Enc.

ADVISORY BOARD ON RADIATION AND WORKER HEALTH

4676 Columbia Parkway, MS: C-46

Cincinnati, Ohio 45226

(513) 533-6825

CHAIRMAN

James M. Melius, M.D., Dr. PH.

 Albany, New York

MEMBERS

Henry Anderson, M.D.

 Madison, Wisconsin

Josie Beach

 Kennewick, Washington 

Bradley P. Clawson

 Rexburg, Idaho

R. William Field, Ph.D. 

 Iowa City, Iowa

Mark A. Griffon

 Salem, New Hampshire

David Kotelchuck, Ph.D.

 New York, New York

Richard Lemen, Ph.D.

 Canton, Georgia

James E. Lockey, M.D.

 Cincinnati, Ohio

Wanda I. Munn

 Richland, Washington

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

 College Station, Texas

David B. Richardson, Ph.D.

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Genevieve S. Roessler, Ph.D.

 Elysian, Minnesota

Phillip Schofield

 Bosque Farm, New Mexico

Loretta R. Valerio

 Santa Fe, New Mexico

Paul L. Ziemer, Ph.D.

 Lafayette, Indiana

STAFF

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Theodore M. Katz, MPA

 Atlanta, Georgia

COMMITTEE MANAGEMENT 

Zaida Burgos

 Atlanta, Georgia

November 7, 2013

The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius

Secretary 

Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Avenue, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20201

Dear Madam Secretary:

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

evaluated Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) Petition 00192 concerning 

workers at the Rocky Flats Plant in Golden, Colorado, under the statutory 

requirements established by the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

Compensation Program Act of 2000 and incorporated into 42 CFR Sec. 

83.13. 

The Board respectfully recommends that SEC status be accorded to:

“All employees of the Department of Energy, its 

predecessor agencies, and their contractors and 

subcontractors who worked at the Rocky Flats Plant in 

Golden, Colorado, from April 1, 1952, through December 

31, 1983, 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 included in the Special Exposure Cohort.”

This recommendation is based on the following factors:

• Workers at this facility during the time period in question were 

involved in operations related to nuclear weapons production. 

• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 

review of available monitoring data, as well as available process 

and source term information for this facility found that NIOSH 

lacked the sufficient information to allow it to estimate with 

sufficient accuracy the potential internal doses from exposures to 

thorium-228, thorium-232, uranium-233, and neptunium-237 to 

which employees of the Rocky Flats Plant may have been 

subjected for various periods from April 1, 1952, to December 31, 

1983. The Board concurs with this determination.

• NIOSH also determined that health may have been endangered 

for these Rocky Flats Plant employees during the time period in 

question. The Board also concurs with this determination.
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Based on these considerations and the discussion at the October 16 and 17, 2013, Board 

meeting held in Westminster, Colorado, the Board recommends that this class be added to the 

SEC.

Enclosed is the documentation from the Board meeting(s) where this SEC class was 

discussed. The documentation includes copies of the petition, the NIOSH review thereof, and 

related materials. If any of these items are unavailable at this time, they will follow shortly.

Sincerely,

[Signature on File]

James M. Melius, M.D., Dr. PH.

Chairman, ABRWH

Enclosure