Bill would give US vets of 1966 Spain bomb accident benefits

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — U.S. veterans who were exposed to radiation while responding to a 1966 hydrogen bomb accident in Spain would be made eligible for disability benefits that have been denied to them for decades by the Department of Veterans Affairs, under legislation introduced in Congress on Thursday.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, Connecticut Democrats who co-sponsored versions of the bill in the Senate and House, said it would amend current law to designate the veterans' cleanup of the accident site in Palomares, Spain, as a “radiation risk activity," which they said the VA has failed to do.

“The nuclear disaster in Palomares caused untold suffering and harm to the servicemembers sent in to clean up radioactive material without adequate protective gear or warning of severe health risks,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “Yet fifty-five years on, the VA still hasn’t recognized radiation risks at Palomares, cutting off benefits and health care for these deserving veterans.”

On Jan. 17, 1966, a U.S. B-52 bomber and a refueling plane crashed into each other during a refueling operation near the southern Spanish village of Palomares, killing seven of 11 crew members but no one on the ground. At the time, the U.S. was keeping nuclear-armed warplanes in the air near the Soviet border as the Cold War was in full swing.

The midair collision resulted in the release of four U.S. hydrogen bombs. None of the bombs exploded, but the plutonium-filled detonators on two went off, scattering 7 pounds (3 kilograms) of highly radioactive plutonium 239 across the landscape. It's been called the worst radiation accident in U.S. history.

About 1,600 servicemen were sent to the crash site area to recover the weapons and clean up the contamination. They were exposed to dangerous levels of...