THE SOUND OF SILENCE

Updated 17 January 2024



We are the Cold War period military Veterans who maintained our nations nuclear weapons in the U.S. and numerous other countries around the world (1945-1991)


  • Live (unexploded) nuclear weapons emitted dangerous ionzing radiation 24/7

  • We were assured we were safe — working with no restrictions, no protection

  • Sworn to secrecy — many signed documents swearing, or were otherwise ordered, to keep their professions and related duties secret for life

  • Critical radiation exposure information was witheld

  • Dosimeter programs were limited, suspect, or nonexistent

  • Toxic/carcinogenic chemicals were routinely used without adequate protection

  • Questions were unwelcome and unanswered

  • Radiation and toxic chemicals never made a noise

  • We were kept in the dark — and that darkness remains

  • No one knows us... dead, dying, or surviving

  • Shunned by DOD, outcast by VA, current federal laws do not help us


PLEASE HELP US BREAK THE SILENCE


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Nuclear Weapons Technicians

Nuclear Weapons Technicians served our Nation in sustaining its nuclear defense and deterrence during the Cold War period. While routinely exposed to deadly radiation, toxic chemicals, and other substances; we were kept in the dark about the true dangers of radiation from the weapons we maintained; and generally, safety equipment, training, and precautions for toxic substances were minimal to non-existent.

For decades, information that directly affected the safety and lives of Nuclear Weapons Technicians was withheld from us. Thousands were not aware of the true dangers of alpha particles frequently handled with little more than gloves and no mask, nor of the intrinsic radiation dangers, especially neutron radiation... the ionizing radiation that was continuously emitted through the weapon surface as a part of the natural radioactive decay process.

Comments or questions about potentially dangerous radiation exposures were quickly dismissed.

After decades, very few of us now know (but only recently) that alpha and neutron radiation are 20 times and 5-20 times more biologically damaging, respectively, than beta and gamma. 1 Few Nuclear Weapons Technicians are aware that neutron radiation induces radioactivity in other components and substances... items that we handled during our routine tasks with nuclear weapons.

The lack of radiation exposure data, failure to provide intrinsic radiation information and training, and absence of sustained and operational radiation exposure monitoring and management programs served as de facto methods to silence critical communications regarding the actual radiation dangers.

In the December 1980 Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) Carter-Reagan Transition Briefing Book (U), mentioned in the Ionizing Radiation Exposure page, DNA revealed that plutonium storage exceeded DOE/DOD-authorized limits since at least July 1977. Violation of Nuclear Safety criteria for maximum radioactive material storage limits (by a 300% increase) certainly increased the dangers regarding sub-critical components (interaction between two or more subcritical units),2 and their corresponding increased ionizing radiation emissions to personnel. That information was not provided to Nuclear Weapons Technicians who worked in those structures and magazines.

Secrecy Hampered Ability to File VA Claims

Secrecy Agreements were signed and placed in permanent records. Some Nuclear Weapons Technicians referred to them as life-time oaths that meant life in prison for treason if violated,3 others referred to them as the 20/20 rule (20 years in prison/20 thousand-dollar fine). Secrecy agreements, to the extent used in the Navy, were not equally pervasive in all military service branches, yet various levels of implied and inconsistent secrecy requirements were prevalent throughout. Many, arguably thousands, continue to live under the rules based on their individual understanding of those secrecy agreements and requirements to this day.

Nuclear Weapons Technicians remained silent about their duties in spite of the need to explain to VA their exposure to nuclear weapons ionizing radiation and the toxic chemicals we used. Most never learned of a 1996 Secretary of Defense memorandum releasing certain veterans from the secrecy agreements. Many died before the release of the letter. There are ambiguities and caveats within the memorandum that cause many to believe, understandably, that it does not apply to them.

Secretary of Defense Releases Veterans From Secrecy Agreements - the "release" is contentious among former/retired Nuclear Weapons Technicians

On 13 February 1996, the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) issued a memorandum to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Under Secretaries of Defense, Assistant Secretaries of Defense, General Counsel, Inspector General of the DoD, Operational Test and Evaluation Director, Assistants to the SECDEF, Administration and Management Directors, and Directors of the Defense Agencies.

    Subject: Exposure to Nuclear Radiation and Secrecy Agreements

    Inquiries continue to be received regarding the appropriate action that should be taken to release veterans from secrecy obligations so they may justify medical treatment for conditions allegedly arising from exposure to nuclear radiation. Congressman Bill Richardson has specifically requested a public statement be issued announcing personnel are relieved of any security obligation they may have incurred in connection with their military involvement in nuclear testing [emphasis added] to establish the validity of a service-connected disability.

    In the interest of fairness to the many veterans who have so honorably served our country, in coordination with the Department of Energy, I hereby authorize veterans seeking to establish a medical disability in connection with exposure to nuclear radiation 4 [emphasis added, see footnote] to divulge to the Department of Veterans Affairs the name and location of their command 5, duties performed, dates of service, and related information necessary to validate exposure to nuclear radiation. This authorization does not relieve veterans of responsibility for continuing to protect specific technical information 6 that could contribute to the development of a weapon of mass destruction or the application of nuclear technology.”

    Link to Secretary of Defense memo (opens in separate tab)

The Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) memorandum was seen by few veterans. DoD did not reach out to us. After a veteran Nuclear Weapons Technician group saw the memo in early 2023, many expressed their distrust of it. Others believe the release does not apply to former Nuclear Weapons Technicians because of the emphasis on “Nuclear Testing”, a term that is generally related to atmospheric and other nuclear weapon development tests, such as the exposures to “Atomic Veterans”.

In contrast, the statement regarding the protection of “…specific technical information that could contribute to the development of a weapon of mass destruction or the application of nuclear technology” seems to be a reference to Nuclear Weapons Technicians who disassembled and reassembled those weapons. The applicability is not clear and distinct.

Essentially, many understandably believe the “code of silence” still applies to an unknown extent after decades. Nuclear Weapons Technicians have expressed years of living in fear of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person and continue to live under that cloud.

In spite of the actual intentions of the SECDEF Memorandum (that most veterans are not aware of), per U.S.C. Title 38, VA does not consider Nuclear Weapons Technicians’ duties to be a “Radiation-Risk Activity” nor that a Nuclear Weapons Technician is a “Radiation Exposed Veteran”. Without that "presumption" veterans are left to explain their duties, activities, and related conditions working with live nuclear weapons that resulted in exposures to ionizing radiation, prove the amount of radiation dose received, and also prove a direct connection between those exposures and the veteran's related cancers and other diseases.

 


Federal Laws, Executive Orders, and Programs that Exclude Veteran Nuclear Weapons Technicians


  • Atomic Veterans 7 – An unofficial term used by VA. Per VA, this includes veterans who:
    • Participated in atmospheric and certain underground nuclear tests;
    • Took part in the American occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan;
    • Certain veterans who were POWs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki; or,
    • Served at gaseous diffusion plants in Paducah, KY., Portsmouth, OH, and area K25 at Oak Ridge, Tenn.

  • VA Ionizing Radiation Registry Examination Program. Veterans who participated in these radiation-risk activities listed under Atomic Veterans above, plus those who received nasopharyngeal radium irradiation treatments while in service, are eligible to take part in the VA ionizing radiation registry examination program.

  • Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 – The PACT Act “…expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. The PACT Act adds to the list of health conditions that we [VA] assume (or “presume”) are caused by exposure to these substances. This law helps us provide generations of Veterans—and their survivors—with the care and benefits they’ve earned and deserve… VA will not rest until every Veteran gets the toxic exposure-related care and benefits they deserve”. 8 [emphasis added to point out the gross contradiction]
  • The PACT Act also includes:
    • Cleanup of Enewetak Atoll, from January 1, 1977, through December 31, 1980.
    • Cleanup of the Air Force B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons off the coast of Palomares, Spain, from January 17, 1966, through March 31, 1967.
    • Response to the fire onboard an Air Force B-52 carrying nuclear weapons near Thule Air Force Base in Greenland from January 21, 1968, to September 25, 1968.

      • Note: The PACT Act removed the word "radiation", replacing the statement "who was exposed to a toxic substance, radiation, or other conditions…" with ""who is a toxic-exposed veteran…” in 38 U.S.C. 1710(a)(2)(F). Title 38 does not include Nuclear Weapons Technicians as "a toxic-exposed veteran", therefore, there is no presumption (as provided for hundreds of thousands of others) for illness or death related to toxic and carcinogenic chemicals.

  • Executive Order 13179, December 7, 2000, Providing Compensation to America’s Nuclear Weapons Workers (does not apply to U.S. military veterans)
      • Excerpt: “…to compensate DOE nuclear weapons workers who suffered occupational illness as a result of exposure to the unique hazards…”; “Thousands of these courageous Americans, however, paid a high price for their service, developing disabling or fatal illnesses as a result of exposure to beryllium, ionizing radiation, and other hazards unique to nuclear weapons production and testing….these workers were neither adequately protected from, nor informed of, the occupational hazards to which they were exposed…While the Nation can never fully repay these workers or their families, they deserve recognition and compensation for their sacrifices”. 9

  • Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA). Cancer from ionizing radiation is “presumed” for DOE employees and contractor employees called “Special Exposure Cohorts”. 10
    • Covers civilian DOE employees, contractors, and subcontractors. “The Act was passed on October 30, 2000, and became effective on July 31, 2001. The Department of Labor (DOL) manages claims filed under the Act.”
    • Specific exposures at those locations are not required criteria for compensation, radiation dose reconstruction is not required, and a determination of the probability of causation is not required. “…a covered employee must have at least one of 22 specified cancers and worked for a specific period of time at one of the SEC work sites”. 11 The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to add other groups and classes to the Special Exposure Cohort list.

  • Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA)“

    • The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (“the Act” or “RECA”), 42 U.S.C. § 2210 note, established an administrative program for claims relating to atmospheric nuclear testing and uranium industry employment. The Act delegated authority to the Attorney General to establish procedures and make determinations regarding whether claims satisfy statutory eligibility criteria.” RECA also covers “Downwinders” who had a “physical presence in the Downwinder area for at least two years during the period January 21, 1951, through October 31, 1958. 12

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Footnotes:

[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) (2015): European Nuclear Society; https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/ n3873/pdf/ch08.pdf, Health implications of ionizing radiation, p. 222, Table 8.1.
[2] https://ncsp.llnl.gov/sites/ncsp/files/2021-11/ref_123.pdf Neutron Interaction in Fissile Assemblies, 1960.
[3] Conversation w/ GMTC Maurice Cheek, USN Retired, 25 March 2023; and his letter to Pres. Biden, 5 March 2021.
[4] Per U.S.C. Title 38, VA does not consider Nuclear Weapons Technicians’ duties to be a “Radiation-Risk Activity”, nor that a Nuclear Weapons Technician is a “Radiation Exposed Veteran”.
[5] VA acknowledged the SECDEF letter in VA Regulation M21.VIII.iii.4.B.6.a. However, VA Regulation, M21-1, VIII.iii.4.B – Developing Claims for Service Connection for Disabilities Resulting from Ionizing Radiation Exposure Under 38 CFR 3.311 states: “Veterans must refrain from divulging information relative to military bases where nuclear weapons: were [emphasis added]…located outside the continental U.S., which is classified “Secret”.”
[6] “…technical information…” is an ambiguous term to many, especially in regard to the potential consequences.
[7] Source: VA Fact Sheet, September 2002, VA Programs for Veterans Exposed to Radiation
[8] https://www.accesstocare.va.gov/ healthcare/pactact, reviewed/confirmed statement 7-25-23.
[9] Executive Order 13179, December 7, 2000, Providing Compensation to America’s Nuclear Weapons Workers. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2000-12-11/pdf/00-31692.pdf Reviewed 7-22-23.
[10] https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/ocaseeoi.html Reviewed 7-22-23
[11] https://www.dol.gov/agencies/owcp/energy/ regs/compliance/law/SEC-Employees Reviewed 7-25-23oh
[12] https://www.justice.gov/civil/common/reca Reviewed 7-22-23oh