The Widespread Harm of Nuclear Testing

To the Editor:

Re “Nuclear Testing Victims Deserve More,” by W.J. Hennigan (Opinion, May 26):

The federal government’s nuclear weapons testing program was an assault on its own citizens — an assault that didn’t stop with the end of the Cold War.

Radioactive fallout moved across the country and entered bodies through breathing, food and water. Official denials of any harm followed, while Americans suffered and died from cancers caused by fallout.

The 1990 Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to compensate “downwinders” with cancer was a first step, but originally was limited only to those who lived in 20 counties in Utah, Nevada and Arizona. Current efforts to expand compensation are struggling to overcome congressional resistance; without action, the law is set to expire on June 7.

Government failure to act continues even as evidence of harm grows. Studies of radioactive Strontium-90 found in milk and in 320,000 baby teeth proved fallout was building up in bodies. Early results of an ongoing health study show Strontium-90 levels in baby teeth of Americans who died of cancer were more than double that of healthy Americans.

The injustice to those victimized by bomb tests is staggering. The federal government has harmed — rather than protected — its people and has failed to take responsibility. It is crucial that leaders finally recognize the true impact of bomb testing, and expand the law; to not act and let it expire would be unthinkable.

Christie Brinkley
Sag Harbor, N.Y.
The writer, the model, is the vice president of the Radiation and Public Health Project.