Janine Anderson dies after heroic fight

Janine Anderson dies after heroic fight

Janine Anderson at petition signing earlier this week.
photo/J. Miles Cary

Janine Anderson, a sick nuclear worker and an advocate for thousands of others, died this morning after a long struggle with debilitating illnesses linked to her work in Oak Ridge.

Richard Anderson, her husband of seven years, said she died in her sleep at their home in Maryville. Doctors said it was probably due to a heart attack or stroke, he said.

Anderson, 56, was major player in the national effort to get legislation passed to provide a compensation fund for workers made sick by exposures in the Cold War workplace at nuclear facilities around the country.

She was a developing force in the Coalition for a Healthy Environment, the Alliance for Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups, and the Cold War Patriots.

Anderson's latest cause was an effort to create a National Day of Remembrance for Cold War nuclear weapons workers, and she helped kick-start that movement earlier this week with a petition signing in Oak Ridge.

Her husband said she called that her "dream" and hoped that a resolution creating that special day would someday bear her name.

Anderson was featured prominently in last year's award-winning series, "Deadly Denial," by Laura Frank of the Rocky Mountain News.

Smith Mortuary is handling the arrangements. Richard Anderson said plans are in the works for a "Celebration of Life."

"She didn't like funerals," he said.