WASHINGTON -- A Labor Department ruling that became final this week means that 440 former Nevada Test Site workers or their families should have an easier time gaining compensation for cancers stemming from radiation exposure, according to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

But compensation for about 900 other former workers or their survivors who have filed claims with the government remains up in the air because of limits in the ruling.

The Labor Department on Wednesday finalized "special exposure cohort" status for claimants who were employed at the test site from 1951 through 1962 for at least 250 days.

The special status is a streamlined process reserved for groups of workers whose radiation exposures could not be accurately measured because of poor or outdated record keeping.

Former workers or their survivors have applied for $150,000 payments plus medical compensation on grounds their illnesses stemmed from radiation exposures during their government service.

But the limited time period covered by the Labor Department designation, coupled with the 250-day work requirement, have narrowed the workers eligible for streamlined compensation.

Other claimants must have their workplace exposure records rebuilt through a time-consuming process. Worker advocates note that more than 100 above-ground and 828 underground tests were conducted in Nevada from 1951 to 1992.

An advisory board for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is studying whether to do away with the 250-day requirement. Advocates point out that there have been instances in which someone might have been present for shorter periods of time yet still were present during releases of harmful radiation.

Reid has introduced a bill that would compensate test site employees who worked at the site through 1993.