In New Mexico, ‘Oppenheimer’ offers new hope for long denied compensation

The movie “Oppenheimer” shows the destruction from the blast of the first atomic bomb, known as the Trinity test, on July 16, 1945, roughly 200 miles south of Los Alamos, N.M.  

Since then, under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), the U.S. government has paid billions to residents of Arizona, Utah and Nevada who experienced downwind health impacts from 100 other aboveground atmospheric nuclear weapons tests that took place in Nevada between 1945 and 1962.

Yet for the people of New Mexico who lived near the Trinity site, there has been no acknowledgment by the federal government that they were the first to endure health effects from the bomb blasts. These families who lived downwind of the Trinity site were found to have increased rates of cancer and infant mortality, but to date they have been ineligible to receive compensation under RECA.  

That could soon change. Bipartisan legislation to expand RECA to include New Mexicans living downwind of the explosions has passed the U.S. Senate, partially due to the increased visibility of “Oppenheimer.” Assistance for New Mexico residents is finally a possibility. President Biden this month signaled that he would sign the measure if it were to reach his desk. It’s now up to lawmakers in the U.S. House to make it happen.

The Trinity explosion sent several hundred tons of irradiated matter as high as 70,000 feet into the atmosphere. The fallout from the blast spread across a vast area downwind from the test site, including parts of New Mexico. The heat from the detonation was 10,000 times hotter than the sun’s surface.

Approximately 40,000 people in New Mexico lived within 50 miles of the Trinity site. They were never given advance warning of the blast, never offered an opportunity to evacuate and never told about the public health impacts from the explosion. The radiation from the Trinity test created a public health emergency for many state residents, and the consequences persist today.

State infant mortality rates, which were in steady decline in the years leading up to and following the explosion, rose significantly in 1945, the same year the Trinity test took place, notably during the three months after the blast. Another study by the National Cancer Institute concluded the fallout from the Trinity explosion could lead to as many as 1,000 cancer cases by 2034.

RECA, which passed in 1990, offers restitution for downwind victims of radiation from nuclear weapons tests, and those who mined, processed or transported uranium. It has paid out more than $2.5 billion, but New Mexico downwind residents were not included in the program. They’ve waited nearly 80 years for Congress to recognize the heavy price their families paid in the name of national security.

New Mexico’s downwind exclusion from RECA eligibility is even more conspicuous in light of a recent study that found 28 of 33 state counties have accumulated radioactive fallout at levels greater than RECA’s compensation eligibility requirements.

The RECA program was scheduled to expire last year, but Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) and others fought to extend it to 2024. Lujan and his predecessor, former Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M), have been relentless advocates for New Mexico’s downwinders. Both introduced legislation for years, yet it wasn’t until 2023 that these efforts gained political traction.

Last month, the U.S. Senate passed a RECA amendment with bipartisan support that would extend compensation eligibility to residents of New Mexico as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It’s the first time a bill addressing the issue has reached a floor vote in either the U.S. House or U.S. Senate in 13 years. State downwinders who qualify stand to receive up to $150,000 and to have their medical bills covered completely. Passing the NDAA will be at the top of the legislative agenda when the U.S. House returns after the August recess.

It’s now up to Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.) and the GOP-controlled U.S. House to act and make sure the pending RECA amendment survives.

It’s a sad fact that a Hollywood movie was needed to spur political action to correct a major public health injustice. The victims of New Mexico deserve to be compensated for the suffering they have endured.

It should have happened decades ago. But Congress can finally right this wrong by honoring those who’ve been ignored for far too long.

Lyndon Haviland is a distinguished scholar at the CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy.