A bill designed to make it easier for the thousands of workers on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation to qualify for worker compensation benefits was signed into law Wednesday by Washington Gov. The Legislature recently passed the bill to aid workers at the plant that for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons. The bill creates a presumption that illnesses developed by Hanford workers are due to the many chemicals that pollute the site. He added that thousands of workers at the site near Richland face "unique risks because of the nature of the work." The bill relieves Hanford workers of the difficult task of proving which chemical caused an occupational disease such as cancer.

Source: ABC News March 07, 2018 22:41 UTC