Hundreds of former weapons plants workers exposed to dangerously high radiation levels would be compensated by the federal government under a proposal being pushed by Missouri’s Senators. More than 500 claims have been filed by former workers at the Mallinckrodt factories in Weldon Springs and St. Louis exposed to vastly excessive levels of radiation…some up to 2400 times what would be acceptable today. Senator Christopher Bond says the country has an obligation to act, because these workers built the weapons that help end World War II and the Cold War. Bond and Senator Jim Talent have sponsored an amendment that would pay $180-Million in compensation over a ten-year period without going through the normal, complex bureaucratic process. The Senators want to tact their proposal on to the Defense Budget.
