Office of the Ombudsman

Call Toll Free: 1-877-662-8363 

or Email: at ombudsman@dol.gov

Energy Employees 

Occupational Illness 

Compensation Program 

Act (EEOICPA)

SPECIAL 

EXPOSURE 

COHORT 

(SEC)

Ombudsman

FOR MORE INFORMATION

CONTACT THE OFFICE OF 

THE OMBUDSMAN

Toll free telephone number:

1-877-662-8363

Fax number: 202-693-5899

E-mail: ombudsman@dol.gov

Web site: www.dol.gov/eeombd

MAILING ADDRESS

Office of the Ombudsman

U.S. Department of Labor

200 Constitution Avenue, NW

Room N-2454

Washington, DC 20210

or:

CONTACT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE 

FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY 

AND HEALTH (NIOSH) 

Web site at: www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas 

or contact NIOSH toll free at 

1-877-222-7570 or 

by email at dcas@cdc.gov.

or:

CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT OF 

LABOR’S DIVISION OF ENERGY EMPLOYEES 

OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION 

(DEEOIC) 

Web site at: www.dol.gov/owcp/energy/ 

or call toll-free at 1-866-888-3322 

or by email at Deeoic-public@dol.gov

SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT (SEC) SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT (SEC)

WHAT IS THE SEC DESIGNATION PROCESS?

The designation process begins with 

a petition submitted to NIOSH by 

an employee(s) or their survivor(s), 

authorized representative(s), or by a labor 

organization representing the employee(s). 

NIOSH can also initiate a petition. 

a) NIOSH evaluates the petition to 

determine if it meets the minimum 

qualifications for review. If it does, 

NIOSH completes an evaluation of the 

petition and forwards the evaluation 

and the petition to the Advisory Board 

on Radiation and Worker Health (the 

Advisory Board) for review. Note: the 

President appoints the Advisory Board 

to advise the Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS) on its activities 

under EEOICPA.

b) During one of its regular Advisory 

Board meetings, the Advisory Board 

reviews NIOSH’s evaluation, hears from 

the petitioners, and reviews any other 

information appropriate for the petition.

c) The Advisory Board submits a 

recommendation on a new SEC class to 

the Secretary of HHS.

d) The Secretary of HHS makes the 

final decision to add or deny a 

new class to the SEC based on the 

recommendation of the Advisory 

Board and NIOSH’s evaluation. The 

Secretary of HHS issues a designation 

letter to Congress with the definition 

of the class within 30 days of 

receiving the Advisory Board’s 

recommendation.

e) A new SEC class becomes effective 30 

calendar days after Congress receives 

the Secretary’s designation letter.

f) The Secretary of HHS provides 

a report to DOL containing the 

definition of the class and either the 

addition of the class to the SEC or the 

result of any action by Congress to 

reverse or expedite the decision. 

g) Following the identification of a 

new SEC class, the Department of 

Labor reviews all affected cases and 

makes a determination on whether 

an employee meets the criteria for 

inclusion in the new class. 

The Office of the Ombudsman for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

Compensation Program was created by Congress in October 2004 as an independent 

office within the Department of Labor to provide information and to address concerns 

relating to the benefits available under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA).

Office of the
SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT (SEC) 

HOW DO I QUALIFY AS A MEMBER OF A 

SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT CLASS?

A covered DOE, DOE contractor, or AWE 

employee must have worked for a specific 

period of time at an SEC work site. 

WHAT ARE THE SEC WORK SITES?

EEOICPA originally established four (4) 

SEC classes, which includes employees 

who worked at gaseous diffusion plants in 

Paducah, Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio; or 

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for a total of at least 

250 work days before February 1, 1992 and 

were monitored for radiation exposure 

with dosimetry badges or had jobs with 

similar exposures to those monitored, and 

employees who worked before January 

1, 1974, on Amchitka Island, Alaska, 

and were exposed to radiation related 

to the Long Shot, Milrow or Cannikin 

underground nuclear tests. EEOICPA 

also authorizes the Secretary of Health 

and Human Services (HHS) to add other 

classes of employees to the SEC. A current 

listing of all SEC work sites can be found 

at: http://www.dol.gov/owcp/ energy/regs/

compliance/law/SEC Employees. html.

PART B: 

THE 2 PATHS TO 

COMPENSATION 

FOR ALL CANCER 

CLAIMS

1. Diagnosis of a 

“specified cancer”, 

and a sufficient 

number of work 

days at one or more 

Special Exposure 

Cohort facilities, 

and satisfaction of 

any/all other SEC 

criteria; OR 

2. Diagnosis of 

ANY cancer, and 

probability of 

causation (PoC) 

of 50% or higher 

from radiation dose 

reconstruction.

• Leukemia (other than chronic 

lymphocytic leukemia) provided that 

the onset of the disease was at least two 

years after the initial exposure.

• Multiple myeloma provided onset was 

at least 5 years after the initial exposure.

• Lymphomas (other than Hodgkin’s 

disease) provided onset was at least 5 

years after the initial exposure.

✴ Primary or secondary cancer of: 

• Bone

• Renal (kidney)

• Lung (other than in situ lung cancer 

that is discovered during or after a 

post-mortem exam)

✴ Primary cancer of:

(provided onset was at least 5 years 

after the initial exposure):

• Bile ducts

 • Brain (malignancies only)

• Breast, female and male

• Colon (including rectum and 

appendix)

• Esophagus

• Gall bladder

• Liver (except if cirrhosis or 

hepatitis B is indicated)

• Ovary

• Pancreas

• Pharynx (including the soft palate, 

base of the tongue, and the tonsils)

• Salivary glands

• Small intestine

• Stomach

• Thyroid

• Urinary bladder

WHAT ARE THE

SPECIFIED

CANCERS?