Uranium miners waiting for checks

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Of all the reminders of Bob Key's Cold War effort of mining uranium for U.S. nuclear weapons programs, none stands out more than the tank of oxygen tethered to his throat. Key, 61, has pulmonary fibrosis, a scarring of the lungs that is often fatal. A recent tracheotomy helps air flow to his lungs through a tube connected to the tank.

A decade ago, Congress recognized the contributions of Key and other uranium miners and passed the Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act of 1990. Signed by President George Bush, the law established one-time payments of up to $100,000 to miners or their families and to people who lived downwind from the nuclear test sites in Nevada.

Last year, Congress increased the payout to $150,000, added new medical benefits and expanded the number of workers eligible.

But after years of smooth operations, the program is broke. Scrambling last year to pass President Bill Clinton's final budget, lawmakers never debated the Justice Department's request for additional money to cover the expanded program even as new applications were pouring in, and by May, nothing was left. And Congress has been reluctant to act until it decides how to apportion the surplus and how much to cut taxes.

As a result, for the first time, claims from hundreds of eligible applicants like Key have been put on hold, with many of them receiving IOU letters from the Justice Department, which administers the program, saying that their requests would be processed only after Congress appropriated more money.

And the demand is increasing. Claims from 1,600 applicants under the original law are pending, and the department estimates that as many as 1,050 new applicants are expected to file for benefits this year, a number that would raise the cost of the program to more than $80 million.

"It's been a bureaucratic travesty," said Rep. Scott McInnis, a Republican from Grand Junction, who introduced legislation this year seeking $84 million to restore the program. "These people are due their compensation. There is nothing to be adjudicated. The money is owed. The debt is due."

For now, Congress has not decided how or when to continue the program. Lawmakers are discussing the possibility of legislation as part of the current year's budget to provide money right away.

Meanwhile, almost 200 people who have been approved for the money are still holding the IOUs, including relatives of some miners who died of their illnesses while waiting.