Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH)

Meeting 153

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Summary Proceedings

The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health meeting convened at 8:15 a.m. 

Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Dr. Henry A. Anderson, Chair, presiding.

Attendees

Members

Henry Anderson, Chair

Josie Beach, Member

Victoria Cassano, Member (via Zoom)

Bradley Clawson, Member

Arthur Frank, (via Zoom)

David Kotelchuck, Member (via Zoom)

James Lockey, Member

Nicole Martinez, Member (via Zoom)

David Pompa, Member

Gen Roessler, Member (via Zoom)

Paul L. Ziemer, Member

Loretta Valerio, Member (via Zoom)

Non-Members, Registered and/or Public Comment Participants:

Rashaun Roberts, Designated Federal Official

Nancy Adams, NIOSH contractor

Zaida Burgos, NIOSH contractor

Bob Barton, SC&A

Kathy Behling, SC&A

Finn Black

Ron Buchanan

Grady Calhoun, DCAS

John Cardarelli, DCAS

Nancy Chalmers, ORAU Team

Frank "Chris" Crawford, DOL

Denise DeGarmo
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Dennis Elliott, Co-petitioner

Michael Elliott, Co-petitioner 

Joe Fitzgerald, SC&A

Joe Guido, ORAU Team

Donna Hand

Greg Lewis, DOE

Mark Lewis, Subcontractor DCAS

Ashton Habighurst, HHS

Mangel, Amy, SC&A

Pat McCloskey, ORAU

Chuck Nelson, DCAS

Steve Ostrow, SC&A

Marybeth Potter

Susan Powell, R.N.

Michael Rafky, HHS

LaVon Rutherford, DCAS

Mutty Sharfi

Scott Siebert, ORAU

Tim Taulbee, DCAS

Brant Ulsh, NIOSH

Diane Whitten

Michael Rafky, HHS
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Roll Call/Welcome - Dr. Rashaun Roberts, DFO

Dr. Rashaun Roberts called to order the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker 

Health at 8:15 am EST on August 16, 2023, at the Double Tree Inn at Augusta, 

Georgia. A roll call of all ABRWH members confirmed that a quorum was present. 

Board members and staff announced conflicts of interest during roll call. The quorum 

was maintained throughout the meeting. Dr. Roberts turned the meeting over to Dr. 

Anderson, Board Chair, who moved on to the first agenda item.

Program Updates: NIOSH, DOL, DOE

Grady Calhoun (NIOSH), Frank Crawford (DOL) and Gina Griego-Kelleher (DOE) gave 

updates of each organization’s activities for the EEOICPA Program and responded to 

questions from Board Members. Initially, technical difficulties prevented Frank Crawford

from describing his presentation, but those were resolved, and he presented it after the 

next agenda item.

Interactive RadioEpidemiological Program (IREP) Update – Dr. Tim 

Taulbee, DCAS

Dr. Taulbee reported on work DCAS has done evaluating how different software 

packages calculate percentiles, and the variability of the 99th percentile when using the 

number of iterations IREP currently uses. Currently IREP has a slight negative bias in 

99th percentiles of Probability of Causation (POC), which could affect claim outcomes if 

they are close to the 50% POC decision point. Consequently, DCAS is adopting a new 

version of IREP which allows a larger number of iterations because that will narrow the 

range of calculated 99th percentiles. Previously completed claims with POCs in the 

range of 45% to 50% will be re-evaluated via a Program Evaluation Report, in order to 

apply the new version of IREP to them. Dr. Taulbee responded to questions from Board 

members.

Procedures Review Finalization/Document Approvals – Ms. Kathy 

Behling, SC&A

After introductory remarks by Ms. Beach, Subcommittee Chair, Ms. Kathy Behling, 

SC&A presented the Subcommittee’s completed review of five documents. Those 

documents are:

• OCAS TIB-009, rev. 0, “Estimation of Ingestion Intakes”/NIOSH-OVER-0002, rev. 

0, “Workplace Ingestion”

• ORAUT-PROC-0031, rev. 01, “DOE Technical Basis Document Development, 

Review, and Approval Process”

• ORAUT-OTIB-0083, rev, 00, “Dissolution Models for Insoluble Plutonium-238” 

superseded by DCAS-RPT-005, rev. 01, “Alternative Dissolution Models for 

Insoluble Pu-238”

• OCAS-PER-020, rev. 0, “Blockson TBD Revision”

• OCAS-PR-007, rev. 1, “Dose Reconstruction Review”
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After Ms. Behling presented the Subcommittee’s work on each document, the Board 

voted to close the reviews of all five documents.

SEC Petition Status Update – Mr. Chuck Nelson, DCAS

Mr. Nelson reported that DCAS had recently received three SEC petitions. One, which 

is numbered SEC-261, was submitted on behalf of some Danish citizens who had 

assisted in the cleanup of a B-52 crash near Thule Air Force Base in Greenland. A 

nuclear weapon was damaged in that crash. Neither Thule Air Force Base nor the area 

of the crash is listed as a covered facility. DCAS is working with DOE and DOL to 

determine what, if anything, can be done with that petition. The second, which is 

numbered SEC-262, was submitted in error. A claimant with a dose reconstruction 

misunderstood instructions they received from DOL and submitted a petition form in 

error. That petition has been withdrawn. The third is a petition for the Weldon Spring 

Site. That one will begin the qualification process soon.

Two petitions are undergoing evaluation, SEC-221 for Lawrence Livermore National 

Lab for the years 1990 to 1995, and SEC-057 for Hanford for the years 1984 to 2021. 

Nine petitions are under Board consideration. They are SEC-0103 for Savannah River, 

SEC-0109 for Los Alamos National Lab, SEC-0219 for Idaho National Lab, SEC-0224 

for Argonne National Lab West, SEC-0235 for Area IV Santa Susanna, SEC-0236 for 

Metals & Controls, SEC-0246 for DeSoto Avenue Facility, SEC-0250 for the Y-12 Plant, 

and SEC-0256 for the Pinellas Plant. Additionally, DCAS is considering a possible SEC 

for the AWE period of West Valley Demonstration Project, 1966-1968. 

Metals & Controls (M&C) Work Group Update – Ms. Josie Beach, 

Chair

Ms. Beach recounted the history of radiological operations at Metals & Controls, then 

described the discussion that have occurred in the Work Group. DCAS’s evaluation 

concluded that dose reconstruction was feasible during the residual contamination 

period, but the Work Group is not convinced. The Work Group considers the intrusive 

work performed at Metals & Controls during the residual contamination period is similar 

to that at Linde Ceramics. An SEC class was added for the residual contamination 

period at Linde Ceramic. Discussions on this matter are continuing. 

Board Work Session

Several Subcommittee and Work Group chairs described recent activities and future 

plans. Board members were particularly complimentary toward recent facility tours that 

DOE provided for Idaho National Lab and the LANSCE facility at Lost Alamos National 

Lab. Dr. Roberts recounted the public comments received at the April Board meeting. 

She then reminded Board members of scheduled meetings: an in-person meeting on

December 6 and 7 in the area of Livermore, California, a teleconference on February 

14, 2024, and an in-person meeting on April 17 or 18, 2024. The Board discussed the 

possibility of avoiding December meetings because of holidays and the weather but did 

not arrive at a more favorable alternative. They then scheduled a teleconference for 
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June 26, 2024, at 11:00 am Eastern time, an in-person meeting for August 7 and 8, and 

an in-person meeting for December 4 and 5.

Savannah River Site (SRS) Work Group Update – Mr. Bob Barton, 

SC&A

Mr. Barton presented the current status of the Savannah River Site Work Group’s 

discussions. The Board has already recommended an SEC class for subcontractor 

construction trades workers through 1990, withholding judgment on later dates. The 

Work Group is still deciding what date to recommend for the end of this class. The 

discussion centers around SC&A’s review of DCAS’s Report 92, which is a description 

of the bioassay data available for subcontract construction trades workers. Mr. Barton 

described SC&A’s conclusions from their review of that document, as well as DCAS’s 

response to those conclusions. The Work Group will continue its discussions at future 

meetings. 

After the Savannah River discussion the Board returned to scheduling future meetings. 

A phone call meeting was scheduled for October 9, 2023.

Public Comment

Members of the public provided comments related to the Metals & Controls SEC 

Petition, the Pinellas Plant, the fact that only a small fraction of all nuclear weapons 

workers have submitted EEOICPA claims, and questioning if the program is meeting its 

responsibilities. Additionally, Dr. Roberts read a letter from Sen. Edward Markey 

supporting an SEC Petition for certain Metals & Controls workers.

Meeting Adjourned

Dr. Anderson adjourned the meeting at 5:46 pm.