The Data Liberation Project — Radiation Exposure Compensation Claims

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, passed by Congress in 1990 and amended several times since, “provides one-time benefit payments to persons who may have developed cancer or other specified diseases after being exposed to radiation from atomic weapons testing or uranium mining, milling, or transporting,” according to a helpful explainer from the Congressional Research Service.

The Department of Justice’s Civil Division administers the claims process. As of September 2022, the agency has received more than 53,000 claims. It has approved more than more than 39,000 of them, awarding more than $2.5 billion in compensation. More than 13,000 claims have been denied. But very little information is publicly available on claimants’ specific illnesses and/or injuries, counties of exposure, employers, reasons for claim denial, or many other aspects of the information collected. Such information is essential to understanding the enduring effects of radiation on the US population and the functioning of this government program.

Our FOIA request 📄 seeks all database records collected through the program’s five claim forms (excluding personally-identifiable information), as well as case-adjudication records from the Civil Division’s case-tracking system. The latter is referenced in several Government Accountability Office reports, including in a 2007 report on the compensation program’s status:

To provide updated information on the claims adjudication process, we interviewed RECP officials, obtained responses to our written inquiries, and obtained RECA-related case information for fiscal years 1992 through 2007 (as of June 30) from DOJ’s Civil Division’s case histories database. […] We also interviewed officials in the Civil Division’s Office of Management Information (OMI), the office that maintains the database, and [Radiation Exposure Compensation Program], the office that uses information contained in the database, to obtain updated information about the database.

Our request also seeks all relevant database documentation, to aid with the proper interpretation of the records.

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Updates

Estimated Completion Date Provided (March 2024) • On March 9, 2023, in response to the Data Liberation Project’s emailed request for a estimated completion date, the Civil Division write, “Due to our current backlog, we anticipate completion of your request by March 2024. Although we have provided a timeframe for completing your request, it is possible that your request can be completed prior to that date.”
Request Acknowledged, Placed on “Complex Track” • On October 5, 2022, the DOJ’s Civil Division emailed an acknowledgment letter 📄 regarding this request, which has been assigned to the “complex” processing track. “The records you seek require a search in another Office in the Division; therefore, your request presents ‘unusual circumstances’ under the FOIA,” according to the letter. The agency has agreed to classify the Data Liberation Project as a “representative of the news media,” which means the request will not incur search fees. It has not, however, “yet made a decision on your request for a [full] fee waiver.”
Request Informally Acknowledged • On September 30, 2022, in response to a status inquiry, the Civil Division confirmed via email that it has received this request, and that “[a]n acknowledgment letter will follow shortly.”