A no-fault risk compensation approach for radiation risks incurred in space travel. 2024

Francis A Cucinotta, and Walter Schimmerling
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Department of Health Physics and Diagnostic Sciences, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA. Electronic address: francis.cucinotta@unlv.edu.

In this paper we recommend an appropriate compensation approach should be established for fatality and disabilities that may occur due to space radiation exposures of government or industry workers. A brief review of compensation approaches for nuclear energy and nuclear weapons development workers in the United States and other countries is described. We then summarize issues in the application of probability of causation calculation and provide examples of probability of causation (PC) calculations for missions to the International Space Station and Earth's moon or for Mars exploration. The main focus of this paper follows with a recommendation of a no-fault approach to compensation with the creation of appropriate insurance policies funded by employers to cover all disabilities or fatality, without requiring proof of causation or restriction to conditions that imply causation. Importantly we propose that the compensation described should be managed by recourse to private insurers.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D011832 Radiation Injuries Harmful effects of non-experimental exposure to ionizing or non-ionizing radiation in VERTEBRATES. Radiation Sickness,Radiation Syndrome,Injuries, Radiation,Injury, Radiation,Radiation Injury,Radiation Sicknesses,Radiation Syndromes,Sickness, Radiation,Sicknesses, Radiation,Syndrome, Radiation,Syndromes, Radiation
D003359 Cosmic Radiation High-energy radiation or particles from extraterrestrial space that strike the earth, its atmosphere, or spacecraft and may create secondary radiation as a result of collisions with the atmosphere or spacecraft. HZE Particles,Radiation, Cosmic,Cosmic Radiations,HZE Particle,Particle, HZE,Particles, HZE,Radiations, Cosmic
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000069079 Radiation Exposure Phenomenon in which organisms are subjected to radiation. Exposure, Radiation
D013026 Space Flight Travel beyond the earth's atmosphere. Space Exploration,Space Travel,Spaceflight,Exploration, Space,Explorations, Space,Flight, Space,Flights, Space,Space Explorations,Space Flights,Space Travels,Spaceflights,Travel, Space,Travels, Space
D014481 United States A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D016273 Occupational Exposure The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents that occurs as a result of one's occupation. Exposure, Occupational,Exposures, Occupational,Occupational Exposures
D035881 Compensation and Redress Payment, or other means of making amends, for a wrong or injury. Compensation,Redress and Compensation

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