REECo · Nevada Test Site · EEOICPA

Worked for REECo at the Nevada Test Site?

Yes — REECo work at the Nevada Test Site counts. REECo was a Department of Energy contractor, and the Test Site is a covered facility under the federal Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. If that work made you sick, the program can pay compensation and open the White Card that covers care at home.

The work

Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company at the Nevada Test Site, 1952 to 1995.

REECo was the support contractor that built and ran the Test Site for more than forty years. Its people did the construction, the drilling and mining, the maintenance, the warehousing, the transportation and the craft labor — including the bus fleet that carried thousands of workers out to Mercury and back every working day.

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.

Employer
Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company (REECo), 1952 to 1995.
Facility
Nevada Test Site, now the Nevada National Security Site — a covered Department of Energy facility for work from 1951 on. The Tonopah Test Range is covered as well.
Who is covered
Department of Energy employees and contractor and subcontractor employees, in any job.
What has to connect
A covered illness linked to that work. Many cancers, chronic beryllium disease, silicosis, and chronic lung and kidney conditions are covered.
What it may be worth

The money is one part. The medical benefit is the part that lasts.

An accepted claim can pay a lump sum, and it opens a medical benefit for the accepted condition that does not expire. That medical benefit is the card most families call the White Card, and it is what pays for skilled nursing and aide care at home.

Part B
A lump sum of $150,000 and lifetime medical coverage for the accepted condition.
Part E
Compensation for whole-body impairment and for wage loss caused by the covered illness, up to a combined maximum of $250,000. Federal Department of Energy employees are not covered under Part E.
The White Card
The medical benefit that comes with an accepted claim. It pays providers directly for care tied to the accepted condition, at no cost to you.
Care at home
Skilled nursing and home health aide services when they are medically appropriate and authorized. There is no lifetime dollar cap on the medical benefit.

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.

What happens next

A nurse reads the work and the illness together.

A case review is a short set of questions about 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 tells you whether there is a claim worth opening, or whether a White Card that already exists can pay for care at home now.

If a claim was filed years ago and denied, that is worth raising. The program has expanded since, and old claims can be reopened.

The full Nevada Test Site White Card guide → Which conditions the White Card covers →

Common questions

What people ask first.

Does REECo work at the Nevada Test Site qualify for EEOICPA?

The Nevada Test Site is a covered Department of Energy facility for work from 1951 on, and Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company worked there as a Department of Energy contractor from 1952 to 1995. Contractor and subcontractor employees are covered the same as federal employees. Whether a specific claim is accepted depends on the illness and the exposure, and the Department of Labor makes that decision.

Do I have to have been a scientist or a radiation worker?

No. The job title does not decide it. Security officers, drivers, craft and construction workers, cooks, clerks and custodians all worked at the same covered facility, and claims are accepted across all of those roles.

I only rode the bus out and worked construction. Does that count?

Yes. Construction and craft work at the Nevada Test Site is covered work, and REECo held most of it. Exposure at the site was not limited to the people running the tests.

Does Alara file the claim?

No. Alara is a Nevada-licensed home health agency. It reviews the care side, coordinates the physician documentation and the home-health authorization, and provides the authorized care. Claims are filed with the Department of Labor, and the Las Vegas Resource Center helps with filing at no charge.

Start here

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 → What the White Card is → Start a case review →