Sandia National Laboratorie

Albuquerque

Special Exposure Cohort

Petition Evaluation Report 1

Samuel Glover, PhD

Research Health Scientist

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

February 2012

Oakland, CA
Petition Overview

 Petition received on July 18, 2011

 Petitioner proposed class definition:

• All Security Inspectors, Security Clerks, Fireme

regular Recurrent Security Inspectors, Security

Officers, Security Police Officers I, Security Pol

Officers II, Security Police Officers III, and Cent

Alarm System Operators that worked in any ar

SNL‐A for the period from January 1, 1963 thro

May 21, 2011
Petition Overview—cont.

 Petition qualified for evaluation on

October 21, 2011

 Petition basis: radiation monitoring record

members of the proposed class have been falsified, or destroyed

• Monitoring data retrieval problems incurred b

NIOSH while processing individual claims andperforming site data capture work supported 

petition basis
Petition Overview—cont.

 NIOSH evaluated class:

• All personnel that worked in any area at Sandi

National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mthe period from January 1, 1963 through May 2

 Sandia recently had a class added to the SE

• All personnel that worked in any area at Sandi

National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mthe period from January 1, 1949 through Dece

1962.
Sources of Available Informat

 ORAU Team Technical Basis Documents (TB

 ORAU Team Technical Information Bulletin

(TIBs) and Procedures

 Interviews with former employees

 Existing claimant files Documentation provided by petitioner
Data Capture Efforts

 NIOSH Site Research Database (over 2500

documents)

 Fourteen data capture visits at Sandia

 Data capture of Sandia‐related records at

facilities across the DOE complex

 DOE Opennet (OSTI database)

 Internet search
Previous Dose Reconstructio

NIOSH OCAS Claims Tracking System

Information available as of March 22, 2011

 Sandia National Laboratory

claims submitted to NIOSH 3

 Claims with employment during the period

evaluated (1949‐1962) 3

 Dose reconstructions completed for claims

with employment during the period 2

 Claims containing internal dosimetry  Claims containing external dosimetry 2
Background

 In 1945, Z‐Division of Los Alamos moved to 

was to become the Sandia National Labora

 Covered period for Sandia National Labora

Albuquerque, as established by the Depart

of Labor began in 1949

 Weapons assembly, weapon ordnance

engineering, and production coordination various Atomic Energy Commission facilitie(such as Clarksville, Medina, Pantex)
Background—cont.
Potential External Radiologic

Exposures During the Class Pe

 Broad spectrum of external hazards

• Photon exposures related to generators and

accelerators and materials returned from wea

testing, reactors, and other research and wast

materials

• Beta exposures from activated components, m

returned from weapons testing, and air filters 

cloud sampling

• Neutron: weapons related, accelerators, react

neutron sources

—Sandia National Laboratory dosimeters did not mea

neutrons until 1958
Potential Internal Radiologic

Exposures During the Class Pe

 Broad spectrum of activities resulted in

numerous radionuclides of concern

• Plutonium• Tritium• Uranium• Americium• Fission and activation products

• Thorium
Health Physics at SNL

 Health physics was the responsibility of th

industrial hygiene division prior to 1957 at 

point a health physics section was formed

 NIOSH located minimal documentation of 

practices and requirements during the evaperiod

 Monitoring requirements were developed 

on the judgment of departments, divisionssupervisors

 Interviews indicate that coverage was tem

and ad hoc in nature, which continues unt

time of the Tiger Team audits
Personal Monitoring Data

 Availability of monitoring data remains a

significant concern

 November 2009: NIOSH notified DOE that 

responses were incomplete, particularly as

related to internal dosimetry data

• NIOSH acquired some individual data during d

captures which were not provided in the respo
Personal Monitoring Data—c

 January 2010: NIOSH re‐requested the reco

open Sandia National Laboratory cases

 DOE and Sandia National Laboratory are cu

reviewing the best path forward for record

site
Internal Dosimetry Data Availab

 Unlike many DOE facilities, Sandia Nationa

Laboratory did not report the number of

bioassay samples analyzed

 Based on interviews, it is thought to be a s

number per year

 NIOSH has obtained copies of some bioass

records as part of its site data captures and 

data requests
Internal Dosimetry Data

Availability—cont.

 Number of samples, by year, from NIOSH r

are provided in the following table (after 1

Sandia is providing a database)

 Data collected during the 1992 and 1994 w

from Controls for Environmental Pollution 

• Company was convicted of fraud

• CEP data during this time frame is not used by 

for dose reconstruction
Summary of In Vitro Bioassa

Samples Obtained by NIOSH
External Monitoring Data

 External dosimetry results were centralized from 

beginning at Sandia National Laboratory

• Personal data requests seem fairly complete for ex

dosimetry data based on NIOSH records

 Documentation of the pre‐1957 external dosim

program was not obtained by NIOSH

 Post‐1957 documentation indicates workers in

radiation areas were to be badged

 Available data represents a fairly substantial

population and NIOSH has further developed ex

co‐worker models and neutron‐to‐photon correfactors to determine dose to unmonitored work
Feasibility of Dose Reconstruct

 NIOSH has determined that monitoring data, proces

information, and monitoring program information ainsufficient to support bounding internal doses for t

evaluated class.

• There are indications that additional data exist (microfilm

/microfiche record set), but these data are not readily accenor is there completeness ascertained.

• Based on a lack of internal monitoring program document

source term information data for the evaluated period, NI

it cannot establish a bounding approach even if the

microfilm/microfiche records were to become available.

 NIOSH concludes it cannot bound internal doses for 

period from January 1, 1963 through December 31, 

but will continue to assess post‐1994 dose reconstru

feasibility in a subsequent evaluation for SNL.
NIOSH Recommendation Regar

Non‐SEC Claims

Although NIOSH found that it is not possib

completely reconstruct internal radiation d

for the proposed class, NIOSH intends to usinternal and external monitoring data that become available for an individual claim (a

can be interpreted using existing NIOSH do

reconstruction processes or procedures)
NIOSH Recommended Class

All employees of the Department of Energy

predecessor agencies, and its contractors a

subcontractors who worked in any area at 

National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New

Mexico, from January 1, 1963 through Dece

31, 1994, for a number of work days aggreg

at least 250 work days, occurring either sol

under this employment, or in combination 

work days within the parameters establish

one or more other classes of employees in 

Special Exposure Cohort
NIOSH Recommendation

Summary of Feasibility Findings for SEC‐00162

(January 1, 1963 through December 31, 1994)

Sources of Exposure Reconstruction Feasible Reconstruction N

Internal XExternal X

‐ Gamma X‐ Beta X

‐ Neutron X

‐ Occupational Medical

X‐ray X
NIOSH Recommendation

Summary of Feasibility Findings for SEC‐00162

(January 1, 1995 through May 21, 2011)

Sources of Exposure Reconstruction Feasible Reconstruction N

Internal NIOSH continues to review the feasibility o

reconstruction for this period for internal d

External X

‐ Gamma X‐ Beta X

‐ Neutron X

‐ Occupational Medical

X‐ray X