In the late 1940s and early 50s national security concerns were as high as our homeland security concerns are now. The federal government contracted with Bethlehem Steel to produce rolled uranium for use in nuclear bombs. However, the contract also required that the nature of the material being handled be kept secret from workers and the public.

As a result, workers spent long hours working on the material without any special protective gear to shield them from the radiation, breathing in radioactive dust as they moved about the plants. As the decades passed, the steelworkers developed numerous types of cancer at much higher rates then the general public. The Cold War ended and still our government said nothing.

After finally acknowledging the catastrophic consequences to workers wrought under the secrecy of national security, Congress passed the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 that provides government compensation to the thousands of exposed steelworkers and their survivors. Over 1,200 families have filed claims under the program.

The misfortune of these workers and their families offers us a cautionary tale of how easily government secrecy can spin out of control and wind up harming the people it's claiming to protect.