WASHINGTON — Federal compensation for damages caused by fallout and other radiation exposure has passed the $1 billion mark, reports Sen. Orrin Hatch.

The Utah Republican noted in a press release that since the compensation bill he sponsored — the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act — passed in 1990, payments have totaled $1,002,039,052. The act was expanded by additional legislation he wrote in 2000, says the release.

So far, 15,108 individuals and families of downwinders and others exposed to radiation have been paid compensation through the program, administered by the Department of Justice, says the release.

"Each payment from RECA shows the nation's commitment to helping victims of radiation exposure," Hatch said in the release. "Thousands of Utahns were harmed by nuclear testing, and we can never do enough to right this."

RECA does not only compensate those hit by fallout, who are entitled to up to $50,000. Besides downwinders who meet certain qualifications, it pays up to $75,000 for people exposed by work as ore transporters, up to $100,000 for mill workers, assuming they meet the act's criteria.

Hatch said that to date, RECA has compensated 3,731 Utahns with payments of $213,943,745.