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Find out if you can get VA disability pay and health care for illnesses linked to ionizing radiation exposure during military service. Illnesses include some cancers. You may have had contact with ionizing radiation if you served in certain roles or locations or were part of nuclear weapons testing.
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Ionizing radiation exposure

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Find out if you can get disability compensation or benefits for illnesses—including some cancers—believed to be caused by contact with radiation during military service.

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Information
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New PACT Act-related presumptive-exposure locations
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We’ve added these 3 new response efforts to the list of presumptive locations:

  • Cleanup of Enewetak Atoll, from January 1, 1977, through December 31, 1980
  • Cleanup of the Air Force B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons off the coast of Palomares, Spain, from January 17, 1966, through March 31, 1967
  • Response to the fire onboard an Air Force B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons near Thule Air Force Base in Greenland from January 21, 1968, to September 25, 1968

If you took part in any of these efforts, we’ll automatically assume (or “presume”) that you had exposure to radiation.

Learn more about what the PACT Act means for your VA benefits

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Disability benefits hub
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Questions

What kind of disability benefits can I get?

  • Health care
  • Compensation (payments)

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How do I get these benefits?

You’ll need to file a claim for disability compensation and provide this evidence (supporting documents):

  • Medical records showing that you’ve been diagnosed with one of the illnesses on our list of those believed to be caused by radiation—or that your doctor states may be caused by radiation exposure, and
  • Service records showing that you were part of one of the radiation risk activities described above

Note: When you file your claim, we’ll ask the military branch that you served with (or the Defense Threat Reduction Agency) to give us a range of how much radiation they think you may have come into contact with. We’ll use the highest level of the range they report to decide on your benefits.

Find out how to file a claim for disability compensation