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Association for Radiation Survivors’ meeting
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Posted on Mar 07 2022
The Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors will host its annual general membership meeting on Saturday, March 12, 2022, from 10am to 12pm at the first floor of Century Plaza in Tamuning beside McDonald’s.
PARS is a 20-year-old non-profit organization that advocates for the inclusion of Guam as a downwinder area under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The RECA Program would provide medical benefits and $150,000 for eligible “Downwinders of Guam,” defined as those present in Guam from 1946 to 1962 and who have been diagnosed with one of the cancers associated with radiation exposure.
Lt. Bert Schreiber, retired U.S. Navy, noted in a sworn affidavit that Guam’s radiation exposure during the nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands was “off the charts” on scales measuring radiation exposure. Information relative to exposure in Guam was classified until the 1990s. PARS president Robert N. Celestial discovered the unclassified documents and pursued the affidavit from Schreiber.
After a congressionally mandated investigation, the National Academies of Science concluded in a 2005 published report that Guam should be deemed qualified for RECA as “downwinders” radiation exposure.
PARS has advocated and worked tirelessly for the inclusion of Guam as downwinders and to receive compensation due to radiation exposure. Currently proposed RECA amendments will include new downwinder states such as Idaho, New Mexico, Guam, and others. Since the current RECA program will expire in July 2022, a sunset provision, there is a new provision in H.R. 5338 and S.2798 that will extend the program another 19 more years.
PARS invites all interested in learning more about PARS or becoming a member. Membership fees are $10 a person annually. (PR)
