Blumenthal co-sponsors bill on 1966 Spain H-bomb accident

HARTFORD, Conn. – U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is co-sponsoring a bill that would ensure health care and other benefits for military veterans who became ill from radiation exposure after responding to a 1966 accident involving U.S. hydrogen bombs in Spain.

The Connecticut Democrat announced the legislation this week. His co-sponsors are fellow Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Dianne Feinstein of California.

The Palomares Veterans Act of 2018 would create the presumption of a service-related disability for many of the 1,600 military members who responded to the accident near Palomares, Spain, and were denied benefits by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ailing veterans are suing the VA.

Radioactive plutonium was released near Palomares in January 1966, after a U.S. B-52 bomber and refuelling plane crashed. Four hydrogen bombs crashed but didn’t explode.