Am I Eligible?

RECA was expanded in July of 2025, and now covers new downwind, uranium worker, and Manhattan Project waste communities. You can find exactly who and what is covered under different categories of claimants below.

If you believe you are eligible to apply to RECA, click here for resources on applications.

Who is covered now under RECA?

Jump to:

  1. Downwinders

Geographic areas:

  • The entire states of Utah, Idaho and New Mexico

  • In Nevada: Eureka, Lander, Lincoln, Nye, White Pine counties, and a small Northeast portion of Clark County (no change from the previous coverage)

  • In Arizona: Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo, Yavapai, and all of Mohave County

Compensation

  • $100,000 (up from $50,000)

  • Survivors: $100,000 (if exposed individual has passed away)

  • No new claims if already compensated between 1990-2024

Eligibility time periods: 

  • Lived in one of the listed areas for one year between Jan 21, 1951 – Nov 6, 1962
    (Previously ended Oct 31, 1958)

  • Present in the affected area for the whole period of June 30 – July 31, 1962

  • New Mexico only: An individual must have lived in the state for one year between Sept 24, 1944 – Nov 6, 1962

    • This time period starts earlier than the rest of the downwind area (1944 vs 1951) because of earlier testing done in New Mexico.

Covered Illnesses

  • Blood cancers: Leukemia (not CLL), Multiple myeloma, Lymphomas (not Hodgkin’s)

    • Age limit for leukemia claims removed

  • Primary cancers of: Thyroid, Breast, Esophagus, Stomach, Pharynx, Small intestine, Pancreas, Bile ducts, Gall bladder, Salivary gland, Bladder, Brain, Colon, Ovary, Liver (except cirrhosis or hepatitis B), Lung

2. Onsite Participants (“Atomic Veterans” and Civilian Test Workers)

Compensation:

  • $100,000 (up from $75,000)

  • Survivors: $100,000

  • No new claims if already compensated between 1990-2024

Eligibility Time Period:

Participated onsite in atmospheric nuclear tests before Jan 1, 1963

Covered Illnesses:

Same list as Downwinders

3. Uranium Workers

Covered states:

  • Colorado

  • New Mexico

  • Arizona

  • Wyoming

  • South Dakota

  • Washington

  • Utah

  • Idaho

  • Northa Dakota

  • Oregon

  • Texas

Expanded Access:

  • Workers with mixed or partial work histories now eligible if total time or exposure equals one year’s work.

    • A combined time of at least one year in one or more eligible roles.

    • Total radiation exposure—when combined with time in other roles—is equivalent to that of a one-year worker.

Eligible work categories:

  • Uranium miner

  • Uranium miller

  • Ore transporter

  • Core drillers

  • Uranium mine and mill remediation workers 

Eligibility period: 

  • Jan 1, 1942 – Dec 31, 1990 (previously ended 1971)

Compensation:

  • $100,000 (no change from previous coverage)

  • Survivors: $100,000

Covered Illnesses:

  • lung cancer

  • pulmonary fibrosis

  • fibrosis of the lung

  • silicosis

  • pneumoconiosis

  • cor pulmonale related to fibrosis of the lung

  • renal cancer

  • any other chronic renal disease including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury.

4. Manhattan Project Waste / Contaminated Communities

Covered States & ZIP Codes:

  • Alaska: 99546, 99547

  • Kentucky: 42001, 42003, 42086

  • Missouri: 63031, 63033, 63034, 63042, 63045, 63074, 63114, 63135, 63138, 63044, 63121, 63140, 63145, 63147, 63102, 63304, 63134, 63043, 63341, 63368, 63367

  • Tennessee: 37716, 37840, 37719, 37748, 37763, 37828, 37769, 37710, 37845, 37887, 37829, 37854, 37830, 37831

Compensation:

  • $50,000 or total medical costs (whichever is higher)

    • Medical claims must be submitted by Dec 31, 2028 (the expiration of the program)

  • Survivors may receive $25,000 (total) if the individual has passed away.

Eligibility Period:

  • Claimants must establish physical presence in the designated areas for two or more years after Jan 1, 1949.

    • “Physical presence” in a covered area can include their primary residence, employment or attending school.

Covered Illnesses:

  • Onset of the disease must be at least two years after date of initial exposure:

    • Any leukemia, multiple myeloma; lymphoma

      • Individuals are only eligible for leukemia if their exposure occurred after the age of 20.

    • Primary cancer of the thyroid, breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, bladder, brain, colon, ovary, bone, renal, liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated), lung

Who is NOT covered under RECA?

  1. Downwind Areas:

    • In Nevada, most of Clark County, as well as other Western and Northern counties of Washoe, Humboldt, Elko, Pershing, Churchill, Storey, Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, Mineral, and Esmeralda

    • In Arizona, Southern counties of La Paz, Yuma, Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, Santa Cruz, Graham, Greenlee, and Cochise

    • The states of Colorado and Montana and the territory of Guam

    • Marshallese communities. There was a separate compensation program under the Compact of Free Association, but it ran out of money decades ago and has stopped paying out any claims.

2. Onsite participants:

  • Atomic cleanup veterans, such as those deployed in the Marshall Islands in the 1970s and 80s, and those deployed to nuclear accidents in Palomares, Spain or Thule, Greenland

  • Veterans involved in the bombings of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan

3. Uranium workers

  • Those employed after 1990

  • Uranium workers in the states of California, Oklahoma, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada

4. Manhattan Project Waste/Production Sites

  • Sites in states like Washington, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and many others across the country

  • Additional zip codes in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alaska