STUDY OF HEALTH CONSEQUENCES FOR FAMILY MEMBERS OF ATOMIC VETERANS OF EXPOSURE OF ATOMIC VETERANS TO IONIZING RADIATION.

SEC. 508. STUDY OF HEALTH CONSEQUENCES FOR FAMILY MEMBERS OF ATOMIC VETERANS OF EXPOSURE OF ATOMIC VETERANS TO IONIZING RADIATION. (a) Interagency Agreement.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall enter into an agreement with the Medical Follow-Up Agency of the Institute of the Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences under which that agency shall convene a panel of 108 STAT. 4665appropriate individuals to carry out the evaluation described in subsection (b). (b) Evaluation of Feasibility of Study.— (1) The panel convened under subsection (a) shall evaluate the feasibility of carrying out a study as described in subsection (c). (2) The panel shall submit the results of the evaluation under paragraph (1) to the Secretary not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act The Secretary shall promptly notify the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives of such results. (c) Description of Study To Be Evaluated.—The study referred to in subsection (b) (the feasibility of which is to be evaluated under that subsection by the panel convened under subsection (a)) is one which would determine the nature and extent, if any, of the relationship between the exposure of veterans described in subsection (d) to ionizing radiation and the following: (1) Genetic defects and illnesses in the children and grandchildren of such veterans. (2) Untoward pregnancy outcomes experienced by the wives of such veterans, including premature births, stillbirths, miscarriages, neonatal illnesses and deaths. (3) Periparturient diseases of the mother which are the direct result of such untoward pregnancy outcomes. (d) Covered Veterans.—Subsection (c) applies to— (1) any veteran who was exposed (as determined by the Secretary) to ionizing radiation as a result of— (A) participation while on active duty in the Armed Forces in an atmospheric nuclear test that included the detonation of a nuclear device; (B) service in the Armed Forces with the United States occupation force of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan, before July 1, 1946; or (C) internment or detention as a prisoner of war of Japan before that date in circumstances providing the opportunity for exposure to ionizing radiation comparable to the exposure of individuals who served with such occupation force before that date; and (2) any other veteran who the Secretary designates for coverage under the study.