VA BENEFITS REFERENCE
Radiation Presumptive Conditions And Service Rules
This group contains the 21 disease categories and radiation-risk activities in 38 CFR 3.309(d). It does not treat all radiation contact as presumptive exposure. The separate dose-development procedure for radiogenic diseases in 38 CFR 3.311 requires individual consideration and is not listed as automatic service connection.
This group contains the 21 disease categories and radiation-risk activities in 38 CFR 3.309(d). It does not treat all radiation contact as presumptive exposure. The separate dose-development procedure for radiogenic diseases in 38 CFR 3.311 requires individual consideration and is not listed as automatic service connection.
Listed Locations And Date Groups
- Atmospheric nuclear-test sites and direct support activitiesTrinity: July 16, 1945 through August 6, 1945; Crossroads: July 1, 1946 through August 31, 1946; Sandstone: April 15, 1948 through May 20, 1948; Ranger: January 27, 1951 through February 6, 1951; Greenhouse: April 8, 1951 through June 20, 1951; Buster-Jangle: October 22, 1951 through December 20, 1951; Tumbler-Snapper: April 1, 1952 through June 20, 1952; Ivy: November 1, 1952 through December 31, 1952; Upshot-Knothole: March 17, 1953 through June 20, 1953; Castle: March 1, 1954 through May 31, 1954; Teapot: February 18, 1955 through June 10, 1955; Wigwam: May 14, 1955 through May 15, 1955; Redwing: May 5, 1956 through August 6, 1956; Plumbbob: May 28, 1957 through October 22, 1957; Hardtack I: April 28, 1958 through October 31, 1958; Argus: August 27, 1958 through September 10, 1958; Hardtack Ii: September 19, 1958 through October 31, 1958; Dominic I: April 25, 1962 through December 31, 1962; Dominic Ii/Plowshare: July 6, 1962 through August 15, 1962
- Eniwetok garrison and maintenance forcesJune 21, 1951 through July 1, 1952; August 7, 1956 through August 7, 1957; November 1, 1958 through April 30, 1959
- Naval shipyards decontaminating Operation Crossroads shipsThe regulation specifies qualifying duties, without a separate universal calendar window
- Occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, JapanAugust 6, 1945 through July 1, 1946
- Qualifying former prisoners of war in JapanAugust 6, 1945 through July 1, 1946 for the specified exposure opportunity
- Paducah, Portsmouth and Oak Ridge K25 gaseous diffusion plantsAt least 250 days before February 1, 1992
- Amchitka Island, AlaskaBefore January 1, 1974
- Service equivalent to a Department of Energy Special Exposure CohortDates and day-count requirements depend on the qualifying statutory cohort or designation
- Enewetak Atoll cleanupJanuary 1, 1977 through December 31, 1980
- Palomares, Spain nuclear-weapons responseJanuary 17, 1966 through March 31, 1967
- Thule Air Force Base, Greenland nuclear-weapons responseJanuary 21, 1968 through September 25, 1968
Condition References
- Leukemia other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- Thyroid cancer
- Breast cancer
- Pharyngeal cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- Stomach cancer
- Small intestine cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Lymphomas other than Hodgkin's disease
- Bile duct cancer
- Gallbladder cancer
- Primary liver cancer
- Salivary gland cancer
- Urinary tract cancer
- Bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma
- Bone cancer
- Brain cancer
- Colon cancer
- Lung cancer
- Ovarian cancer
Scope And Legal Distinctions
- This is a public compensation reference, not a personal eligibility or medical determination. Every row retains source-specific service, timing and activity limits.
- Location labels sometimes group places that share the same rule. Different legal pathways remain separate even when a condition or location appears more than once.
- Broad statutory cancer categories are not expanded into every pathology synonym. VA says its cancer examples are non-exhaustive. The nine named rare respiratory cancers and selected later named additions are listed separately.
- Affected C-123 unit dates and specialty codes remain in the linked VA unit table. The overall 1962-1986 span is not a blanket service window. Special Exposure Cohort designations also require the specific site, duties and duration; they are not all enumerated here.
- The changelog contains documented milestones verified in this research pass, not every historical amendment to every presumption. No later addition is asserted merely because it appeared in a proposal or regulatory agenda.
- Other presumptive programs, birth-defect benefits, health-care enrollment rules, individual exposure determinations and radiation dose-development claims are outside this table.
Current Gulf War Statute And Older Regulation Text
38 U.S.C. 1117 now permits a qualifying chronic disability to manifest to any degree at any time and adds six countries. Older limits remain printed in 38 CFR 3.317(a). The chronic-illness rows follow the current statute and VA guidance; the separate infectious-disease manifestation rules remain explicit.
Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3
Herbicide Dates And Current Statutory Conditions
The Korean DMZ window uses September 1, 1967, and the Guam/American Samoa window ends July 31, 1980. These follow current statutes and the VA disability page. Older or inconsistent summaries were not used to narrow these dates. Statutory conditions absent from the older regulatory list are still included.
Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3
Grouped Cancer Names Do Not Broaden Anatomical Restrictions
The anatomical category and primary diagnosis matter. A named subtype may also appear under a broader category; these rows do not establish separate payments for the same disability. Radiation and herbicide exclusions remain attached to their particular pathways.
Official Sources
Last verified 2026-10-25. Source publication or legal effective dates are shown separately where available.
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