Sandia National LaboratoriesAlbuquerque

Special Exposure Cohort 

Petition Evaluation Report 188

Samuel Glover, PhD

Research Health Scientist

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

February 2012

Oakland, CA
Petition Overview

 Petition received on July 18, 2011

 Petitioner proposed class definition:

• All Security Inspectors, Security Clerks, Firemen, Nonregular Recurrent Security Inspectors, Security 

Officers, Security Police Officers I, Security Police 

Officers II, Security Police Officers III, and Central 

Alarm System Operators that worked in any area at 

SNL-A for the period from January 1, 1963 through 

May 21, 2011
Petition Overview—cont. 

 Petition qualified for evaluation on 

October 21, 2011

 Petition basis: radiation monitoring records for 

members of the proposed class have been lost, 

falsified, or destroyed

• Monitoring data retrieval problems incurred by 

NIOSH while processing individual claims and 

performing site data capture work supported the 

petition basis
Petition Overview—cont. 

 NIOSH evaluated class:

• All personnel that worked in any area at Sandia 

National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for 

the period from January 1, 1963 through May 21, 2011.

 Sandia recently had a class added to the SEC:

• All personnel that worked in any area at Sandia 

National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for 

the period from January 1, 1949 through December 31, 

1962.
Sources of Available Information

 ORAU Team Technical Basis Documents (TBDs)

 ORAU Team Technical Information Bulletins 

(TIBs) and Procedures

 Interviews with former employees

 Existing claimant files

 Documentation provided by petitioner
Data Capture Efforts

 NIOSH Site Research Database (over 2500 

documents)

 Fourteen data capture visits at Sandia

 Data capture of Sandia-related records at 

facilities across the DOE complex

 DOE Opennet (OSTI database)

 Internet search
Previous Dose Reconstructions

NIOSH OCAS Claims Tracking System 

Information available as of March 22, 2011

 Sandia National Laboratory 

claims submitted to NIOSH 367

 Claims with employment during the period 

 evaluated (1949-1962) 323

 Dose reconstructions completed for claims 

 with employment during the period 270

 Claims containing internal dosimetry 37

 Claims containing external dosimetry 256
Background

 In 1945, Z-Division of Los Alamos moved to what 

was to become the Sandia National Laboratory

 Covered period for Sandia National Laboratory, 

Albuquerque, as established by the Department 

of Labor began in 1949

 Weapons assembly, weapon ordnance 

engineering, and production coordination among 

various Atomic Energy Commission facilities 

(such as Clarksville, Medina, Pantex)
Background—cont.
Potential External Radiological 

Exposures During the Class Period

 Broad spectrum of external hazards

• Photon exposures related to generators and 

accelerators and materials returned from weapons 

testing, reactors, and other research and waste 

materials

• Beta exposures from activated components, materials 

returned from weapons testing, and air filters from 

cloud sampling

• Neutron: weapons related, accelerators, reactors, 

neutron sources

—Sandia National Laboratory dosimeters did not measure 

neutrons until 1958
Potential Internal Radiological 

Exposures During the Class Period

 Broad spectrum of activities resulted in 

numerous radionuclides of concern

• Plutonium

• Tritium

• Uranium

• Americium

• Fission and activation products

• Thorium
Health Physics at SNL

 Health physics was the responsibility of the 

industrial hygiene division prior to 1957 at which 

point a health physics section was formed

 NIOSH located minimal documentation of the 

practices and requirements during the evaluation 

period

 Monitoring requirements were developed based 

on the judgment of departments, divisions, and 

supervisors

 Interviews indicate that coverage was temporal 

and ad hoc in nature, which continues until the 

time of the Tiger Team audits
Personal Monitoring Data

 Availability of monitoring data remains a 

significant concern

 November 2009: NIOSH notified DOE that case 

responses were incomplete, particularly as 

related to internal dosimetry data

• NIOSH acquired some individual data during data 

captures which were not provided in the responses
Personal Monitoring Data—cont.

 January 2010: NIOSH re-requested the records for 

open Sandia National Laboratory cases

 DOE and Sandia National Laboratory are currently 

reviewing the best path forward for records at the 

site
Internal Dosimetry Data Availability

 Unlike many DOE facilities, Sandia National 

Laboratory did not report the number of 

bioassay samples analyzed

 Based on interviews, it is thought to be a small 

number per year

 NIOSH has obtained copies of some bioassay 

records as part of its site data captures and claim 

data requests
Internal Dosimetry Data 

Availability—cont. 

 Number of samples, by year, from NIOSH records 

are provided in the following table (after 1991 

Sandia is providing a database)

 Data collected during the 1992 and 1994 were 

from Controls for Environmental Pollution (CEP)

• Company was convicted of fraud

• CEP data during this time frame is not used by NIOSH 

for dose reconstruction
Summary of In Vitro Bioassay 

Samples Obtained by NIOSH

Table 6-1: Summary of Individual In Vitro Bioassay Results

Year Tritium Uraniuma Plutonium Beta/Gammab

1963 281 23 2 32

1964 248 14 4 -

1965 224 - 13 -

1966 222 - 98 -

1967 540 41 85 -

1968 78 5 74 -

1969 187 17 46 -

1970 147 47 24 -

1971 281 85 6 -

1972 184 74 - 5

1973 193 110 - 8

1974 99 60 - 3

1975 46 62 - -

1976 126 64 - -

1977 83 50 - -

1978 138 30 - 1

1979 155 24 - 1

1980 147 40 - -

1981 213 40 - -

1982 79 59 - -

1983 26 26 - -

1984 28 74 - -

1985 25 29 - -

1986 33 70 - -

1987 24 29 - -

1988 24 24 - -

1989 10 - - -

1990 442 - - -

1991 281 - - -
External Monitoring Data

 External dosimetry results were centralized from the 

beginning at Sandia National Laboratory 

• Personal data requests seem fairly complete for external 

dosimetry data based on NIOSH records

 Documentation of the pre-1957 external dosimetry

program was not obtained by NIOSH

 Post-1957 documentation indicates workers in 

radiation areas were to be badged

 Available data represents a fairly substantial 

population and NIOSH has further developed external 

co-worker models and neutron-to-photon correction 

factors to determine dose to unmonitored workers
Feasibility of Dose Reconstructions

 NIOSH has determined that monitoring data, process 

information, and monitoring program information are 

insufficient to support bounding internal doses for the 

evaluated class. 

• There are indications that additional data exist (microfilm 

/microfiche record set), but these data are not readily accessible 

nor is there completeness ascertained. 

• Based on a lack of internal monitoring program documentation and 

source term information data for the evaluated period, NIOSH feels 

it cannot establish a bounding approach even if the 

microfilm/microfiche records were to become available. 

 NIOSH concludes it cannot bound internal doses for the 

period from January 1, 1963 through December 31, 1994, 

but will continue to assess post-1994 dose reconstruction 

feasibility in a subsequent evaluation for SNL.
NIOSH Recommendation Regarding 

Non-SEC Claims

Although NIOSH found that it is not possible to 

completely reconstruct internal radiation doses 

for the proposed class, NIOSH intends to use any 

internal and external monitoring data that may 

become available for an individual claim (and that 

can be interpreted using existing NIOSH dose 

reconstruction processes or procedures)
NIOSH Recommended Class

All employees of the Department of Energy, its 

predecessor agencies, and its contractors and 

subcontractors who worked in any area at Sandia 

National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New 

Mexico, from January 1, 1963 through December 

31, 1994, 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 in the 

Special Exposure Cohort
NIOSH Recommendation

Summary of Feasibility Findings for SEC-00162

(January 1, 1963 through December 31, 1994)

Sources of Exposure Reconstruction Feasible Reconstruction Not Feasible

Internal X

External X

 - Gamma X

 - Beta X

 - Neutron X

 - Occupational Medical

 X-ray

X
NIOSH Recommendation

Summary of Feasibility Findings for SEC-00162

(January 1, 1995 through May 21, 2011)

Sources of Exposure Reconstruction Feasible Reconstruction Not Feasible

Internal NIOSH continues to review the feasibility of dose 

reconstruction for this period for internal dose

External X

 - Gamma X

 - Beta X

 - Neutron X

 - Occupational Medical

 X-ray

X