How to File the RECA Claim Form: Eligibility, Portal, and Mail

To file a RECA claim, submit the form that matches your category — Downwinder, Onsite Participant, Uranium Worker, or Manhattan Project Waste — either through the Department of Justice’s RECA Claims Portal at reca.justice.gov or by mailing a paper form with certified supporting documents to the DOJ in Washington, D.C. Every claim must be filed by December 31, 2027, and the program is actively accepting and processing claims after being reauthorized on July 4, 2025 under Pub. L. 119-21.¹

The DOJ is drafting revised regulations during 2026 to reflect the expanded program. Until they publish, claims are reviewed under the existing rules at 28 C.F.R. Part 79.¹

Pick the Right Category Before You Touch the Form

There are four RECA claim forms, one per category, and if you file under the wrong one the DOJ will not reassign your claim. Each category has its own qualifying diseases and its own documentation requirements.

Downwinders — people physically present in designated counties in Arizona, Nevada, or Utah during atmospheric nuclear testing. The 2025 reauthorization added the entire state of New Mexico, all remaining Utah counties, and Mohave County, Arizona. Maximum award: $100,000.²
Onsite Participants — military personnel and civilian employees who participated onsite at an atmospheric detonation test. Maximum award: $100,000.
Uranium Workers — people who worked in uranium mining, milling, core drilling, ore transport, or mine and mill remediation between 1942 and 1990. Maximum award: $100,000.
Manhattan Project Waste — people physically present for at least two years after January 1, 1949 in designated zip codes near former Manhattan Project facilities in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, or Alaska. If the affected person is still living, the award is the greater of $50,000 or unreimbursed out-of-pocket medical expenses for the covered disease. If they have died, a surviving spouse receives up to $25,000, split equally among surviving children if there is no spouse.

Downwinder, Onsite Participant, and Uranium Worker awards are offset by any federal compensation you already received for the same illness, such as VA benefits.³

Confirm Your Disease Is on the List

A diagnosis alone will not carry a claim. The disease has to appear on RECA’s list for your specific category.¹

Downwinder and Onsite Participant claims cover leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), multiple myeloma, lymphomas other than Hodgkin’s, and primary cancers of the thyroid, breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gallbladder, salivary gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, liver (absent cirrhosis or Hepatitis B), and lung.

Uranium Workers qualify with lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, silicosis, pneumoconiosis, cor pulmonale related to lung fibrosis, renal cancer, and other chronic renal diseases including nephritis and kidney tubal tissue injury.

Manhattan Project Waste claims cover largely the same list as Downwinders, plus bone and renal cancers, with one restriction: leukemia qualifies only if initial exposure occurred after age 20.

Prostate cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, and autoimmune conditions are not covered under any category, no matter how strong your exposure history.

Confirm Your Location or Employment Qualifies

Downwinder counties include Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo, and Yavapai in Arizona; Eureka, Lander, Lincoln, Nye, and White Pine in Nevada; and Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington, and Wayne in Utah, plus the expansions noted above. Manhattan Project Waste eligibility is tied to specific zip codes near St. Louis (Missouri), Oak Ridge (Tennessee), Paducah (Kentucky), and Amchitka Island (Alaska); check the DOJ’s published zip list against your address history before filing.¹

Gather Your Documents First

Incomplete submissions are the most common reason claims stall. Assemble everything before you open the form.

Identity

The form asks for your Social Security number, biographical information, and identification. If you’re filing for someone who has died, you’ll also need a death certificate and documents establishing your relationship to them, such as a marriage or birth certificate.

Presence or Employment

For Downwinder and Manhattan Project Waste claims, submit records that place you in the affected area during the qualifying years: tax returns, employment records, school transcripts, church records, and similar documents. Affidavits and abstracts are not accepted unless the underlying records are attached. Under the existing regulations, if you can show residence or full-time employment on any two dates less than three years apart during the qualifying period, the program presumes you were present during the entire interval between those dates.⁴

Uranium Worker claims require employment records showing the dates and nature of qualifying work between 1942 and 1990. Onsite Participant claims require proof of presence at a test site during a detonation, typically military service records or civilian employment documentation.

Medical Records

Medical documentation must clearly identify the specific compensable disease and the date of diagnosis. Records created at the time of diagnosis or later, physician statements, death certificates, and pathology reports are all acceptable, and the DOJ may request biopsy results or additional documentation to confirm the diagnosis.⁴

All documents, medical and otherwise, must be originals or certified copies from the issuing institution. Photocopies, even notarized ones, are not sufficient. If you can’t obtain an original or certified copy, include a written explanation of why.⁴

Prior Compensation Disclosure

You’ll sign a sworn statement listing any compensation you’ve received from another source for the same illness, including amount and source. The DOJ uses this to apply the statutory offset.⁴

Filing Online Through the RECA Claims Portal

Go to reca.justice.gov and create an account with your email address. Each account requires a unique email; if you don’t have one, request a paper form instead. Once you’re registered, you can start a new claim, upload documents, save your progress, and come back later to finish. When you submit, the portal shows a confirmation on screen, and the DOJ later mails an acknowledgment letter with your RECA Claim Number.³

Filing by Mail

Download the correct form for your category from the DOJ website. Complete it, attach originals or certified copies of your supporting documents, and mail everything to:¹

U.S. Department of Justice
Radiation Exposure Compensation Program
P.O. Box 146
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, DC 20044-0146

Use certified mail with return receipt or another trackable method so you have proof of delivery. Do not mail documents on their own. Any evidence sent without a completed claim form or an active claim number will be destroyed.

Filing as a Survivor

If the affected person has died, surviving family members can file. For Downwinder, Onsite Participant, and Uranium Worker categories, eligible survivors share the $100,000 payment in equal shares. For Manhattan Project Waste, the surviving spouse receives up to $25,000; with no spouse, the surviving children split $25,000 equally.¹

Survivor claims need the same presence and medical proof as a living claim, plus a death certificate that identifies the qualifying cancer as the cause of death, and documentation of your relationship to the deceased.

What Happens After You File

The DOJ mails an acknowledgment letter with your RECA Claim Number. High volume can delay that letter, but keep the number and use it on every later communication.¹

The Attorney General must reach a final determination within 12 months of receiving the claim. If that deadline passes without a decision, the claim is deemed awarded as a matter of law and must be paid.⁵

You’ll receive either an approval letter stating the payment amount or a denial letter explaining exactly what was missing. If your claim is denied, you can request administrative review, and the Attorney General must issue a final decision on that review within 90 days of receiving the request.⁵ Because most denials are documentation problems rather than true ineligibility, it’s often faster to fix what the letter identifies and request review than to start over.

Avoidable Reasons Claims Get Denied

The diagnosed disease isn’t on the compensable list for the claimant’s category. Prostate cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, and autoimmune conditions are frequent examples.
Presence is shown only by affidavits, uncertified photocopies, or abstracts unattached to the underlying records.
The records place the claimant outside the statute’s defined geographic area or time period.
Medical documentation is too vague to confirm the specific disease or date of diagnosis.
For Manhattan Project Waste leukemia claims, initial exposure occurred before age 20, or the disease appeared less than two years after initial exposure.

1
U.S. Department of Justice. Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
2
Hawley.senate.gov. Hawley Secures Historic RECA Expansion in Base Text of Big Beautiful Bill
3
Department of Justice. RECA – Radiation Exposure Compensation Act – Getting Started
4
eCFR. 28 CFR Part 79 – Claims Under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
5
GovInfo. Radiation Exposure Compensation Act