Joslyn Manufacturing 

and Supply Co.

Use of Surrogate Data

Dr. Samuel Glover

NIOSH

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

April 29, 2014

Augusta, GA 
Introduction

 Joslyn is listed as an Atomic Weapons Employer for the 

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) from March 1943 to 

1952

 Joslyn has been added to the Special Exposure Cohort for 

the period March 1943 through July 1948

 This discussion focuses on the justification of the use of 

TBD-6000 as surrogate data for the deterimination of 

intakes of uranium during the period August 1948 

through December 1952
Hierarchy of Data

 No individual monitoring data was collected at Joslyn for 

uranium

 Air monitoring data collected on a limited set of 

machining operations in 1951 by the Atomic Energy 

Commission’s (AEC) Health and Safety Laboratory (HASL)

 A second, very comprehensive data set was collected by 

HASL in 1952 that provided an in depth measurement 

and exposure assessment of intakes for a large of 

occupations at Joslyn

 Time Weighted Average (TWA) values were developed as part of 

the HASL report
 NIOSH determined that the data from the 1951 and 1952 

measurements meet the analytical and methodological 

requirements for dose reconstruction

 NIOSH used these data collected at the facility and 

compared it to the well reviewed TBD-6000 rolling and 

machining operator categories and found that the TBD6000 data provided a claimant favorable but realistic 

approach to dose reconstruction of internal dose at 

Joslyn

Hierarchy of Data - continued
 While HASL collected data in 1951 and particularly 1952, 

NIOSH has utilized TBD-6000 to better describe the full 

range of conditions and assumptions that may have been 

observed beyond the single TWA study in 1952 for the 

period beginning August 1948.

 TBD-6000* provides a peer reviewed surrogate data set 

of thousands of measurements conducted by HASL at 

numerous facilities beginning in 1948

*Harris, WB and I Kingsley. 1959. “The Industrial Hygiene of Uranium Fabrication.” 

A.M.A. Archives of Industrial Health, Vol 19, May 1959. pp 76-101.

Exclusivity Constraints
 Comparison of the rolling operator category shows that 

use of the TBD-6000 data is clearly claimaint favorable for 

all but one rolling operation, the 9” finishing mill

 The full distribution of the rolling operator (GM=1,606 

pCi/m3, gsd=5) provides complete coverage of all data 

measured at Joslyn

 Furthermore, changes in operations beginning with 

August 1948 substantially limited the use of the 9” 

finishing mill

 Supported by documentation and testimony by a worker who 

worked in the rolling mill beginning in 1948

Exclusivity Constraints - continued
 TBD-6000 provides a comparison of data across a 

number of facilities that conducted exactly the same 

rolling and machining operations that Joslyn performed

 Review of the site data from 1951 and 1952 show that 

the sites data compare well to the data in TBD-6000 and 

that the use of the full distribution of data in TBD-6000 

provides a realistic exposure assessment for operations 

at Joslyn back to August 1, 1948

Site or Process Similarities
 No operation changes in the equipment or ventillation 

are known to have occurred after August 1948

 NIOSH concluded the data obtained by HASL in 1951 and 

1952 could be represented by the exposure conditions in 

TBD-6000 as early as August 1, 1948 based on (in part):

• Beginning with August 1948, Joslyn was operated with AEC 

oversight which provided increased certainty that the air 

monitoring data from other facilities is appropriate

• Operations reduced and became better defined and specific 

• Operation specifics, documentation, and worker testimony 

provides evidence that the operations are similar in nature and 

scope to those described by the TBD-6000 data set

Site or Process Similarities - continued
 Beginning in August 1948, the reduction in production 

levels to smaller rolling operations in support of specific 

research projects were less likely to have required 

simultaneous rollings

 Beginning in August 1948, many of the operations the 

specifically called for rolling on the 18-inch mill

 This removed the highest source of exposure (the 9” rolling mill) 

at Joslyn during many of the days of operation

 Provides additional evidence that multiple mills were not used 

simultaneously during this time period

Site or Process Similarities - continued
 Temporal considerations for Joslyn were given extensive 

weight when determining the feasibility of dose 

reconstruction and the comparability of surrogate data

 Joslyn only used electrically heated furnaces to pre-heat 

the billets, unlike other later-constructed facilities that 

may have used lead or salt bath coatings.

 NIOSH confirmed that the TBD-6000 data set extended 

to cover the Simonds Saw and Steel initial studies with 

rolling furnace heated uranium and provides further 

evidence of the applicability of TBD-6000 back to 1948.

Temporal Considerations
 Full distribution of intakes from the rolling operator and 

machining operator categories used at Joslyn (GM, 

GSD=5)

 Site data suggests that the rolling mill operations were 

bounding, but limitations in site data support a claimaint 

favorable approach to include the higher machining 

operator from TBD-6000 when appropriate

 Data based on facilities from the same time period for 

the same types of operations conducted at Joslyn and 

whose full distribution provides a claimant favorable, 

realistic approach for determining intakes of uranium at 

Joslyn from August 1, 1948 through December 31, 1952.

Plausibility
Conclusion

 NIOSH carefully reviewed the operations conducted at 

Joslyn and data availability during the period August 

1948 through December 1952 

 The use of surrogate data for uranium intakes from the 

Rolling and Machining Operator categories from TBD6000 was evaluated by NIOSH against the Advisory 

Board’s Criteria for the Use of Surrogate Data by NIOSH

 NIOSH believes that the use of this data was found to be 

justified and that it provides a scientifically valid, 

claimant favorable, and plausible doses from intakes of 

uranium at Joslyn during this period