Metals and Controls Corporation

SEC Petition Evaluation Report

SEC-00236

James W. Neton, PhD, CHP

Associate Director for Science

NIOSH Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Meeting

Santa Fe, New Mexico

August 23-24, 2017

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
SEC petition

 Received 9/1/2016

 Petitioned class:

All facilities construction & maintenance workers including lubricators-oilers, 

industrial pipefitters, engineering technicians (mechanical, electrical, structural), 

maintenance supervisors, electricians, plumbers, millwrights, carpenters, 

instrumentation technicians, chemical handlers, waste treatment operators, and 

all production workers including machine operators-helpers, and repair & 

maintenance (commonly called R&M) workers, who worked in buildings 4, 5, 10 

interior areas, and buildings 5, 10, 11, 12, 17 exterior areas at Metals and 

Controls Corp. in Attleboro, MA, during the period from January 1, 1968 

through March 21, 1997

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
SEC petition

 Qualified under 83.13 on 11/14/2016 based on 

lack of monitoring data

 Petition class evaluated:

All atomic weapons employees who worked as facilities construction & 

maintenance workers including lubricators-oilers, industrial pipefitters, 

engineering technicians (mechanical, electrical, structural), maintenance 

supervisors, electricians, plumbers, millwrights, carpenters, instrumentation 

technicians, chemical handlers, waste treatment operators, and all production 

workers including machine operators-helpers, and repair & maintenance 

(commonly called R&M) workers, who worked in buildings 4, 5, 10 interior 

areas, and buildings 5, 10, 11, 12, 17 exterior areas at Metals and Controls 

Corp. in Attleboro, MA, during the period from 1/1/68 through 3/21/97

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Site history and background

 Located on 100 acres in Attleboro, MA

 30 miles south of Boston

 Covered time periods: 

 AWE operations from January 1, 1952 through 

December 31, 1967

 Residual radiation from January 1, 1968 through 

March 21, 1997

 AWE operations period previously added to SEC 

under petition SEC-00149 (2009) under an 83.14 

petition

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Site history and background

 1952 – Radiological operations began in bldgs. 3 and 4

 Included work for Navy, Air Force and other government 

agencies

 1957 - All radiological operations moved to building 10

 Contained a Fuel Manufacturing Area (FMA)

 1959 - Metals & Controls Corp. (MC) merged with Texas 

Instruments Corp. (TI)

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Site history and background

 Operations during the AWE period included:

 Fabrication of enriched uranium fuel elements and foils for the 

Navy, Air Force, Government-funded research, and commercial 

customers

 Processing of depleted (68,000 kg) and natural uranium (253 kg)

 Limited R&D and fabrication of thorium fuel, alloys, and foils for 

Brookhaven and others (244 kg)

 Production of 5,000 electrical breakers containing radium- bearing luminescent markers for the Navy

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Site history and background

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

 Operations during the Residual period included:

 Fuel fabrication for High Flux Isotope Reactor 

(HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and 

other Government-owned research reactor

 HIFR operations exposures not covered under 

EEOICPA during the residual period

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Site history and background

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Site history and background

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

 Building 10 separated by floor to ceiling partitions 

into the following areas:

 Unclad-fuel Machining Area (UMA) -all material 

processing performed in dry boxes or hoods with 

ventilation UMA under negative pressure with respect 

to surrounding area. 

 Clad-fuel Machining Area (CMA) –No unclad material 

allowed

 HFIR –No unclad material allowed

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Site history and background

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

Building 10
Decontamination & Decommissioning

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

 AWE areas (Buildings 3, 4 and 10) cleaned at the 

end of operations

 No covered radiological work after the AWE operations period

 Rad waste

 Processed inside and outside of Building 5 then 

shipped (Metals Recovery Area, Stockade)

 Limited onsite burial between Buildings 11 and 12

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Decontamination & Decommissioning

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

 1981 -Formal site-wide D&D begins without DOE 

involvement

 D&D was performed in either the HFIR area, or 

by contractors

 Building 10 had the highest pre-D&D 

contamination levels, comprehensive grid 

surveys show a vast majority of areas <100 

dpm/100 cm2, and max values of 1258 dpm/100 

cm2 and 0.15 mr/hr

 1983 -Initial NRC release of AWE areas

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Decontamination & Decommissioning

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

 1984 – ORISE verification survey of Burial Area finds 

contamination

 1992 – Follow-up Burial Area remediation

 1992 – ORISE verification survey of Burial Area finds 

contamination

 1993 – Follow-up Burial Area remediation

 1993 – ORISE verification survey of Burial Area 

successful

 1994 – Metals Recovery Area remediation

 1995 – ORISE verification survey finds contamination

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Decontamination & Decommissioning

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

 1995 –NRC requests site-wide comprehensive 

characterization

 1995 –Contamination found on inaccessible surfaces in 

previously released AWE areas

 1996 –Follow-up remediation

 February 1997 –NRC and State verification survey 

successful

 March 21, 1997 –NRC site-wide release for unrestricted 

use except for Building 1

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Sources of available 

information

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

 621 documents found in NIOSH Site Research 

Database (SRDB) 

 Documents and affidavits provided by the 

petitioner

 Normal data searches also conducted (Internet 

etc.)

 Guidance from Battelle-TBD-6000, NUREG/CR5512, and ORAUT-OTIB-0070 to model doses 

from residual contamination generated from 

machining operations

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Previous DRs

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

 448 claims submitted for dose reconstruction

 397 claims for energy employees who worked 

during the period under evaluation (January 1, 

1968 – March 21, 1997) 

 314 dose reconstructions completed for energy 

employees who started their employment during 

the period under evaluation 

 1 claims with internal dosimetry records

 4 claims with external dosimetry records

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

(NIOSH DCAS Claims Tracking System Information available as of January 2017)
Potential exposure

1/1/68 – 3/21/97

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

 Internal –Inhalation and ingestion of U and Th

 External –Photon / beta exposure small amounts 

of U and Th surface contamination present after 

operations ceased

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Internal exposure

1/1/68 – 3/21/97

Internal monitoring data

 Routine contamination monitoring of personnel and 

areas

 Survey data from the end of the operational period 

(1966–1967)

 For comparison, NIOSH reviewed data from surface 

contamination surveys, air monitoring, urinalysis and 

lung counts that were performed during the residual 

period for personnel performing commercial work 

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
External exposure

1/1/68 – 3/21/97

External monitoring data

 Film badge data from the end of the operational period 

is representative of exposures from operations and 

residual radioactive material, and are therefore 

bounding for exposures to only residual radioactive 

material

 For comparison, NIOSH reviewed data from film 

badges, and area and item radiation surveys that were 

obtained during the residual period for personnel 

performing commercial work 

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

DR feasibility and approaches

 NIOSH found that the available monitoring records, 

process descriptions, and source-term data are adequate 

to estimate exposures and complete dose reconstructions 

with sufficient accuracy for the evaluated class of 

employees during the Residual Radiation Period

 January 1, 1968 through March 21, 1997
Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

DR feasibility and approaches

Internal Dose Estimate

 Jan. 1, 1968 through March 21, 1997

 200+ survey data entries taken before D&D were 

compiled and a 95th percentile value calculated

 7,000+ survey data entries from the end of the 

Operational period were compiled and a 95th percentile 

value calculated

 A source term depletion rate was calculated and a 

resuspension factor (10-6 m-1) was applied to estimate air 

concentration
Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

DR feasibility and approaches

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

dpm

Year

Annual Inhalation Intake (gross alpha activity) 
Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

DR feasibility and approaches

 All of the contamination surveys used to create these 

bounding methods analyzed for gross alpha content

 The most claimant-favorable intake of thorium or uranium 

will be used

 The amount of activity ingested is evaluated using 

methodologies provided in NUREG/CR-5512
Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

DR feasibility and approaches

External Dose

 162 film badge results from the end of the operational 

period used to determine the 95th percentile dose 

 Included missed dose (LOD/2) for a total of 165 

mrem/year

 Film badge data from non-covered work performed 

during the residual period was 193 mrem/year

 Will use a claimant favorable constant distribution of 200 

mrem/year, with no source term depletion

 Medical x-ray exposure is not covered in the residual 

period
Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

DR feasibility and approaches

 The intakes and external doses for the residual radiation 

period will apply to all personnel with primary 

responsibilities in the Rad production areas

 For administrative or non-production area personnel, 

NIOSH will assume that a worker’s external and internal 

doses are 10% of those associated with those of the 

production workers (TBD-6000)
Residual Period

(1/1/1968 - 3/21/1997)

Exposure Source Feasible Not Feasible

Internal Yes

External

Yes

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support
Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

Proposed class

NIOSH has determined that there is 

sufficient information to estimate with 

sufficient accuracy both internal and 

external radiation doses for members of the 

evaluated class.