The U.S. government is finally conceding that workers who helped make nuclear weapons at 14 plants have higher-than-normal rates of a wide range of cancers, most of them fatal. The conclusion comes from a draft report prepared at the request of Pres. Clinton. Since the Manhattan Project began 57 years ago, the government has until now talked down the hazards of radiation and chemicals, criticized studies that found cancer links, and spent tens of million of dollars defending itself against suits charging that bomb plants made workers sick. Now officials say that a compensation package for victims and their families might total tens of millions of dollars. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson on Friday also announced plans to spend more than $120 million to hasten cleanup and medical assistance at the government’s two uranium enrichment plants.
