Accomplishments of the 

Subcommittee for Procedure 

Reviews

Kathleen Behling, SC&A, Inc.

Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health

December 7, 2023
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SPR procedure review responsibilities

 Technical information bulletins 

(TIBs)

– 13 DCAS currently active TIBs

– 1 Battelle currently active TIB

– 54 ORAUT currently active TIBs

 Implementation guidelines (IGs)

– 6 DCAS currently active IGs

 Performance evaluation reports 

(PERs)

– 90 DCAS currently active PERs

 Reports (RPRTs)

– 8 DCAS currently active RPRTs

– 61 ORAUT currently active RPRTs 

(12 listed RPRTs are actually slide 

presentations)

 Procedures (PROCs)

– 8 DCAS currently active PROCs

– 26 ORAUT currently active PROCs
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History of technical guidance document 

reviews

 January 2005: SC&A submitted its first set of 37 ORAUT/OCAS technical 

guidance document reviews to the Advisory Board.

 August 2007: SC&A submitted its second set of 30 ORAUT/OCAS technical 

guidance document reviews to the Advisory Board.

 October 2007: SC&A submitted its third set of 45 ORAUT/OCAS technical 

guidance document reviews to the Advisory Board. Thereafter, individual 

document reviews were submitted to the Subcommittee for Procedure 

Reviews (SPR).

 March 2013: SPR began presenting an overview of the SPR-approved 

technical guidance documents to the Board.

 April 2021: SPR started using a more efficient process for Board approval 

by introducing a matrix-style approach for presenting document reviews. 
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SPR’s review of TIBs

DCAS/Battelle TIBs (15 total)

• 10 reviewed (67% of current total)

• 5 not reviewed

• 4 of 10 reviews have been SPRapproved 

• 1 reviewed TIB cancelled 

• None of the SPR-approved 

DCAS/Battelle TIBs presented to 

Board

ORAUT TIBs (64 total)

• 60 reviewed (94% of current total)

• 4 not reviewed 

• 10 TIBs reviewed under site-specific 

work groups (WGs) 

• 32 of 60 reviews have been SPRapproved 

• 20 reviewed TIBs cancelled 

• 14 SPR-approved ORAUT TIBs 

presented to Board
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SPR’s review of IGs

 5 total IGs 

 3 reviewed (60% of current total)

 2 not reviewed

 2 of 3 reviewed IGs have been SPR-approved

 1 SPR-approved IG presented to Board
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SPR’s review of DCAS PERs

 90 total PERs 

 14 PERs SPR determined review not necessary

 48 reviewed (63% of current total requiring a review)

 28 not reviewed

 33 of 48 reviewed PERs have been SPR-approved

 23 SPR-approved PERs presented to Board
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SPR’s review of RPRTs

DCAS RPRTs (11 total)

• 4 reviewed (36% of current total)

• 7 not reviewed, mostly 

administrative

• 4 of 4 reviews have been SPRapproved

• 3 reviewed RPRTs cancelled

• 1 SPR-approved DCAS RPRT 

presented to Board

ORAUT RPRTs (22 total)

• 29 RPRTs reviewed under sitespecific WGs

• 13 reviewed (59% of current SPR 

total)

• 9 not reviewed

• 2 of 13 reviews have been SPRapproved

• 1 reviewed RPRT cancelled

• 1 SPR-approved ORAUT RPRT 

presented to Board
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SPR’s review of PROCs

DCAS PROCs (11 total)

• 4 reviewed (36% of current total)

• 7 not reviewed, mostly 

administrative

• 4 of 4 reviews have been SPRapproved

• 3 reviewed PROCs cancelled

• 1 SPR-approved DCAS PROC 

presented to Board

ORAUT PROCs (38 total)

• 25 reviewed (66% of current SPR 

total)

• 13 not reviewed

• 21 of 25 reviews have been SPRapproved

• 12 reviewed PROCs cancelled

• 7 SPR-approved ORAUT PROCs 

presented to Board
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New reviews: DR methodology and DR 

template documents

 ORAUT first developed technical basis documents (TBDs) for large DOE sites with 

many claims

 To balance claims processing, Battelle was hired to develop TBDs for smaller 

Atomic Weapons Employer (AWE) sites (primarily, uranium metal facilities)

– These TBDs have been reviewed by site-specific WGs

 For smaller DOE and AWE sites that did not perform uranium metal work, NIOSH 

developed DR guidance (instead of TBDs) that has not been reviewed by the 

Board:

– DR methodology documents

– DR templates

 SPR has started reviewing DR guidance, similar to our review of TBDs but less 

intensive than for larger sites
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DR methodology document

 Not formally published and is 

not posted on the NIOSH public 

website

 Initially used to process small 

numbers of claims from a 

particular site

 Content is similar to TBD 

information and guidance and 

typically includes:

– Facility description

– External dose assessment

– Occupational medical dose 

assessment

– Environmental dose assessment

– Internal dose assessment
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DR template

 Not formally published and is not posted on the NIOSH public 

website

 Is the DR report with color-coded text to indicate the type of 

information to be included or provide direction to the dose 

reconstructor

 Generated specifically for the claim being evaluated

– Uses as much site-specific information as could be compiled

– Explains how the EE’s radiation dose was reconstructed
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Statistics about DR guidance documents

 25 current sites

– 13 AWE sites

– 12 DOE sites

 9 sites not included since NIOSH has no current data

 2,508 total cases, as of December 2019, associated with 25 sites

– 7 sites have 119 to 476 claims

– 18 sites have fewer than 100 claims, ranging from 2 to 85

 NIOSH plans to develop TBDs for 4 of the 25 sites with the largest 

number of claims
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SC&A DR methodology & template review

Review:

• Completeness of 

data sources

• Consistency between 

DR guidance and 

data sources 

• Technical accuracy of 

guidance

• Scientific basis and 

adequacy of data

Compare the DR 

methodology 

document to the DR 

template for 

consistency

Review four to five 

cases adjudicated 

using the DR 

methodology 

guidance and 

template and track 

professional 

judgements.
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Temporary BRS tracking document

The SPR maintains 2 tables to track document reviews during the 

Cybersecurity Modernization Initiative:

1. Temporary BRS tracking matrix summary – Overview of the 

number of findings and observations and their status for each 

reviewed document

2. Temporary BRS tracking matrix – Details of the resolution process 

for each finding and observation
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2 tables to track document reviews

Temporary BRS tracking 

matrix summary

• Total findings

• Total observations

• Open findings/observations

• In progress findings/observations

• In abeyance findings/observations

• Transferred findings/observations

• SPR-closed findings/observations

• ABRWH action

Temporary BRS tracking 

matrix

• Finding/observation number

• Finding/observation date, 

description, SC&A followup actions

• NIOSH response & followup actions

• SPR action, followup actions, 

resolution

• Finding/observation status

• Board action/resolution
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Questions?