Worked in Mercury, Nevada?
Mercury is the Nevada Test Site. It was the base camp — the place the buses ran to, where the crews ate and slept and staged before heading out to the areas. Work in Mercury is work at a covered Department of Energy facility, and it counts the same as work at any of the test areas.
Camp Mercury was a town that existed to run a test site.
Mercury had dormitories, a cafeteria, a post office, a motor pool, warehouses and a bowling alley. For decades it was where thousands of Southern Nevadans reported for work — a bus ride out of Las Vegas before dawn, a shift, and a bus ride home.
Department of Energy contractor and subcontractor employees are covered the same as federal employees, and the job title does not matter. Craft and construction, security, drivers, cooks, clerks, custodians and warehouse staff worked at a covered facility exactly as the scientists did.
Compensation, and a medical benefit that does not expire.
An accepted claim can pay a lump sum and opens a medical benefit for the accepted condition. That benefit is what most families call the White Card, and it is what pays for skilled nursing and aide care at home.
The Department of Labor decides every claim. Alara assesses the patient, coordinates the physician documentation and the home-health authorization, and provides the authorized care. It does not file claims and nothing here is a determination of eligibility.
It takes a few questions to know whether there is something here.
Where the work was, what kind of work it was, roughly when, and what a doctor has said since. A nurse reads those together and says whether a claim is worth opening — or, if a White Card already exists, what it can pay for at home now.
The full Nevada Test Site White Card guide → Worked for REECo? →
What people ask first.
Does work in Mercury count as work at the Nevada Test Site?
Yes. Mercury is Area 23 of the Nevada Test Site and is part of the same covered Department of Energy facility. Work there is covered work for the same period, from 1951 on.
I worked in the cafeteria and the motor pool, not the test areas. Does that matter?
The job title does not decide it. Support staff worked at the same covered facility as everyone else, and claims are accepted across those roles.
What if the worker has passed away?
A survivor may be able to file. Compensation can be paid to eligible survivors, though the medical benefit covers the worker’s own care and does not transfer. A case review can tell you which of the two is in play.
A nurse reads it, not a form.
A case review takes a few minutes and needs no records, no claim number and no appointment. Nothing here is a determination of eligibility.
Nevada Test Site White Card guide → Pahrump and Nye County → Start a case review →