Subcommittee for 

Dose Reconstruction Reviews

Meeting of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker 

Health

April 28, 2022

David Kotelchuck (Chair), Josie Beach, Bradley Clawson, James 

Lockey, David Richardson, Loretta Valerio
Criteria currently considered when selecting cases

• Focused on cases with 45%–52% probability of causation 

(POC) (best estimates)

• Representation of DOE and AWE facilities

• Employment dates

• Career duration

• Occupation 

• Gender

• Cancer diagnoses

2
Comparison of POC distribution selected by SCDRR with 

population of claims reviewed by NIOSH

3

47%

20%

5%

1%

27%

8%

17%

25%

27%

22%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

< 20%

20% - 39.9%

40% - 44.9%

45% - 49.9%

>50%

SCDRR reviewed cases NIOSH evaluated cases
SC&A Recommendation 1

The SCDRR should continue selecting cases with POCs near 

50%.

However, due to the small number of claims in this window, 

SC&A recommends the Subcommittee expand the targeted 

POC range from 45%–52% to 40%–55%.

4
Comparison of decade of first employment evaluated by 

SCDRR with population of claims reviewed by NIOSH

5

0.1%

1%

4%

12%

16%

18%

34%

15%

1%

0.2%

0.02%

0%

0.2%

1%

9%

12%

21%

40%

16%

2%

0.2%

0%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

2010s

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

1950s

1940s

1930s

1920s

1910s

SCDRR reviewed cases NIOSH evaluated cases
SC&A Recommendation 2

SC&A recommends that the SCDRR increase the sampling of 

claims with an initial decade of employment beginning in the 

1970s. These claims are underrepresented in the cases 

reviewed by the Subcommittee to date.

6
Comparison of employment duration percentages in 

cases reviewed by SCDRR and the population of claims 

evaluated by NIOSH

7

3%

10%

8%

16%

22%

33%

7%

9%

16%

11%

18%

19%

21%

6%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

< 1 yr

1-5 yrs

>5-10 yrs

>10 - 20 yrs

>20 - 30 yrs

>30 - 40 yrs

>40 yrs

SCDRR reviewed cases NIOSH evaluated cases
SC&A Recommendation 3

SC&A recommends that the SCDRR make a concerted effort to 

select some cases to evaluate with shorter employment 

periods, to ensure shorter employment periods are 

adequately represented.

8
Historical breakdown of female claims by file 

year

9

10.6% 11.8%

13.0%

15.6%

18.5%

26.6%

14.3%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

2000 - 2002 2003 - 2005 2006 - 2008 2009 - 2011 2012 - Nov 3

2015

Nov 4 2015- Feb

2022

% Female Average
Gender distribution of SCDRR-reviewed claims

10

Male, 526, 89.5%

Female, 62, 10.5%
SC&A Recommendation 4

SC&A suggests the SCDRR select a minimum of eight female 

claims per set of 30 cases to increase female representation 

going forward. 

11
NIOSH case completion date from Sets 27 and 29

12

1

5

1 0 0

4 3

12

9

20

5

0 0

0

5

10

15

20

25

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

27th set completed in 2018

29th set completed in 2019
SC&A Recommendation 5

SC&A recommends that the SCDRR focus on evaluating cases 

completed by NIOSH within several years of the review date to 

ensure that the Advisory Board is encountering and reviewing 

cases that use the most recent revisions of guidance 

documents.

13
Large sites underrepresented among SCDRR 

reviews

Criteria:

• Sites with at least 100 claims 

• >1 SCDRR review needed to 

reach 1% of all DRs from that 

facility reviewed 

Facilities identified:

• Kansas City Plant

• Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion 

Plant

• Bethlehem Steel

• Wah Chang

• Iowa Ordnance Plant

• Tonopah Test Range

14
SC&A Recommendation 6

SC&A identified six locations with 100 or more claims that are 

underrepresented by at least one SCDRR-reviewed case. SC&A 

recommends additional cases from these sites be targeted 

when possible. 

15
Smaller sites adequately reviewed by SCDRR 

• The Subcommittee has tried make sure that facilities with 

less than 100 claims are not overlooked during the selection 

of cases for its review. 

• So far it has succeeded in this effort:

• SCDRR has so far reviewed 72 from among about 3,150 claims 

filed by covered facilities with less than 100 claims processed by 

NIOSH – for 2.3% reviewed at these often-smaller facilities

16
Summary of SC&A recommendations

1. Expand POC targeted range

2. Increase sampling of claims beginning in 1970s and later

3. Increase sampling of cases with shorter employment (<20 yrs)

4. Select at least 8 female claims per 30 case set

5. Select cases completed within several years of NIOSH review

6. When possible, target underrepresented sites

17
Questions?

18