National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Idaho National Laboratory SEC-00219 Update

John Cardarelli II, PhD, CHP, CIH, PE 

Research Health Physicist, NIOSH

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, 147th Meeting

Teleconference

August 17, 2022
Overview

 Petition information

 Facility background and feasibility determination

 Update on current SEC-00219 tasks

• Last INL/ANL-W WG meeting was on July 16, 2020

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Petition Information
Other INL Related SEC Petitions and Classes

Petition NIOSH Recommended SEC Class

SEC-00172 Did not qualify

SEC-00219 Chemical Processing Plant (CPP) workers (1963 – 1974)

SEC-00238

(83.14)

CPP workers who wore at least one film badge or TLD 

between January 1, 1975 and December 31, 1980

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SEC-00219 Petition 

 Petition received on July 8, 2014 for requested class:

• All employees who worked in any area of the Idaho National Laboratory from 

January 1, 1949 through December 31, 1970. 

 Petition qualified on September 16, 2014 for class:

• All employees who worked in any area of the Idaho National Laboratory from 

January 1, 1949 through December 31, 1970. 

 Evaluation Reports sent to ABRWH:

• Rev 0: March 12, 2015

• Rev 1: July 21, 2015

• Discovered change in administration of external dosimeters at INL

• Revised class definition

• Rev 2: February 22, 2017

• Completed evaluation of three reserved areas: 1) TAN-607/TAN-615 2) ARA-I 

233Pa separation, and 3)the initial drum retrieval at the Burial Ground 

• No revision to class definition

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SEC-00219 Class Definition

All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, 

and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Idaho 

National Laboratory (INL) in Scoville, Idaho, and 

a) who were monitored for external radiation at the Idaho 

Chemical Processing Plant (CPP) (e.g., at least one film badge or TLD dosimeter from CPP) between January 1, 1963 and February 

28, 1970; or

b) who were monitored for external radiation at INL (e.g., at least 

one film badge or TLD dosimeter) between March 1, 1970 and December 31, 1974 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. 

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SEC-00238 (83.14)

 Petition received on March 16, 2017 

 Petition qualified on March 22, 2017 

 Evaluation Report sent to ABRWH July 27, 2017

 SEC Class Definition: 

• All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and 

their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Idaho National 

Laboratory (INL) in Scoville, Idaho, and who were monitored for external 

radiation at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (CPP) (e.g., at least one 

film badge or TLD dosimeter from CPP) between January 1, 1975 and 

December 31, 1980.

 Extended class through 1980 when routine plutonium bioassay 

program implemented at CPP

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Site Background &

Feasibility Determination
Idaho National Laboratory– Site Description

 Major Areas

1. Test Reactor Area (TRA)

2. Idaho Chemical Processing 

Plant (CPP)

3. Test Area North (TAN)

4. Miscellaneous Reactor Areas

5. Central Facilities Area (CFA)

6. Burial Ground

SEC-00219 Evaluation Report, Figure 5-2

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Idaho National Laboratory – Feasibility Conclusion

SEC00219

SEC00238

83.14 evaluation extended SEC class for CPP workers through 

December 31, 1980.

8/11/2022 10
Update on Current SEC-00219 Tasks
Idaho National Laboratory – Current Tasks 

I. INL/ANL-W Reactor Evaluations

II. Burial Ground/Radioactive Waste Management 

Complex (RWMC)

III. INL/ANL-W Co-Exposure Models

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I. INL/ANL-W Reactor Evaluations (1/4)

 In 2015/2016, as part of the SEC-00219 and SEC-00224 ER reviews, 

SC&A performed preliminary assessments as to whether the OTIB0054 approach for addressing potential intakes of mixed fission and 

activation products (MFAPs) would adequately envelope all reactor 

and operating scenarios at INL and ANL-W

 The site was of primary interest because of the 52 unique reactors 

built there as prototypes, with various reactor configurations, fuel 

types and operating histories. 

 Reactors were categorized by NIOSH and SC&A as high, medium and 

low priority based on the potential for underestimation of worker 

doses.

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I. INL/ANL-W Reactor Evaluations (2/4)

 OTIB-0054 is a methodology for the assignment of 

radionuclide-specific intakes of MFAPs for use in 

the dose reconstruction when data associated 

with worker exposures are available only as gross 

or total beta or gamma activities. 

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/pdfs/tibs/or-t54-r4.pdf

 The assignment of radionuclide-specific intakes of 

MFAPs relative to an indicator radionuclides:

• 90Sr for gross beta

• 137Cs for gross gamma

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I. INL/ANL-W Reactor Evaluations (3/4)

 ORAUT-RPRT-0099, Evaluation of EBR-II and BORAX-IV for OTIB- 0054 Applicability presented at July 16, 2020 INL/ANL-W Work 

Group meeting. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/pdfs/orau/oraurpts/or-rprt99-r0-508.pdf

 Extensive reactor modeling required

 Objective of report was to analyze the potential organ doses to 

workers at EBR-II and BORAX-IV, two high-priority reactors to determine if OTIB-0054 provides a bounding internal dose computational approach.

• SC&A concurred on January 15, 2021 Review of ORAUT-RPRT-0099 

Evaluation of EBR-II and BORAX-IV for ORAUT-OTIB-0054 Applicability (cdc.gov)

 OTIB-0054 approach bounding for EBR-II and BORAX-IV

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I. INL/ANL-W Reactor Evaluations (4/4)

 ORAUT-RPRT-0100, Evaluation of Predicted Cesium-137 Intakes 

Using Site Whole Body Counting Detection Capabilities to 

Demonstrate that ORAUT-OTIB-0054 Bounds Worker Doses at INL 

and ANL-W

 The purpose of the report is to present the results from an 

evaluation of the INL WBC detection capabilities against the mixed 

fission and activation products (MFAPs) calculated using the OTIB0054 methodology for both an OTIB-0054 reactor case and the MTR 

Phoenix plutonium core case. 

 ORAUT-RPRT-0100 under review by DCAS

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II. Burial Ground/Radioactive Waste Management 

Complex (RWMC)

 During the July 16, 2020 INL/ANL-W Work Group 

teleconference meeting, questions about the airborne 

concentrations of transuranic radionuclides to which Burial 

Ground/Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) 

workers may have been exposed were raised. 

 A data request requested a search of the Electronic Data 

Management System (EDMS) using five facility names and 

22 keywords for air sampling and contamination data for 

1963-1978 result in thousands of documents. 

 This led NIOSH to request remote access to EDMS to 

reduce the number of applicable documents.

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II. Burial Ground/RWMC cont’d: EDMS Access Timeline

Date Action

7/30/2020 Initial data request (FY20-002) sent to DOE-ID POC for Burial Ground/RWMC

air sampling and removable contamination surveys. Included 22 keywords.

11/10/2020 Received an encrypted drive with spreadsheet for results for 22 keywords 

(1000 results).

11/12/2020 Information was not what was expected and necessitated conference calls with 

INL to discuss. 

6/10/2021 INL supplied requested information but were hyperlinks to EDMS search 

results. Do not have remote access to EDMS.

7/2/2021 Data request FY21-001 requests remote access to EDMS for NIOSH, SC&A, and 

ORAU Team personnel

2/1/2022 S numbers assigned by INL to those requesting remote EDMS access.

6/2/2022

Queries of EDMS for Burial Ground/RWMC air sampling and contamination 

data for 1963-1978 begins. Review of query results for provided keywords 

performed by INL Records Center staff sent 6/10/21 also being reviewed.

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III. INL/ANL-W Co-Exposure Models

 SEC-00219 Evaluation Report identified the need for a 

mixed fission products (MFPs) co-exposure model 

beginning in 1967 due to a change in in-vivo counting 

protocols.

 DCAS Implementation Guide for Co-Exposure Models 

presented to the ABRWH at the July 2015 meeting. 

Savannah River and INL/ANL-W were identified as test 

cases to demonstrate methodology.

 Major effort to create complete in-vitro and in-vivo 

databases for INL up to 1995 from:

• Hard copy records

• BADGER

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III. INL/ANL-W Co-Exposure Models Developed

1. Gross beta in urine (1953-1960)

2. Cs-137 by whole body count (1961-1995)

3. Total uranium in urine for all facilities (1953-1962)

• Need identified by SC&A during review of SEC-00219 

Evaluation Report

4. Total uranium in urine for SMC at TAN (1987-1995)

5. Isotopic uranium in urine (1981-1995)

6. Isotopic plutonium in urine (1981-1995)

• Pu-238

• Pu-239

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III. Current Status of INL/ANL-W Co-Exposure

 Initially the INL/ANL-W co-exposure document was an 

OTIB but has been converted to a TKBS chapter

 ORAUT-TKBS-0007-7: Internal Dosimetry Co-Exposure 

Data for Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne 

National Laboratory-West

 Undergoing internal review

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For more information, contact CDC

1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636)

TTY: 1-888-232-6348 www.cdc.gov

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the 

official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Questions?