Cold War event set for Friday

Officials for the departments of Energy and Labor with members of Nevada's congressional delegation will mark the first National Day of Remembrance for Nuclear Weapons Workers during an event Friday at the Atomic Testing Museum.

The special day to recognize those who worked in the nation's nuclear weapons complex during the Cold War was established by a U.S. Senate resolution.

A nonprofit group Cold War Patriots led a petition drive this year to call on Congress to support a national day of remembrance for hundreds of thousands of former nuclear weapons workers.

The effort was aimed at educating the public "as to who these 700,000-plus were and are and what part they played in keeping our country free," Cold War Patriots member Barbara Escajeda said.

She said a time capsule will be planted at the Nevada Test Site as a token to the first National Day of Remembrance.

Escajeda, a registered nurse who has cared for sick nuclear workers, said the group is seeking changes in the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program.

The program was designed to give former workers or their survivors at least $150,000 apiece for illnesses linked to their exposures to radioactive and toxic materials while they worked in the nuclear weapons complex.

"Did these people know what they were getting into? No. It was a new science," Escajeda said .

Friday's ceremony at the Atomic Testing Museum, 755 E. Flamingo Road, will start at 2 p.m. The event will coincide with Nevada Day. All Nevada residents will be admitted free to the museum.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.