Review of Site Profile for Hooker 

Electrochemical Company 

Niagara Falls, NY

Work Group on Uranium Refining AWEs

Presented at ABRWH Meeting

November 30, 2016

Santa Fe, NM
Hooker Operations

• Processed C-2 slag from ElectroMetallurgical 

Company from July 11, 1944, through 

January 15, 1946.

• C-2 slag was byproduct of bomb reduction of 

UF4 at Electromet.

• Hooker treated slag with HCl to increase U 

content.

• Upgraded slag returned to Electromet.
Chronology of Site Profile Review 

Activities

• 6/15/2007 – Appendix AA (Hooker 

Electrochemical Company) to TBD 6001 issued by 

NIOSH (NIOSH 2007).

• 5/3/2010 – SEC Petition Evaluation Report on 

Petition SEC-00141 issued by NIOSH 

(NIOSH 2010).

• 9/9/2010 – SC&A presented review of 

Appendix AA (SC&A 2010).

• 1/19/2011 – SC&A provided focused review of 

Petition SEC-00141 (SC&A 2011).
Chronology of Site Profile Review 

Activities (cont.)

• 4/4/2011 – Technical Basis Document (TBD) 

DCAS-TKBS-0009, Revision 00 for Hooker issued 

as free-standing site profile to replace 

Appendix AA (NIOSH 2011a).

• 6/17/2011 – TBD Revision 1 issued 

(NIOSH 2011b).

• 3/28/2013 – SC&A issued review of TBD 

Revision 1 documenting 6 findings (SC&A 2013).

• 12/8/2015 – NIOSH issued TBD Revision 2 

(NIOSH 2015).
Chronology of Site Profile Review 

Activities (cont.)

• 6/2016 – SC&A provided review of TBD Revision 2 

(SC&A 2016).

• 7/19/2016 – URAWE Work Group reviews all 

findings and determines that three are closed, 

one is open (Finding 4), and two are in abeyance 

pending revision of TBD. 

• 9/13/2016 – NIOSH issues TBD Revision 3 (NIOSH 

2016) 

• 11/21/2016 - SC&A’s review of TBD Revision 3 is 

being edited prior to submittal to the URAWE 

Work Group.
SEC Determination for Hooker

• The conclusion regarding the exclusion of Hooker employees from 

the SEC (2/2/2012 determination) was challenged by a petitioner, 

leading H&HS to form an administrative review panel.

• The panel found that Hooker employees with radiation exposure 

during the operating period should be included in the SEC, reversing 

the prior decision, and the petitioner was so advised on 9/22/2015. 

• The primary problem cited by the review panel was use of 

surrogate air sampling data to construct internal doses. 

• Consequently, the TBD can be used only to estimate external doses 

during the operating period for non-specified cancer claims and 

during the residual period for both internal and external doses for 

all cancers.
Resolution of Findings on Revision 1 of 

Hooker TBD 

• Finding 1. NIOSH should review the assumptions 

regarding the composition slag and the outgoing 

concentrate.

• Resolution: In TBD Revision 2, NIOSH emended 

the slag composition from 0.2% U to 2.65% U 

based on new data (Thomas 1944). Similarly, the 

outgoing concentrate was increased from 1–2% U 

to 9.87% U. Based on these revisions, the Work 

Group was satisfied that Finding 1 was resolved.
Resolution of Findings on Revision 1 of 

Hooker TBD (cont.)

• Finding 2: NIOSH should re-examine its position 

that external exposures were based on slag input 

to the leaching process of 10 tons per month. It is 

possible that external exposures are understated 

by a factor of about 5.

• Resolution: NIOSH developed a new production 

scenario that better fit the available information, 

increasing the monthly plant throughput from 

10 tons per month to 89 tons per month. Based 

on these revisions, the Work Group was satisfied 

that Finding 2 was resolved.
Resolution of Findings on Revision 1 of 

Hooker TBD (cont.)

• Finding 3: The basis for assuming that internal 

exposure from slag dust occurred 5% of the time needs 

to be re-examined as does the assumption that the 

concentrate contained 2% U. It appears that the 

exposure time is understated by about a factor of five 

and the amount of uranium in the concentrate is 

understated by at least a factor of 2.5.

• Resolution: Based on new data, NIOSH revised 

assumptions regarding exposure from 5% to 25% of the 

work day and increased the U content of the 

concentrate to 9.87% (dry basis). Based on these 

revisions, the Work Group was satisfied that Finding 3 

was resolved.
Resolution of Findings on Revision 1 of 

Hooker TBD (cont.)

• Finding 4: NIOSH should review the ingestion 

intake to ensure that it is calculated in a manner 

consistent with calculation of inhalation intake.

• Resolution: NIOSH did not address this finding in 

TBD Revision 2. At the July 19, 2016 URAWE 

Work Group meeting, NIOSH agreed that 

ingestion needed to be addressed. Therefore 

resolution of this finding is open until the Work 

Group evaluates the ingestion methodology

– Addressed in TBD Revision 3 – SC&A review of TBD 

Revision 3 assesses impact on Finding 4 
Resolution of Findings on Revision 1 of 

Hooker TBD (cont.)

• Finding 5: NIOSH should confirm that the correct 

units of measure are cited in Tables 2 and 3. 

[Tables 3 and 4 in NIOSH 2015]

• Resolution: Typographic/data entry errors exist in 

Tables 4, 5, and 7 of NIOSH 2015. NIOSH has 

agreed to correct these errors in the next revision 

of the TBD. Therefore, resolution of this finding is 

in abeyance.

– Addressed in TBD Revision 3 – SC&A review of TBD 

Revision 3 assesses impact on Finding 5 
Resolution of Findings on Revision 1 of 

Hooker TBD (cont.)

• Finding 6: NIOSH should review the units of measure for the 

photon dose conversion factors in Table 4 [now Table 5] and 

determine if they are correct. If they are correct, the 

companion text needs to be revised to discuss exposure 

rates rather than dose rates.

• Resolution: In an e-mail dated 7/25/2016 from J. Neton 

(DCAS) to W. Thurber (SC&A), Neton confirmed that the 

units of measure in Table 4 in Revision 1 of the TBD (now 

Table 5 in Revision 2) were correct, and that the supporting 

text would be revised to discuss exposure rates. On that 

basis, resolution of Finding 6 is in abeyance until a new 

revision of the TBD is issued. 

– Addressed in TBD Revision 3 – SC&A review of TBD Revision 3 

assesses impact on Finding 6 
References

• NIOSH 2007. Site Profiles for Atomic Weapons Employers that Refine 

Uranium and Thorium – Appendix AA, Hooker Electrochemical Company, 

Battelle-TBD-6001, Appendix AA, Revision 00. June 15, 2007.

• NIOSH 2010. SEC Petition Evaluation Report, Petition SEC-00141: Hooker 

Electrochemical, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 

May 3, 2010.

• NIOSH 2011a. Technical Basis Document for the Hooker Electrochemical 

Company, DCAS-TKBS-0009, Revision 00, Division of Compensation 

Analysis and Support, National Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health, Cincinnati, Ohio. April 4, 2011.

• NIOSH 2011b. Technical Basis Document for the Hooker Electrochemical 

Company, DCAS-TKBS-0009, Revision 1, Division of Compensation Analysis 

and Support, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 

Cincinnati, Ohio. June 17, 2011.

• NIOSH 2015. Technical Basis Document for the Hooker Electrochemical 

Company, DCAS-TKBS-0009, Revision 02, Division of Compensation 

Analysis and Support, National Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health, Cincinnati, Ohio. December 8, 2015.
References (cont.)

• NIOSH 2016. Technical Basis Document for the Hooker Electrochemical 

Company, DCAS-TKBS-0009, Revision 03, Division of Compensation 

Analysis and Support, National Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health, Cincinnati, Ohio. September 13, 2016.

• SC&A 2010. Review of NIOSH Site Profile for Hooker Electrochemical 

Company, Battelle-TBD-6001, Appendix AA, SCA-TR-SP2010-0034, SC&A, 

Inc., Vienna, Virginia. September 9, 2010.

• SC&A 2011. A Focused Review of the Hooker Electrochemical Company 

Petition Evaluation Report for SEC-00141, SCA-SEC-2011-0018, Revision 0, 

SC&A, Inc., Vienna, Virginia. January 19, 2011.

• SC&A 2013. Review of NIOSH Technical Basis Document for the Hooker 

Electrochemical Company, DCAS-TKBS-0009, SCA-TR-SP2013-0034, 

Revision 0, SC&A, Inc., Vienna, Virginia. March 28, 2013.
References (cont.)

• SC&A 2016. SC&A Review of DCAS-TKBS-0009, Revision 2 for Hooker 

Electrochemical Company, SCA-TR2016-SP006, Revision 0, SC&A Inc., 

Vienna, Virginia. June 28, 2016. 

• Thomas 1944. W.G. Thomas, Technical Report – Concentration of C-2 Slag, 

M-4562, United States Atomic Energy Commission. February 17, 1944. 

[SRDB Ref. ID 127827]