By Shannon Williams & Updated by Candice Lewis

The term Downwinder is well known in Yavapai County. Downwind radiation exposure is cited in cancer diagnoses and blamed for the deaths of long-term residents of the county.
 

During the Cold War, the U.S. built a huge nuclear arsenal. Above-ground testing began in 1951 in Nevada where over 100 nuclear bombs were detonated.  In 1958 the U.S., U.K. and USSR agreed to stop all nuclear testing. However, the U.S. detonated several above-ground nuclear devices in 1962. January 21, 1951, to October 31, 1958, and June 30, 1962, to July 31, 1962, when above-ground testing was conducted, were later designated as Downwind time periods.

After the 1962 tests, many workers at the test sites and local residents filed class action lawsuits alleging exposure to known radiation hazards. All were dismissed by the courts. Congress responded by creating the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) on October 5, 1990. The Act expanded in 2000, when the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program (RESEP) was created. RECA provided $50,000 compensation to individuals who lived downwind from the Nevada Test Site and developed certain cancers following exposure to radiation.

Congress designated counties in Nevada, Utah and Arizona as areas impacted by radiation exposure. Arizona’s Downwind-eligible counties are Apache, Coconino, Gila, Mohave (above the Grand Canyon), Navajo and Yavapai.

Tom Brodersen wrote a Days Past article on Downwinders published November 28, 2014. In it, he noted that “People in Prescott probably thought they had little reason to fear fallout from the Nevada Test Site approximately 250 miles northwest, as the dust flies. However, winds often carried the radioactive dust into Yavapai County. Even if people knew that fallout was coming to town they might not have been concerned because throughout the 1950s the federal government issued continual assurances that there was no danger to the public.” Assurances were published in booklets and brochures.

This didn’t quiet all concerns about the consequences of nuclear testing. Within a decade of the first tests, leading scientists like Nobel chemist Linus Pauling spoke publicly about atomic dangers and circulated petitions to stop testing. Organizations were created to make the public aware of the health effects of nuclear radiation, including the Committee for Nuclear Information based in St. Louis. The CNI was organized by Doctors Eric and Louise Reiss, as well as scientists and civic leaders.

Local residents have been affected by these nuclear tests. Perhaps the most well-known was longtime Prescott resident and former City Council member John Hanna, who died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in October 2013, which the government has acknowledged was likely caused by radiation from nuclear testing. In Downwind: A People's History of the Nuclear West, Sarah Alisabeth Fox notes: "Many families [in the areas affected by fallout] kept livestock and gardens or bought meat, milk, and produce from their neighbors, unwittingly gathering radiological contamination and placing it on their dinner tables."

To file a RECA claim, individuals must provide documentation showing physical presence in the Downwind counties for two years during the Downwind time periods. They must establish their diagnosis of compensable cancer, including leukemia, multiple myeloma, lymphoma and cancers of the thyroid, lungs, esophagus, and breast, among others. Applicants don’t need to prove causation of their cancer.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) is ending. The last day to mail claims is June 10^th, 2024. Claims postmarked or stamped June 11^th, 2024, or later will be returned due to untimely filing.

To learn more, come to Candice Lewis’s Downwinder & RESEP presentation on Saturday, February 3^rd, 2024, at 2pm in the Education Center Auditorium at the Sharlot Hall Museum. This is a FREE lecture as a public service program to our Prescott area communities.

“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1 The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org Please contact SHM Research Center reference desk at 928-277-2003, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.