Belen, N.M.

Biden saw “Oppenheimer” last week, on the same night former President Trump was indicted on federal charges related to his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.

The film centers on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer as he leads the Manhattan Project’s efforts to develop the atomic bomb during World War II, culminating in the “Trinity” test in New Mexico in July 1945. 

Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) noted ahead of Biden’s Wednesday remarks that he and the rest of the New Mexico delegation are pushing to include an amendment to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in Congress’s annual defense bill to expand coverage for those impacted by the test.

“Those families did not get the help that they deserved,” Luján said. “They were left out of the original legislation.” 

“So, Mr. President, we’re fighting with everything that we have, with members of the Senate and the House from across the country, in hopes that we can keep this in the National Defense Authorization Act and make sure these families are seen and get the help that they deserve,” he added.