National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Argonne National Laboratory - West 

SEC-00224 Update

John Cardarelli II, PhD, CHP, CIH, PE 

Research Health Physicist, NIOSH

Division of Compensation Analysis and Support

Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, 147th Meeting

Teleconference

August 17, 2022
Overview

 Petition information

 Facility background and feasibility determination

 Update on current SEC-00224 tasks

• Last INL/ANL-W WG meeting was on July 16, 2020

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Petition information
Other ANL-W Related SEC Petitions

Petition NIOSH Recommended SEC Class

SEC-00243 Did not qualify

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SEC-00224 Petition

 Petition requested from SEC-00219 petitioner because ANL-W

was a separate site from INL prior to 2005 thus necessitating a

separate evaluation

 Petition received on December 4, 2014 for requested class:

• All workers who worked in any work location at the ANL-W from January 1,

1949 through December 31, 1995, with the basis of inadequate monitoring for

plutonium, neptunium and fission products during that time period.

 Petition qualified on March 13, 2015 for class:

• All workers who worked in any work location at the ANL-W from April 10, 1951

through December 31, 1979, with the basis of inadequate monitoring for

plutonium, neptunium and fission products during that time period.

 Evaluation Report sent to ABRWH on February 24, 2016

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SEC-00224 Class Definition

All employees of the Department of Energy, its 

predecessor agencies, and their contractors and 

subcontractors who worked at the Argonne National 

Laboratory-West between April 10, 1951 and December 

31, 1957 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.

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Site Background &

Feasibility Determination
ANL-W – Site Background

 1949-February 2005: operated by the University of

Chicago under the AEC/ERDA/DOE Chicago Operations

Office

 February 2005: merged with Idaho National

Laboratory and remaining operational facilities

collectively named the Materials and Fuels Complex

(MFC)

 Purpose was reactor testing, including breeder reactor

theory, and experimental measurements.

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ANL-W – Site Description (1/3)

 Located on the INL site

 Two primary areas:

1. EBR-I Complex (red

circle on the left)

2. EBR-II Complex (red

circle on the right)

SEC00224 Evaluation Report, Figure 5-1

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ANL-W – Site Description (2/3)

 EBR-I Complex

1. Experimental Breeder Reactor-I (EBR-I)

2. Zero Power Reactor-III (ZPR-III)

3. Boiling Water Reactor Experiments I-V (BORAX I-V)

4. Argonne Fast Source Reactor (AFSR) first location

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ANL-W – Site Description (3/3)

 EBR-II Complex

1. Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II)

2. Transient Reactor Experiment and Test Facility (TREAT)

3. Fuel Cycle Facility (FCF)

4. Fuel Assembly and Storage Building (FASB)

5. Inspection and Test Facility (ITF)

6. Hot Fuel Examination Facility – North (HFEF-N)

7. Zero Power Plutonium Reactor (ZPPR)

8. Laboratory and Operations Building (L&O Building)

9. Argonne Fast Source Reactor (AFSR) second location

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Argonne National Laboratory-West – Feasibility Summary (1/2)

Feasibility Findings for ANL-W, SEC-00224

Internal Exposures

Source of Exposure

Dose Reconstruction is

Feasible 

4/10/1951-12/31/1957

Dose Reconstruction is

Feasible 

1/1/1958 - 12/31/1979

Uranium No Yes

Plutonium No Yes

Thorium No Yes

Mixed Fission Products No Yes

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Argonne National Laboratory-West – Feasibility Summary (2/2)

Feasibility Findings for ANL-W, SEC-00224

External Exposures

Source of Exposure

Dose Reconstruction is

Feasible 

4/10/1951-12/31/1957

Dose Reconstruction is

Feasible 

1/1/1958 - 12/31/1979

Beta - Gamma No Yes

Neutron No Yes

Medical X-ray Yes Yes

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Update on Current SEC-00224 Tasks
Argonne National Laboratory-West – Current Tasks 

I. Use of General Area Air Sampling Data to Assess

Unmonitored Actinide Exposures

• SEC-00224 Evaluation Report determined there

were inadequate actinide bioassays for some

workers potentially exposed to actinides that

were present in certain areas with MFPs present.

• Potential internal exposures could be accounted

for by assessing unmonitored intakes based on

available general area (GA) air sampling data.

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I. Use of General Air Sampling Data to Assess Unmonitored

Actinide Exposure (1/3)

 SEC-00224 Evaluation Report determined:

• Workers at EBR-I Complex could have been exposed to uranium

without MFPs present

• Workers at EBR-II Complex could have been exposed to thorium,

uranium, and plutonium without MFPs present

• There was inadequate actinide bioassay data to estimate potential

intakes but potential unmonitored actinide intakes could be

accounted for using the gross alpha sampling data from those areas.

 During review of SEC-00224 Evaluation Report, concerns were

raised about the proposed method for accounting for

unmonitored actinide intakes using GA air sample data.

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I. Use of General Air Sampling Data to Assess Unmonitored

Actinide Exposures (2/3)

 SC&A’s primary concerns:

1. Concerned about the use of GA air samplers with low air flow

2. Concerned about air sample dilution due to ANL-W sampling

during both operational and non-operational periods at its

facilities.

3. The generic lack of parity between air concentrations

measured by GA air samplers and lapel samplers worn by

individual workers.

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I. Use of General Air Sampling Data to Assess Unmonitored

Actinide Exposures (3/3)

 Development began on ORAUT-RPRT-0089 Evaluation of Issues in the

Use of General Area Air Sampling for Argonne National Laboratory-West

Internal Dose Assessment.

 During the development of ORAUT-RPRT-0089 it was determined that a

general topical report on the concentration ratios between breathing

zone (BZ) samplers and general area (GA) air samplers in small areas

was needed.

 Work was suspended on ORAUT-RPRT-0089 and development of

ORAUT-RPRT-0097, Breathing Zone to General Area Air Concentration

Ratios in Small Workrooms began.

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I. Use of General Air Sampling Data to Assess Unmonitored

Actinide Exposures: ORAUT-RPRT-0097 (1/2)

 The purpose of ORAUT-RPRT-0097 was to evaluate the relationship

between GA and BZ air concentrations for small workrooms and to

determine if adjustments to the GA air concentrations are necessary to

make them equivalent to the BZ air concentrations in a small workroom.

 The air sample data from five air sampling studies were evaluated

assuming different hypothetical BZ and GA air sampler location

scenarios.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/pdfs/orau/oraurpts/or-rprt-97-r0-508.pdf

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I. Use of General Air Sampling Data to Assess Unmonitored

Actinide Exposures: ORAUT-RPRT-0097 (2/2)

 The use of the BZ:GA ratio information in ORAUT-RPRT-0097 is intended for

small radiological workrooms with relatively long-lived radionuclides.

 ORAUT-RPRT-0097 (dtd March 29, 2021) is a complex-wide report and is

being reviewed by the Subcommittee for Procedures Review. SC&A was tasked

to review this report in February 15, 2022.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/pdfs/orau/oraurpts/or-rprt-97-r0-508.pdf

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I. Use of General Air Sampling Data to Assess Unmonitored

Actinide Exposures: ORAUT-RPRT-0089

 In the spring of 2021, work resumed on ORAUT-RPRT-0089

 ORAUT-RPRT-0089 was completed and issued on April 19, 2022.

This report will be presented to the INL workgroup at their next

meeting. Please note this report relies heavily on ORAUTRPRT-0097.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/pdfs/orau/oraurpts/or-rprt-89-r0-508.pdf

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For more information, contact CDC

1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636)

TTY: 1-888-232-6348 www.cdc.gov

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the 

official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Questions?