Compromise reached with nuclear employee cancer victims

Dimona nuclear reactor Photo: Rafi Kutz
Dimona nuclear reactor Photo: Rafi Kutz

170 nuclear reactor employees, pensioners, and families will receive NIS 78 million.

The Israel Atomic Energy Commission, which is subject to the Prime Minister's Office, today announced that it had reached a compromise for compensating employees and pensioners of the nuclear reactors. The employees in question filed lawsuits after contracting cancer. The NIS 78 million in compensation agreed will be distributed among the claimants according to their personal circumstances, the amount of radiation to which they were exposed, their age, and the characteristics of their specific disease.

The Atomic Energy Commission said that the state and the claimants had reached the compromise following a mediation proceeding presided over by Judge (ret.) Esther Dudkiewicz.

"This unique compromise was made possible by the outline set by a public committee (the Rivlin Committee), headed by Supreme Court Vice-President Justice (ret.) Eliezer Rivlin, which investigated the question of morbidity among employees of Israel's nuclear reactors," the announcement stated.

Appointed by then-Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni in 2013, the Rivlin Committee concluded that in most cases, no excess morbidity was found among nuclear reactor employees in comparison with the corresponding population of people who did not work in the reactor. The state nevertheless decided to compromise by compensating the workers, rather than conduct prolonged damage actions in the courts, with the claimants bringing evidence about their work routine and their exposure to hazardous materials.

Despite the medical review, in view of their special contribution to nuclear research and development, a compromise was formulated and endorsed by the government.

It was also decided to establish a permanent committee, the Zohar Committee, headed by Judge Shmuel Berliner (ret.), which will consider the future eligibility for compensation of employees at the nuclear reactors.

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on September 19, 2017

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017

Dimona nuclear reactor Photo: Rafi Kutz
Dimona nuclear reactor Photo: Rafi Kutz
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