A memorial recognizing the impact of radiation exposure in New Mexico and urging statewide outreach to affected citizens through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was unanimously passed in the senate during the 2026 legislative session earlier this year.
Originally passed in 1990, RECA establishes a framework for communities affected by nuclear testing and enables uranium miners and their families to seek compensation from the federal government, according to Source New Mexico.
New Mexicans were not included until an expansion in July 2025, with an application period for a RECA claim that extends through the end of 2027.
New Mexico’s addition to RECA was established in part due to the Trinity Site nuclear bomb test, which took place on the present-day White Sands Missile Range in 1945. During the detonation test, large amounts of radiation shot from the ground to the atmosphere, affecting nearby communities as far as 250 miles outside of the Tularosa Basin where the test occurred, according to the National Park Service.
Those who lived in the immediate radius of the test became known as “downwinders,” a term referring to all individuals who were affected by the U.S. government’s nuclear testing, according to NPS. Under RECA, New Mexicans who were present in the state from September 1944 to November 1962 and have been diagnosed with a qualifying cancer can receive a one-time payment of $100,000. Families of New Mexicans who were impacted but are now deceased can also receive payment.
Tina Cordova, a co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, says she believes the period New Mexicans have to submit a RECA claim should be extended.
“The time to apply ends on December 31, 2027. What happens to the guy that’s diagnosed with cancer in January of 2028?” Cordova said.
In addition to nuclear experiments, New Mexico has been a hub for uranium mining. A notable ecological disaster occurred near Church Rock in 1979, when a dam holding back approximately 1100 tons of waste from a uranium mining operation and 94 million gallons of radioactive water seeped into the Puerco River.
Residents around the river, mainly Diné, have since suffered severe health problems, and scientists estimate that the amount of radiation released was larger than that of the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania earlier the same year, according to the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society.
“Our state is a beautiful state with lots of natural resources and lots of good people, and we were never consulted before they came here and did all of this,” Cordova said.
Cordova said she feels New Mexicans have been treated as “less than test subjects, because scientists check back on their subjects.” Though radiation-related disasters have occurred in the state, the industry is not done with New Mexico.
Chris Shuey, the director of the Southwest Research and Information Center’s Uranium Impact Assessment Program, says there are at least six new uranium mining proposals currently under consideration by the state.
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One of the mining operations under consideration is located in McKinley County near Church Rock, and has been designated a FAST-41 project, meaning that the permitting council responsible will speed up the environmental review process, according to the Federal Infrastructure Projects Permitting Dashboard.
“It really boils down to, what is the resource that is most worth protecting?” Shuey said. “Is it the ground water that feeds people or is it the uranium? Well, I think a lot of us think the water is much more valuable.”
Max Ulz is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @DailyLobo
