National Day of Remembrance for Downwinders on 61st anniversary of first nuclear weapons blast at Nevada Test Site

Radioactive Iodine-131 fallout across U.S.from the Nevada Test Site, by county, measured in radsAs reported in the Salt Lake Tribune, January 27th, 2012 marked the 61st anniversary of the first nuclear weapons detonation at the Nevada Test Site in 1951. 928 full-scale nuclear weapons tests were eventually carried out in Nevada alone, including more than 100 above-ground (certain underground tests also discharged radioactivity to the atmosphere, and "sub-critical" blasts continue today). 

This commemoration was marked by a U.S. Senate resolution, sponsored by Idaho Republicans Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, and co-sponsored by Democrats from Colorado (Mark Udall and Michael Bennett) and New Mexico (Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall), designateing January 27, 2012, as a "national day of remembrance for Americans who, during the Cold War, worked and lived downwind from nuclear testing sites and were adversely affected by the radiation exposure generated by the above ground nuclear weapons testing."

The resolution, along with companion legislation, seeks to significantly expand compensation for nuclear weapons test site Downwinders, as well as uranium miners and mill workers. Qualifications for radiation exposure compensation would be broadened, post year 1971 uranium workers would be covered, and the recognized downwind nuclear testing area of impact would be widened to include seven states, and one U.S. territory: Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Utah for the Nevada Test Site; New Mexico for the Trinity Test Site; and Guam for Pacific tests.

Downwinders such as J. Preston Truman and Eve Mary Verde called for an end to nuclear weapons testing and a world free of nuclear weapons, as well as health studies, health care, and compensation for Downwinders. Groups such as Idaho's Snake River Alliance marked the commemoration.