Joslyn Manufacturing and Supply Co.
 

Special Exposure Cohort
 

Petition Evaluation Report
 

SEC-00200
 

Samuel Glover, PhD
 Research Health Scientist
 

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
 

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
 

December 2012
 

Knoxville, TN
 
 

 

 

 

Brief Site Description
 

 Joslyn is listed as an Atomic Weapons Employer 

for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) from 

March 1943 to 1952 

 Principal operations included the machining and 

rolling of uranium rods with limited thorium 

machining operations 

 Joslyn was the primary commercial rolling 

facility for the AEC prior to Simonds Saw and 

Steel 
 

 

 

 

 

Petition Overview
 

 Petition SEC-00200 received March 15, 2012 and 

was qualified May 10, 2012 

 Petitioner proposed class definition: 

•	 All employees who worked in any area of the Joslyn 

Manufacturing and Supply Company in Fort Wayne, 

Indiana, from 1944 through 1952 

 Class Evaluated by NIOSH 

•	 All employees who worked in any area of the Joslyn 

Manufacturing and Supply Company in Fort Wayne, 

Indiana, from March 1, 1943 through December 31, 

1952 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Status of Claims
 (as of December 3, 2012) 

 Total number of claims submitted: 62 

 Total number of claims who worked during 

proposed (SEC): 62 

 Total number with a DR (at DOL): 36 

 Total number claims with internal or external 

records: 0 

 Total number claims greater than 50%: 27 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Background
 

 Joslyn Manufacturing and Supply Company is located in 

Fort Wayne, IN with a long history of producing 

stainless steel 

 Joslyn participated in a number of radiological 

operations for the Manhattan Engineer District (MED) 

and later the AEC including hot rolling, quenching, 

straightening, cooling, grinding, waste burning, and 

abrasive cutting of natural uranium billets into metal 

rods 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Background—cont.
 

 Much of the early work at Joslyn (pre-1948) was related 

to production of uranium for the Hanford site 

 Also used for numerous experiments to develop 

procedures for rolling uranium metal for use in nuclear 

reactors 

 Performed rolling operations associated with testing 

uranium metal rods at the Chalk River reactor in Canada 

 Prepared uranium metal for the British government 
Background—cont.
 
 

 

 

 

 

Sources of Exposure
 

 Principal source for workers included the inhalation and 

ingestion of natural uranium oxide from the production and 

shaping of uranium metal rods 

 Joslyn was a hand operated shop, rods were manually 

reinserted into the mill the required number of times and 

then dragged to the next process 

 Joslyn operated three rolling mills (18 inch, 12 inch, and 9 

inch) which were co-located and used for various operations 

simultaneously 

 Rolling of uranium was conducted on rollers which had 

water cooled bearings which produced steam and high levels 

of contamination 
 

 

 

 

Sources of Exposure—cont.
 

 Additional machining and preparation steps (i.e. centerless 

grinding, cutting, heat treating and quenching, and 

threading) were carried out on uranium metal prepared at 

Joslyn as well as from other facilities 

 Billets were stored onsite for relatively long periods of time 

in a storage area 

 Uranium waste was noted to be collected and burned 

outside 

•	 Worker interviews supported the burning of waste 

•	 Document reviewed describes an offsite explosion of a drum of 

uranium metal from Joslyn which had not been properly treated 
 

 

 

 

Sources of Exposure—cont.
 

 Grinding operations described as being conducted 

inside of a shed inside the larger building 

•	 Grinder had an overhead hood which discharged inside the 

larger building 

 Machining operations were noted to be conducted with 

a heavy flow of coolant fluid over the cutting/grinding 

surfaces to reduce sparking 

 Tenting of area to prevent contamination of 

surrounding areas discussed 
 

 

 

Sources of Exposure—cont.
 

 For all operations, Joslyn was responsible for 

packaging, handling, and loading 

 The Manhattan Engineer District (MED)/AEC kept 

strict records of metals and sought to regain as 

much of the material as possible 

•	 Joslyn was responsible for cleanup and accounting for 

materials 

 Documents describe a required medical surveillance 

program for Joslyn workers including x-rays and 

blood work 
Uranium Work at Joslyn 

700000
 

600000
 

pounds of uranium processed 500000
 

400000
 

300000
 

200000
 

100000
 

0
 

1st half 1943

2nd half 1943

1st half 1944

2nd half 1944

1st half 1945

2nd half 1945

1st half 1946

2nd half 1946

1st half 1947

2nd half 1947

1st half 1948

2nd half 1948

1st half 1949

2nd half 1949

1st half 1950

2nd half 1950

1st half 1951

2nd half 1951

1st half 1952

2nd half 1952 

six month interval 

Approximate Quantities of Uranium 

Processed at Joslyn
 
 

Sources of Exposure—cont.
 

 Joslyn has two recorded thorium related processing 

period 

•	 June 21, 1946: Straightening and centerless grinding of 

six thorium rods 

•	 January 21, 1947: Centerless grinding of five extruded 

thorium rods 
External Monitoring Programs and 
 

Data Availability
 

 No evidence that a routine monitoring program 

existed 

 Extremely few measurements are available, source 

term basis needed 

 Survey by Health and Safety Laboratory (HASL) in 

1949 reported contamination levels and dose rates 

in several areas 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Internal Dose Monitoring Programs
 

and Data Availability
 

 No routine air monitoring or bioassay program 

 Limited air samples taken on three different occasions 

(December 1943, May 1944, October 1951) 

•	 Very limited in scope 

•	 Mostly General Area (GA) samples 

•	 Early data taken using equipment (electrostatic precipitator) which 

would not be comparable to HASL equipment 

•	 Much more substantial study performed January 8, 1952: 

HASL conducted a time weighted average study of various 

production operations at Joslyn 
 

 

 

 

Approach to Bounding Doses
 

January 1, 1948-December 31, 1952
 

 Beginning with January 1, 1948 NIOSH proposes to 

use the data from TBD-6000 and known rolling days 

to determine internal and external dose 

 Standard approach to medical X-ray dose using 

OTIB-0006 
 

 

 

Post 1947 Internal Dose
 

 TBD-6000 tabulated data converted from per 

calendar day to per rolling day exposures for 

ingestion and inhalation (assuming 250 work days 

per year) 
Lognormal Fit of All 1952 Air 
 

Concentration Data
 
1952 Air Concentration
 

Exposure Information
 
 

 

 

 

 

External Dose Post 1947
 

 External dose rate factors for rolling days and 

contaminated surfaces will be applied 

 Billets were stored onsite for an extended amount 

of time 

 For the purposes of the example dose 

reconstructions external dose determined 

•	 Rolling day: 10 hour exposure to a long billet at 1 foot per 

rolling day (7.03 mR/day) 

•	 Billet storage: 10 hour exposure to a long billet at 1 meter 

per non-rolling day (1.08 mR/day) 
 

Summary of Monitoring Gaps
 

 External 

• No film badge results 

• Source term and operational information required 
 

 

 

 

Summary of Monitoring Gaps
 

 Internal 

•	 No bioassay 

•	 Very limited air monitoring for single operation 

•	 Early air data not representative of the varied 

operations and was obtained using non-standard 

equipment 

•	 Back extrapolation of 1952 air sample data to support 

operation exposure prior to 1948 not appropriate 

—Accounts for experience gained and undocumented changes 

in procedures and oversight 

—Change in maximum allowable limits (MED to AEC in 1948) 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Proposed Class
 

All Atomic Weapons Employees who worked in 

any buildings/area owned by the Joslyn 

Manufacturing and Supply Co. (or a subsequent 

owner) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from March 1, 

1943 through December 31, 1947, for a number 

of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, 

occurring either solely under this employment or 

in combination with work days within the 

parameters established for one or more other 

classes of employees included in the Special 

Exposure Cohort 
 

 

 

 

 

Joslyn SEC Petition 200
 

 Why the class? 

•	 Workers were potentially exposed to uranium and 

thorium who were not monitored nor does a suitable 

dose reconstruction method exist prior to 1948 at Joslyn. 

•	 Decision was based on lack of adequate biological 

monitoring data, sufficient air monitoring information, 

and differences in operational characteristics from other 

metal working facilities which were monitored after 1948 

(no appropriate surrogate data exists) 
 

Joslyn SEC Petition 200—cont.
 

 Why everyone? 

•	 Based on reports by the AEC and facility layout, the 

process areas were broadly distributed and controls for 

preventing movement in these areas was not enforced . 
 

 

 

 

 

Joslyn SEC Petition 200—cont.
 

 What about employees not included in the SEC? 

•	 NIOSH intends to use any internal monitoring data that 

may become available for an individual claim (and that 

can be interpreted using existing dose reconstruction 

processes or procedures). Therefore, dose 

reconstructions for individuals employed at the Joslyn 

site during the period from March 1, 1943 through 

December 31, 1947, but who do not qualify for inclusion 

in the Special Exposure Cohort, may be performed using 

these data as appropriate. 
 

 

 

Joslyn SEC Petition 200—cont.
 

•	 NIOSH may be able to reconstruct external dose from 

March 1, 1943 through December 31, 1947, using the 

known rolling days and TBD-6000 approaches (similar to 

the post 1947 external dose) 

•	 Furthermore, NIOSH intends to estimate doses from 

medical x-rays using information from employee medical 

records and claimant favorable medical dose 

reconstruction assumptions and methods. 
 

Joslyn SEC Petition 200—cont.
 

 Why stop in 1948? 

•	 NIOSH feels that the surrogate data from TBD-6000 

coupled with the known operational data and source 

term information provides support that a realistic dose 

can be determined. 
 

 

 

 

Health Endangerment
 

 The evidence reviewed in this evaluation indicates 

that some workers in the class may have 

accumulated chronic radiation exposures through 

intakes of radionuclides and direct exposure to

radioactive materials. 

 Consequently, NIOSH is specifying that health may

have been endangered for those workers covered by

this evaluation who were employed for a number of

work days aggregating at least 250 work days within

the parameters established for this class or in

combination with work days within the parameters

established for one or more other classes of 

employees in the SEC. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summary
 Feasibility Findings for Joslyn Petition SEC-200 

March 1, 1943 – December 31, 1952 

Source of Exposure Reconstruction Feasible Reconstruction NOT 

Feasible 

Internal 

- Uranium 1/1/1948- 

12/31/1952 

3/1/1943- 

12/31/1947 

-Thorium N/A 3/1/1943- 

12/31/1947 

External 

- Gamma/Photon All years 

- Beta All years 

- Neutron N/A 

- Occ. Medical X-ray All years