Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

Technical Basis Document for the Electro Metallurgical 

Company

Niagara Falls, New York 

Document Number:

DCAS-TKBS-0007

Effective Date: 02/15/2011

Revision No.: 00

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Subject Expert: David Allen

Approval: Signature on file Date: 02/15/2011

Supersedes:

Battelle-TBD-6001 

Appendix C

Rev. 0

James W. Neton, Associate Director for Science

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Section Page

1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3

2.0 Site Description and Operational History ............................................................................... 4

3.0 Process Description ................................................................................................................ 4

4.0 Internal Dose ........................................................................................................................... 5

5.0 External Dose ......................................................................................................................... 6

6.0 Occupational Medical Dose .................................................................................................... 7

7.0 References .............................................................................................................................. 7

LIST OF TABLES 

Table Page

Table 1: Electro Metallurgical Operating History .................................................................................5

Table 2: Daily Intakes of Uranium ........................................................................................................6

Table 3: Annual External Dose ..............................................................................................................7
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RECORD OF ISSUE/REVISIONS 

ISSUE

AUTHORIZATION

DATE

EFFECTIVE

DATE REV. NO. DESCRIPTION

02/14/2011 02/15/2011 00 Changes Battelle-TBD-6001 Appendix to 

a standalone document. Change is 

primarily format only. Does not 

incorporate review comments.
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1.0 Introduction

Technical basis documents and site profile documents are not official determinations made by 

the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) but are rather general 

working documents that provide historic background information and guidance to assist in the 

preparation of dose reconstructions at particular sites or categories of sites. They will be revised 

in the event additional relevant information is obtained about the affected site(s). These 

documents may be used to assist NIOSH staff in the completion of the individual work required 

for each dose reconstruction. 

In this document the word “facility” is used as a general term for an area, building, or group of 

buildings that served a specific purpose at a site. It does not necessarily connote an “atomic 

weapons employer facility” or a “Department of Energy [DOE] facility” as defined in the Energy 

Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act [EEOICPA; 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(5) 

and (12)]. EEOICPA defines a DOE facility as “any building, structure, or premise, including 

the grounds upon which such building, structure, or premise is located ... in which operations 

are, or have been, conducted by, or on behalf of, the Department of Energy (except for buildings, 

structures, premises, grounds, or operations ... pertaining to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion 

Program)” [42 U.S.C. § 7384l(12)]. Accordingly, except for the exclusion for the Naval Nuclear 

Propulsion Program noted above, any facility that performs or performed DOE operations of any 

nature whatsoever is a DOE facility encompassed by EEOICPA. 

For employees of DOE or its contractors with cancer, the DOE facility definition only 

determines eligibility for a dose reconstruction, which is a prerequisite to a compensation 

decision (except for members of the Special Exposure Cohort). The compensation decision for 

cancer claimants is based on a section of the statute entitled “Exposure in the Performance of 

Duty.” That provision [42 U.S.C. § 7384n(b)] says that an individual with cancer “shall be 

determined to have sustained that cancer in the performance of duty for purposes of the 

compensation program if, and only if, the cancer ... was at least as likely as not related to 

employment at the facility [where the employee worked], as determined in accordance with the 

POC [probability of causation1

] guidelines established under subsection (c) ...” [42 U.S.C. § 

7384n(b)]. Neither the statute nor the probability of causation guidelines (nor the dose 

reconstruction regulation, 42 C.F.R. Pt. 82) define “performance of duty” for DOE employees 

with a covered cancer or restrict the “duty” to nuclear weapons work (NIOSH 2010). 

The statute also includes a definition of a DOE facility that excludes “buildings, structures, 

premises, grounds, or operations covered by Executive Order No. 12344, dated February 1, 1982 

(42 U.S.C. 7158 note), pertaining to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program” [42 U.S.C. § 

7384l(12)]. While this definition excludes Naval Nuclear Propulsion Facilities from being 

covered under the Act, the section of EEOICPA that deals with the compensation decision for 

covered employees with cancer [i.e., 42 U.S.C. § 7384n(b), entitled “Exposure in the 

Performance of Duty”] does not contain such an exclusion. Therefore, the statute requires 

NIOSH to include all occupationally-derived radiation exposures received at covered facilities in 

its dose reconstructions for employees at DOE facilities, including radiation exposures related to 

the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. As a result, all internal and external occupational 

 

1

 The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is ultimately responsible under the EEOICPA for determining the POC. 
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radiation exposures received at covered facilities are considered valid for inclusion in a dose 

reconstruction. NIOSH, however, does not consider the following exposures to be 

occupationally derived (NIOSH 2010): 

Background radiation, including radiation from naturally occurring radon present in 

conventional structures 

Radiation from X-rays received in the diagnosis of injuries or illnesses or for therapeutic 

reasons 

The following information from the Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and 

Security EEOICPA Find Facilities webpage defines the EEOICPA covered periods for the 

Electro Metallurgical Company. 

Site: Electro Metallurgical Company 

Location: Niagara Falls, New York 

Covered Period: 1942-1953

This document contains a summary of the description of the site as well as the Atomic Energy 

Commission activities performed there, and provides the technical basis to be used to evaluate 

the occupational radiation doses for EEOICPA claims. 

2.0 Site Description and Operational History

The Electro Metallurgical Company uranium operations were located south of Pine Avenue and 

east of its intersection with Packard Road, Niagara Falls, New York. Available information 

indicates that all uranium operations (including the business office, lunchroom, and shipping 

areas) were conducted within a single building. The building was a one-story cinder block and 

wood structure, which measured approximately 50 feet by 219 feet located in an area now 

occupied by the current Building 166 of the Union Carbide Corporation building complex 

(UMETCO). Initial furnace operations for uranium processing began in April 1943 (AEC 1951) 

and at full operations three shifts per day were run. 

3.0 Process Description

The plant was to take uranium tetrafluoride and convert it to uranium metal by heating the 

uranium salt with magnesium and casting into 110-135 kilogram ingots. Contract MED W7405-Eng-14 initiated design, engineering, construction, and operation of the plant (UMETCO). 

Uranium production at the Electro Metallurgical Company began in April 1943 and appears to 

have run continuously until August 1946. Uranium production operations were suspended from 

August 1946 to October 1947 (UMETCO). Operations continued from October 1947 until 

production was stopped on September 28, 1949 and placed in standby on September 30, 1949. 

In April 1950, the UF4 –to-metal plant was reactivated for casting zirconium metal sponge into 

ingots for the Navy Critical Requirement program. The zirconium metal operations did not pose 

a radiological hazard other than exposure to residual uranium remaining since cessation of 

uranium operations in 1949. Uranium handling from January –June 1951 may have occurred 
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based on a contract that: “... directed Union Carbide to conduct research and development of 

methods of forming metal that would minimize unnecessary machining, finishing, and waste”. 

Although the contract is not specific, the metal involved is presumed to be uranium. 

The AEC involvement with the site ended when contract W-7405-Eng. 14 expired on June 30, 

1953 (UMETCO). No documentation was found indicating there were other sources of radiation 

at Electro Metallurgical during the covered period between 1942 and 1953. 

Operational and standby periods are outlined in the table below. For the purpose of dose 

reconstruction, time periods in which no uranium work was occurring are defined as standby 

even though other processes were occurring. 

Table 1: Electro Metallurgical Operating History 

Start Stop

Operations 04/01/1943 08/31/1946

Standby 09/01/1946 09/30/1947

Operations 10/01/1947 09/30/1949

Standby 10/01/1949 01/01/1951

Operations 01/01/1951 06/30/1951

Standby 06/30/1951 06/30/1953

4.0 Internal Dose

Air samples were collected in various areas of the plant in 1948 and 1949. These air samples 

were combined with time motion studies of various tasks to obtain a daily weighted average of 

the air concentration inhaled. For this exposure estimate, these tasks were broken up into three 

categories of tasks: Operators, Supervisor/Laborers, and Others. The “Operator” category is for 

personnel that routinely handled uranium or operated uranium processing equipment. The 

“Supervisor/Laborer” category is for personnel that were routinely present in the uranium 

handling areas but did not handle uranium or uranium processing equipment on a routine basis. 

Examples of people fitting this category are foreman, guards, maintenance personnel, and 

janitors. Laboratory technicians and chemists also fit this category because they routinely 

handled uranium but not in production quantities. The “Other” category is for personnel that did 

not routinely enter the uranium production areas. Examples of people fitting this category are 

office personnel and store room attendants. 

The daily weighted air samples were divided into these three categories. The distribution from 

each group of air samples was determined. Because there were a limited number of samples the 

95th percentile of each distribution will be assigned. Because this represents a bounding 

assumption, the value will be assigned as a constant. These values were used to estimate 

ingestion intakes per the requirements of OCAS-TIB-0009 (NIOSH 2004). 

Uranium operations were suspended three times during the covered period at the site. Since 

operations were suspended, it is unlikely anyone routinely handled uranium or uranium 

processing equipment. Also, the uranium inventory was likely reduced if not eliminated. 

Therefore, during those times, all personnel will be assigned dose based on the “Other” category. 
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This is intended to account for internal dose that would be received from residual uranium 

contamination that may have remained. Also, uranium operations did not start until April 1943. 

Therefore, no internal dose will be assigned prior to that date. 

For internal dose estimates, the uranium will be considered to be type M or type S solubility. 

The dose estimate should be based on the one that produces the highest dose. The time weighted 

averages indicated a normal work day of 515 minutes, 8 hours of work plus 20 minutes for lunch 

and 15 minutes in the locker room to change clothes. The dose estimate is based on this 515 

minutes per day, 5 days per week and 50 weeks per year. 

Table 2: Daily Intakes of Uranium 

Job Category Operation Phase Radionuclide Inhalation 

(dpm/day)

Ingestion 

(dpm/day)

Operators Operations U-234 60661 1178

Supervisors/Laborers 8159 158

Others 473 9.2

All Standby 473 9.2

5.0 External Dose

Film badge results taken between June 1948 and September 1949 were found for operators at 

Electro Metallurgical. While some reports included operator names and job titles, others did not. 

In order to include all the data, all badge readings were combined into one large population. 

Badges were issued weekly and both photon (gamma) and electron (beta) radiation were 

measured. 

The data set was assumed to be lognormally distributed. When analyzed, the geometric mean of 

the distribution was 20.06 mr/week photons and 64.43 mr/week beta. The geometric standard 

deviations for the weekly readings were 2.30 and 3.13 respectively. 

Since the badge results that did have job descriptions associated with them represented a mixture 

of job types, it is possible that assigning the distribution would underestimate some workers, 

while overestimating others. Therefore, personnel will be assigned to one of three categories: 

Operators, Supervisors and Laborer, and Others. Operators are those that routinely worked 

directly with uranium. The Supervisors/Laborers category is for personnel that were routinely in 

the areas where uranium operations occurred but were not routinely handling uranium directly. 

Maintenance personnel fall into this category. The “Others” category is for personnel that did

not routinely enter the uranium production areas. Examples of personnel fitting this category are 

office personnel and store room attendants. Operators are assigned the 95th percentile of the 

annual dose. Supervisors and Laborers are assigned the 50th percentile of the distribution. The 

Others category is assigned the 5th percentile of the distributions. Since these represent bounding 

estimates, the dose is assigned as a constant. 

Uranium operations were suspended three times during the covered period at the site. Since 

operations were suspended, it is unlikely anyone routinely handled uranium or uranium 

processing equipment. Also, the uranium inventory was likely reduced if not eliminated. 
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Therefore, during those times, all personnel will be assigned dose based on the “Others” 

category. This is intended to account for external dose that would be received from residual 

uranium contamination that may have remained. Also, uranium operations did not start until 

April 1943. Therefore, no external dose will be assigned prior to that date.

Table 3: Annual External Dose 

Job Category Operation Phase Whole Body Dose(a) 

(mrem/year)

Shallow Dose(b)

(mrem/year)

Operators Operations 3934 21030

Supervisors/Laborers 1003 3221

Others 256 493

All Standby 256 493

(a) Applied as Photons 30-250 keV. Whole body photon doses are to be converted to organ doses using the Exposure to Organ 

Dose Conversion Factors (US DHHS 2007). 

(b) Applied as Electrons > 15 keV. 

6.0 Occupational Medical Dose

A memo reviewing the medical program at Electro Metallurgical was written by the MED in 

1945 (AEC 1945). The memo recommended pre-employment, annual and termination X-rays. 

No information regarding occupational medical dose was found in any of the site research or 

Computer Assisted Telephone Interview materials. Information to be used in dose 

reconstructions, for which no specific information is available, is provided in ORAUT-OTIB0006, Technical Information Bulletin: Dose Reconstruction from Occupationally Related 

Diagnostic X-Ray Procedures (ORAUT 2005). The assumed frequency in this document is PA 

chest X-ray for pre-employment, annual, and termination examinations between the years 1942 

and 1953 (the covered period). Annual organ doses are entered into the NIOSH-IREP program 

as the annual dose due to an acute exposure to photons (E=30-250 keV). The distribution is 

assumed to be normal with a standard deviation of 30%. 

7.0 References

AEC 1945, Memo from B.J. Mears, Captain, Medical Corps., to Area Engineer, Tonawanda 

Area, Tonawanda, New York, May 4, 1945 [SRDB Ref ID 21849]. 

AEC 1951, Report by the Manager of New York Operations Office and the Director of 

Production, The Production of Uranium Feed Materials, May 22, 1951 [SRDB Ref ID 4125]. 

DOE 2009, Office of Health, Safety and Security, EEOICPA web site. 

http://www.hss.energy.gov/healthsafety/fwsp/advocacy/faclist/findfacility.cfm 

NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) 2004, Estimation of Ingestion 

Intakes, Rev 0, OCAS-TIB-0009, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Office 

of Compensation Analysis and Support, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

NIOSH 2010, Radiation Exposures Covered for Dose Reconstructions Under Part B of the 

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, Rev 1, OCAS-IG-003, 
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National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Office of Compensation Analysis and 

Support, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

ORAUT (Oak Ridge Associated Universities Team) 2005, ORAUT-OTIB-0006, Technical 

Information Bulletin: Dose Reconstruction from Occupationally Related Diagnostic X-Ray 

Procedures, Rev 03 PC-1, December 21, 2005.

UMETCO Minerals Corporation, History UMETCO Minerals Company, Former Electro 

Metallurgical, Niagara Falls, New York [SRDB Ref ID 16282].