Air Force veterans who dealt with a Cold War-era atomic accident in Spain won the right to sue collectively for health benefits — but not before many had lost battles with cancer.
The article doesn't make it explicit -- but the reason the government has dragged its feet for more than a half-century, is so that all those impacted U.S. military veterans will die off, so no damages need be paid.
But it is true, the class action status does set an important precedent, for the next victims in the future to utilize. This is a testament to the life's work of tenacious, tireless advocates like Victor Skaar, featured in the article.
For perspective, the Trinity atomic test blast's 75th annual commemoration is July 16th, just shy of Hiroshima's and Nagasaki's own 75th annual commemorations. The Tularosa Downwinders in New Mexico have never been recognized nor compensated, either:
https://www.trinitydownwinders.com/
That was 1945. Two decades before the four "broken arrows" in Palomares, Spain, as nuclear weapons accidents are called.
Article originally appeared on Beyond Nuclear (https://archive.beyondnuclear.org/).
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