March 3, 2009 

The Honorable Charles E. Johnson 

Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services 

Department of Health and Human Services 

200 Independence Avenue, S.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20201 

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (The Board) has 

evaluated Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) Petition 0096 concerning workers 

at the Westinghouse Atomic Power Development Plant in East Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania, under the statutory requirements established by the Energy 

Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) and 

incorporated into 42 CFR Sec. 83.13 (c)(1) and 42 CFR Sec. 83.13 (c)(3). 

The Board respectfully recommends Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) status 

be accorded to All Atomic Weapons Employer employees who worked at 

Westinghouse Atomic Power Development Plant in East Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania from August 13, 1942 through December 31, 1944, 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 

SEC. 

This recommendation is based on the following factors: 

• Westinghouse Atomic Power Development Plant prepared uranium 

metal for Enrico Fermi's Stagg Field experiment and conducted 

development and pilot-scale production of uranium oxide fuel 

elements. 

• NIOSH has established that it does not have access to sufficient 

information to: (1) estimate the maximum radiation dose, for every 

type of cancer for which radiation doses are reconstructed, that could 

have been incurred in plausible circumstances by any member of the 

class; or (2) estimate radiation doses of members of the class more 

precisely than an estimate of maximum dose. Information available 

from the site profile and additional resources is not sufficient to 

document or estimate the maximum internal and external potential 

exposure to members of the proposed class under plausible 

circumstances during the specified period. The Board concurs with 

this conclusion. 

ADVISORY BOARD ON RADIATION AND WORKER HEALTH

4676 Columbia Parkway, MS: C-46 

Cincinnati, Ohio 45226

(513) 533-6825

CHAIRMAN:

Paul L. Ziemer, Ph.D. 

 Lafayette, Indiana 

MEMBERS:

Josie Beach 

 Richland, Washington 

Bradley P. Clawson 

 Rexburg, Idaho 

Michael H. Gibson 

 Franklin, Ohio 

Mark A. Griffon 

 Salem, New Hampshire 

James E. Lockey, M.D. 

 Cincinnati, Ohio 

James M. Melius, M.D., Ph.D. 

 Albany, New York 

Wanda I. Munn 

 Richland, Washington 

John W. Poston, Sr., Ph.D. 

 College Station, Texas 

Robert W. Presley 

 Seymour, Tennessee 

Genevieve S. Roessler, Ph.D. 

 Elysian, Minnesota 

Phillip Schofield 

 Bosque Farm, New Mexico 

STAFF:

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY:

Theodore M. Katz, MPA 

 Atlanta, Georgia 

COMMITTEE MANAGEMENT :

Zaida Burgos 

 Atlanta, Georgia 
The Honorable Charles E. Johnson March 3, 2009

 

 

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• NIOSH has evidence that indicates some workers in the proposed class may have 

accumulated substantial chronic exposures through episodic intakes of radionuclides, 

combined with external exposures to gamma, beta, and neutron radiation. The Board 

concurs with this conclusion. 

• NIOSH determined that health may have been endangered for the workers exposed to 

radiation at this facility during the time period in question. The Board concurs with this 

determination. 

Based on these considerations, and on the discussions and deliberations at our February 18, 

2009 Board meeting, the Board recommends that this Special Exposure Cohort petition be 

granted. 

Enclosed is supporting documentation from the recent Advisory Board Meeting held in 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, where this Special Exposure Cohort class was discussed. The 

documentation includes transcripts of the deliberations, copies of the petition, and the NIOSH 

review thereof, and related documents distributed by NIOSH. If any of these items are 

unavailable at this time, they will follow shortly. 

 Sincerely, 

 

 Paul L. Ziemer, Ph.D. 

 Chair 

Enclosure