Enc

 

ADVISORY BOARD ON RADIATION AND WORKER HEALTH

1150 Tusculum Ave

Cincinnati, Ohio 45226

(513) 533-6825

CHAIRMAN 

Vacant 

MEMBERS

Henry Anderson, M.D. 

 Madison, Wisconsin 

Josie Beach 

 Richland, Washington 

Bradley P. Clawson 

 Rexburg, Idaho 

R. William Field, Ph.D. 

 Iowa City, Iowa 

David Kotelchuck, Ph.D. 

 New York, New York 

James E. Lockey, M.D. 

 Cincinnati, Ohio 

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

September 23, 2019

The Honorable Alex M. Azar II

Secretary 

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 SEC Petition 00250 concerning workers at the Y-12 Plant in Oak 

Ridge, Tennessee, under the statutory requirements established by the 

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 

2000 (EEOICPA) 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 Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during the period January 

1, 1977, through July 31, 1979, 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.”

This recommendation is based on the following factors: 

• Individuals working at the Y-12 Plant during the time period in 

question worked on nuclear weapons production and related 

operations. 

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

evaluation of available exposure data, which includes biological 

monitoring, air monitoring information, and process monitoring 

information, concluded that NIOSH lacked adequate information, 

to allow it to estimate with sufficient accuracy the potential internal 

exposures to thorium (including associated progeny) to which the 

proposed class of employees may have been exposed. The Board 

concurs with this conclusion.

• NIOSH determined that health may have been endangered for the 

employees exposed to radiation at the Y-12 Plant during the time 

period in question. The Board also concurs with this determination.
Page 2 

Based on these considerations and the discussions held at the August 21, 2019, Board 

meeting in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 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,

Henry Anderson, M.D.

Chair, SEC Issues Work Group

on behalf of the

Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health

Enclosure

[Signature on File]