Sandia National Laboratories – Liv

Special Exposure Cohort Petit

Dr. Samuel Glover

Research Health Scientist

NIOSH Division of Compensation Analysis and Suppo

October 2013

Westminster, CO
Background

 NIOSHdeterminesitisnotfeasible tocomplete th

reconstruction for aworker class due tolack ofsu

dosimetry‐related informationat SandiaNationa

Laboratory‐Livermore (SNL‐L)

 OnAugust 14, 2013 – NIOSHnotifies claimant and

a copyof Special ExposureCohort(SEC) petition

 August 22, 2013 – Petition form received

 October 7, 2013 – EvaluationReportissued
NIOSH‐Evaluated Class

 Department of Energy, its predecessor agenc

their contractors and subcontractors

 Who worked in any area at SandiaNational

Laboratories‐Livermore in Livermore, Califor

 October 1, 1957 throughDecember 31, 1994
Background

 Early 1956 – SandiaNational Laboratory establishes Liverm

provide directsupportto the Lawrence LivermoreNationa

(LLNL), whichwas originally located only atthe LLNL site

 End of 1956 – plans made for a much largersupport effort a

LLNL,whichwould employ about 1000workers

 October 1957 – facility opens

 1958 – Employs about 800workersto developW38warhe

Titan I andAtlas missiles

• Developstoconsistof about 70buildingson410 acres adjacenttoL• Numberof employeestypically rangesfrom 1000to1100

 Site continuously operated by Sandia Corporation
Background–cont.
Background–cont.

 Primary mission of SNL‐L included

• Engineer or “weaponize” the nuclear physics package d

LLNL (production of parts and final weapons accomplissites)

– Designandtestnon‐nuclear componentsofthenuclearweaponsp

byLLNL

– Ensurethattheother95%oftheweapon’spartsworkperfectlyate

contactwiththedeliverysystems

– Weaponizationincludes arming,fuzingandfiringsystems;neutron

transfersystems;andsuretysystems

• SNL‐L support for LLNL later expanded to include effect

analyses and telemetry for LLNL tests

• From 1959 to the early 1970’s SNL‐L participated in eva

the Plowshare Program nuclear detonations
Background–cont.

 Facilities and operationssupporting these core missio

• Weapons Facility Complex (test/repair neutron det

machining of uranium,radiography of weapons co

ion beam analysis of materials,tritium storage stud

• Micro andNano Technologies Laboratories(Radiog

materialscience studies)

• Centrifuge and explosive testfacility
Background–cont.

 Additionalfacilities and activities

• Former Tritium Research Laboratory (nowknown asthe 

and RadiologicalDetection Laboratory)

• Explosive and Environmental Testing Complex (environm

of mock‐upweapons and components)

• Additional classified activitiesinvolving thorium and high

uranium

• Proximity of LLNL to SNL‐L allowed workerstowheeltest 

acrossthe street
Sources of Available Informat

 Oak RidgeAssociatedUniversities Team (ORAUT)

• TechnicalBasisDocument(s)(TBD), Technical InformationBulletins(

Procedures

 Interviews with former employees Existing claimantfiles NIOSHSite ResearchDatabase (more than 1,000 documen

 Multiple data capture visitsto SNL‐L and SandiaAlbuquerq

related to SNL‐L

 Data capture of Sandia‐related records atfacilities acrossth

Department of Energy (DOE) complex

 DOEOpenNet(Office of Science and Technical Information 

 Internetsearches
Previous Dose Reconstructio

Description as of October 3, 2013 

Total number of SNL‐Livermore claims submitted for dose

reconstruction 

Claims completed with a Probability of Causation (POC) above50% Claims completed with a POC less than 50% 

Claims with employment during the period evaluated 

Number of dose reconstructions completed with employment

during the period 

Claims in evaluation period containing internal dosimetry

records Claims in evaluation period containing external dosimetryrecords 
Health Physics at SNL‐L

 Health physics wasthe responsibility of SNL‐L unti

timeframe when SNL‐A assumed responsibility

 NIOSHlocated minimal documentation ofthe prac

requirements during the evaluation period; in gen

little information regarding the program is availab

 Documentation was kept at SNL‐L and records hav

transferred ad hoc overthe pastfew decades(and 

asthey find additional information)
Potential External Radiologic

Exposures during the Class Per

 Broad spectrum of external hazards

• Photonexposuresrelatedtoradiography, x‐raydiffractio

materials characterizationstudies(fromradioactivesou

generators)

• Exposures(beta/photon)whileworkingwiththoriuma

metals andcompounds

• Neutronexposuresfromradiography sources andtest,r

researchofneutronandx‐raydetectors

• Exposures(beta/photon)whileworkingwithstorage an

ofwastematerials
Potential External Radiologic

Exposures during the Class Perio

 Materials andactivitiesincluded

• Depleteduraniumandalloysfrommachining

– Surrogatesfortestdeviceswerefabricatedontheorderof50‐10

monthforSNL‐Lactivities

• Highlyenricheduranium

• Thorium• Preparationofsamplesfortests

• GramquantitiesoftritiumattheTRLandlesser amoun

facilities
Availability of Records

 Record retrieval andreviewsignificantlymore com

at SNL‐L due tohistoric recordsstorage practices

• SomeHealthPhysicsrecordstransferred toSNL‐

havebeen transferred overtimewithlittleorno

documentation oftransfers

• Provide very littleornoinformation useful insel

recordsforreview

• Available records are stored bothCalifornia and

Mexicowithlittleornodocumentation oftransf
Personal Monitoring Data

 Availabilityofdata remainssignificant concern fo

Sandia sites

• November2009 ‐NIOSHnotifiedDOE aboutincomplete 

responsesforbothSandiasites(especially internaldosim

• January2010 ‐NIOSHagainrequestedSNL’srecordsofo• Backlogof casesshowsdifficultiesfacedbythesitetoob

records

• DOEandSNL continue effortstoimprove recordssearch

requestsfor claimantmonitoringdata

• NIOSHcontinuestoprovidefeedback tobothSNL‐Land

theavailabilityof completemonitoring records
Internal Dosimetry Data Availab

 Unlike manyDOE facilities, SandiaNational Laborator

reportthenumber ofbioassay samples analyzed

 Based oninterviews, itisthoughttobe a relatively sm

ofsamples per year

 NIOSHhasobtained copies ofsomebioassay records 

itssitedata captures andclaimdata requests

 However, aswithSNL‐A, itis clearthat Sandia isnot a

produce allthe records nor are they sureofhowmuc

there
External Monitoring Data

 NIOSHhasidentified numerous caseswith data no

providedby the site (similarto internal data)

 NIOSHhasprovidedthe sitewith copiesof allthe 

we have retrieved; however,we are unable to:

• Conclude thatwehave captured allthedata

• Understand allthe source termstoovercome t

personel monitoring data
Dose Reconstruction Feasibil

 Cannot bound internalor external dosesfromOctober 

throughDecember 31, 1994

• Lackoftheavailabilityofmonitoringdata,processinformation

monitoringprograminformationareinsufficienttosupportest

potentialinternalorexternalexposurestoradiationandradioa

• Lackofinternalmonitoringprogramdocumentationandsourc

informationdatafortheevaluatedperiod

• Availablerecordssuggestonlysomeworkersparticipatedinan

dosimetrybioassayprogramwhilesomeworkersonlyparticip

externaldosimetryprogram

• Eveniftheadditionalrecordsbecomeavailable,NIOSHcouldn

boundingapproach
Recommended Class

“All employees of the Department of Energy, itpredecessor agencies, and their contractors asubcontractors who worked in any area at SanNational Laboratories-Livermore in Livermore, from October 1, 1957 through December 31, 19number of work days aggregating at least 250 days, occurring either solely under this employin combination with work days within the paraestablished for one or more other classes of eincluded in the Special Exposure Cohort ” 
Recommendation for Non

‐SEC C

 AlthoughNIOSHfoundthatitisnotpossibletocompletelyreconstruc

dosesfortheproposedclass,NIOSHintendstouseanyinternalandex

monitoringdatathatmaybecomeavailableforanindividualclaim(an

interpretedusingexistingNIOSHdosereconstructionprocessesorpro

 NIOSHfindsthatitislikelyfeasibletoreconstructoccupationalmedica

SandiaNationalLaboratories‐Livermoreworkerswithsufficientaccur1989. After1989,medical

X‐raysarenotapplicablebecausetheywer

offsite

 Therefore,dosereconstructionsforindividualsemployedatSandiaN

Laboratories‐LivermoreduringtheperiodfromOctober1,1957throu31,1994,butwhodonotqualifyforinclusionintheSEC,maybeperfo

thesedataasappropriate
NIOSH Recommendation

Summary of Feasibility Findings for SEC‐00214

(October 1, 1957 through December 31, 1994)

Sources of Exposure Reconstruction Feasible Reconstruction 

Internal XExternal X

‐ Gamma X

‐ Beta X

‐ Neutron X

‐ Occupational Medical

X‐ray X