People in New Mexico who developed cancer and suffered other health issues in the decades following the 1945 Trinity nuclear test are now eligible for compensation.

The Trinity test, which happened 80 years ago Wednesday, was the first detonation of a nuclear bomb. 

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law by President Trump on July Fourth reauthorized Radiation Exposure Compensation Act claims and extended the trust fund that issues payments to valid claimants, the Justice Department said on its website.

RECA payments reimburse people who suffered health problems due to uranium mining and handling and living near nuclear test sites. Those affected by the Trinity test, and several other previously ineligible groups, are now able to get paid due to provisions in the new law.

Newly eligible claimant groups include downwinders in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Tennessee and Utah as well as uranium miners in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming, reported USA Today. 

“After decades of advocacy, communities harmed by radiation exposure are set to finally receive long-overdue recognition and compensation. This achievement marks a significant step toward providing some justice to families who have waited far too long,” Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, New Mexico Democrat, and Sen. Mike Crapo, Idaho Republican, wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi this month.

Successful RECA claimants get a one-time payment of $100,000, according to a fact sheet from Mr. Lujan’s office. In this instance, people who got sick after being downwind of the Trinity test or family members of people who got sick and died are eligible to file a claim.

While longtime activists for people affected by the Trinity test are happy to get some compensation, they also said the two-year extension of the RECA is insufficient.

“The two-year extension will not be long enough for us to get everybody enrolled that should be enrolled, and the health care coverage was stripped out,” Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium co-founder Tina Cordova said, according to Axios.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.