Electro Metallurgical Corporat

Special Exposure Cohort 

Petition Evaluation

(Report 00136-Rev 1)

Sam Glover, PhD

Research Health Scientist 

National Institute for Occupational Safety and He

Office of Compensation Analysis and Support

February 2012

Oakland, CA
Electro Metallurgical

 Site History 

• Electro Metallurgical Corporation (Electr

was located in Niagara Falls, New York abegan uranium operations in 1942 under contract with the Manhattan Engineer Di(MED). 

• From August 13, 1942 through June 1953

plant intermittently produced uranium mfrom uranium tetrafluoride, in a thermal reduction process employing magnesium
Electro Metallurgical—cont. 

• Electromet was subsequently acquired 

Union Carbide, which was acquired, in tDow Chemical. 

• 1942-1951: Uranium operations were ca

out, with two standby periods. On June 1953, all AEC operations formally cease

• Uranium was the only significant radioa

material present at Electromet. 
Petition Overview

 November 17, 2008: petition received  December 8, 2008: additional petition rec March 12, 2009: petition received on Nov

17, 2008, qualified for evaluation and was merged with the petition received on Dec8, 2008 

 July 23, 2009: Evaluation Report issued  July 2009: SC&A issued a report reviewin

evaluation report 

 October 2009: Evaluation Report present

the Advisory Board 
Petition Overview—cont. 

 The Advisory Board Working Group has 

several times to discuss various issues regarding Electromet 

 November 2011: NIOSH notified the Work

Group of its intent to propose that a porthe covered period at Electromet be addeclass 

 January 31, 2012: Revision 1 of the NIOS

Evaluation Report issued 

 February 21, 2012: SC&A issued a partia

review of the revised NIOSH Evaluation R
Proposed SEC Class

 Petitioner proposed class definition: 

“All workers who worked in any area the Electro Metallurgical Corporationfacility from August 13, 1942 through December 31, 1953.”

 Class evaluated by NIOSH: 

“All workers who worked in any area the Electro Metallurgical Corporationfacility from August 13, 1942 through 30, 1953.” 
Sources of Available Informat

 DOE Legacy Management Considere

Sites and Office of Scientific and Technical Information database (OST

 ORAU Team Technical Information 

Bulletins, Procedures, and the TechnBasis Documents 

 Electromet Plant Health Protection 

Surveys, safety standards, and operaprocedures 
Sources of Available Informatio

 NIOSH Site Research Database 

documents

 Interviews with former Electromet 

employees

 Case files in NIOSH OCAS Claims 

Tracking System

 Documentation provided by petitione
Availability of Dosimetry Da

NIOSH OCAS Claims Tracking Syste

Information available as of February 16, 2012 

 Electromet claims submitted to NIOSH  Dose reconstructions completed  Claims containing internal dosimetry 

1 

 Claims containing external dosimetry 

1 

 Claims completed with POC >50% 

48 
Petition Bases/Concerns

 Few workers were monitored for exte

exposure in the Manhattan Engineer District (MED)/Atomic Energy Comm(AEC)/Department of Energy (DOE) p

 Effectiveness of worker health prote

and industrial health programs 
Unmonitored Workers

 Summary of monitoring at Electromet 

• Monitored workers intermittently to establis

exposure levels 

• Issued dosimeters to employees in 1944 and 

1949, and some results are available 

• Some urinalysis data are available for 1944 a

1949 

• Major improvements in processes to protec

worker health were documented to occur in 1947 
Unmonitored Workers—cont

• Only a handful of air sample data of eithe

Breathing Zone (BZ) or General Area (GAare available prior to 1948. 

—The air data is at odds with the later air data 

(collected after health improvements), it lendlittle credibility for its use or that it was usefutime to determine which workers should havmonitored 

• Data and monitoring programs after 194

much better documented 

• Early urine data available to NIOSH colle

from a single campaign 
Unmonitored Workers—con

 While a portion of the population was moni

it is not possible to determine if the highest exposed workers were monitored nor is thegroup which would constitute an appropriasurrogate data or coworker group 
Air Sampling at Electro Metallu
Comparison of Early and Late 

Sampling Data by Type
Bioassay Data Availability
External Dose

 NIOSH has several 

thousand external dosimetry measurements (primarily from the 2nd 

operational period) 

 The available external 

data and process knowledge allow for a boundable dose to be determined 

 The Technical Basis 

Document for Electromet will be updated 
Medical dose

 Electro Metallurgical has several refere

describing the medical program (preemployment, annual, and termination X

 TIB 6, Dose Reconstruction from 

Occupational Medical X-ray Procedureshall be used used with site specific information to evaluate medical dose dthe entire covered period 
Summary of Findings

 NIOSH has determined that neither th

bioassay nor the early limited air samdata are sufficient to bound the dose Electromet for the period August 13, through December 31, 1947 
Evaluation Process

 Two-Prong Test established by EEOIC

and incorporated into 42 C.F.R. 

§ 83.1

(c)(1) and 42 C.F.R. 

§ 83.13 (c)(3): 

1. Is it feasible to estimate the level of radi

doses of individual members of the classufficient accuracy? 

2. Is there a reasonable likelihood that suc

radiation dose may have endangered thhealth of members of the class? 
Feasibility of Dose Reconstruc

 NIOSH finds it is not feasible to estimate interna

exposures with sufficient accuracy for all workesite from August 13, 1942 through December 31

 Internal monitoring data, work area radiological 

monitoring data, and source term data are not sto provide a sufficiently accurate estimate of the bounding internal dose during this early period Electromet. 
Feasibility of Dose 

Reconstructions—cont. 

 With the exception of this class, per EEOICPA an

C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(1), NIOSH has established that access to sufficient information to: 

(1) estimate the maximum radiation dose, for every type 

cancer for which radiation doses are reconstructed, could have been incurred in plausible circumstancemember of the class; or 

(2) estimate radiation doses more precisely than an est

maximum dose. Information available from the site and additional resources is sufficient to document othe maximum internal and external potential exposumembers of the evaluated class under plausible circumstances during the specified period from Jan1948 through June 30, 1953. 
Proposed Class

All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors asubcontractors who worked at the Electro Metallurgical site in Niagara Falls, New York, fperiod from August 13, 1942 through Decembe1947, for a number of work days aggregating a250 work days, occurring either solely under temployment, or in combination with work daythe parameters established for one or more otclasses of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort. 
Summary

Feasibility Findings for ElectroMet Petition SEC-00

August 13, 1942 – June 30, 1953 

Source of Exposure Reconstruction 

Feasible 

Reconstr

NOT Fea

Internal 

- Uranium 1/1/1948-6/30/1953 8/13/19

12/31/1

External 

- Gamma/Photon All years 

- Beta All years - Neutron N/A - Occ. Medical X-ray All years