HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

University of Rochester, Rochester, New York

 

HHS Designation of Additional Members of the 

Special Exposure Cohort 

under the 

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 

Designating a Class of Employees from 

University of Rochester 

Atomic Energy Project

Rochester, New York 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

University of Rochester, Rochester New York

Page 2

I. Designation 

I, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, designate the class 

of employees defined in Section II of this report for addition to the Special Exposure 

Cohort (SEC), as authorized under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA), 42 U.S.C. § 7384q.

_____July 13, 2010____ __[Signature on file]_______

Date Kathleen Sebelius

II. Employee Class Definition

All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, 

and its contractors and subcontractors who worked at the University 

of Rochester Atomic Energy Project in Rochester, New York, from 

September 1, 1943 through October 30, 1971, 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 SEC. 

III. Designation Criteria and Recommendations

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, for the class defined in Section II of this report, the 

Secretary has determined, and the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health 

(Board) has recommended, that

(1) it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose that the 

class received; and

(2) there is a reasonable likelihood that such radiation dose may have 

endangered the health of members of the class.

The SEC final rule states in 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(1) that it is feasible in two situations 

to estimate the radiation dose that the class received with sufficient accuracy. First, 

the rule states that radiation doses may be estimated with sufficient accuracy if 

NIOSH has established that it has access to sufficient information to estimate the 

maximum radiation dose for every type of cancer for which radiation doses are 

reconstructed that could have been incurred under plausible circumstances by any 

member of the class. Alternatively, radiation doses may be estimated with sufficient 

accuracy if NIOSH has established that it has access to sufficient information to 

estimate the radiation doses of members of the class more precisely than a 

maximum dose estimate.

The Board, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, advised the Secretary to designate the 

class as an addition to the SEC in a letter received by the Secretary on June 16, 

2010. 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

University of Rochester, Rochester New York

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IV. Designation Findings

Feasibility of Estimating Radiation Doses with Sufficient Accuracy

The Secretary established the feasibility determination for the class of employees 

covered by this report based upon the findings summarized below.

• NIOSH finds that it is not feasible to estimate, with sufficient accuracy, the 

total internal dose for all workers at University of Rochester Atomic Energy 

Project in Rochester, New York, from September 1, 1943 through October 

30, 1971. NIOSH determined that members of this class may have received 

internal radiation exposures from airborne contamination associated mainly 

with animal inhalation studies. The primary alpha-emitters studied were 

uranium, polonium, radium, and plutonium. Additional studies involved the 

determination of the toxicities of radon, thorium, Sr-90 and P-32.

• Based on its analysis of the available resources, NIOSH determined that 

despite documented evidence that internal monitoring programs were in 

place for some operations, the available urinalysis and air monitoring data are 

not sufficient to bound the internal dose for members of the proposed class. 

• The principal sources of external radiation doses were photon, beta and 

neutron radiation resulting from the radioactive material handled onsite as 

well as the X-ray generating devices, such as the “Million Volt” X-ray 

machine. NIOSH has determined that prior to 1952 individual external 

dosimetry records are not available, although summary data are available. It 

is therefore unlikely that operations-related external doses may be bounded 

or reconstructed with sufficient accuracy before 1952.

• Since external dosimetry data are generally available from 1952 through the 

end of the evaluated period (October 31, 1971), it is likely that external dose 

reconstructions may be performed, if deemed necessary, from 1952 through 

1971. Such data would be evaluated for usability on a case-by-case basis, 

using NIOSH established protocols for dose reconstructions. 

• NIOSH believes it is possible to reconstruct with sufficient accuracy 

occupational medical X-ray dose for the evaluated period.

• Pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(1), NIOSH determined that there is 

insufficient information to either: (1) estimate the maximum radiation dose, for 

every type of cancer for which radiation doses are reconstructed, that could 

have been incurred under plausible circumstances by any member of the 

class; or (2) estimate the radiation doses of members of the class more 

precisely than a maximum dose estimate.

• Although NIOSH found that it is not possible to reconstruct radiation doses for 

the proposed class, NIOSH intends to use any internal and external 

monitoring data that may become available (and that can be interpreted using 

existing NIOSH dose reconstruction processes or procedures) for an 

individual claim. Dose reconstructions for individuals employed at the 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

University of Rochester, Rochester New York

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University of Rochester Atomic Energy Project during the periods from 

September 1, 1943 through October 30, 1971, but who do not qualify for 

inclusion in the SEC, may be performed using these data as appropriate. 

• NIOSH finds that it is feasible to estimate, with sufficient accuracy, 

occupational medical dose for this class of employees using the assumptions

and applicable protocols in the complex-wide Technical Information Bulletin, 

Dose Reconstruction from Occupationally Related Diagnostic X-Ray 

Procedures (ORAUT-OTIB-0006).

• The Board concurred with the NIOSH evaluation and recommended the 

proposed class for addition to the SEC.
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

University of Rochester, Rochester New York

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 Health Endangerment

The Secretary established the health endangerment determination for the class of 

employees covered by this report based upon the findings summarized below.

(1) Pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(3), NIOSH established that there is a 

reasonable likelihood that such radiation doses may have endangered the 

health of members of the class. Pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(3)(ii), 

NIOSH specified a minimum duration of employment to satisfy this health 

endangerment criterion as “having been employed for a number of work days 

aggregating at least 250 work days within the parameters established for this 

class or in combination with work days within the parameters (excluding 

aggregate work day requirements) established for one or more other classes

of employees in the Cohort.”

(2) NIOSH did not identify any evidence from the petitioners or from other 

resources that would establish that the class was exposed to radiation during 

a discrete incident likely to have involved exceptionally high-level exposures, 

such as a nuclear criticality incident, as defined under 42 C.F.R. § 

83.13(c)(3)(i). 

(3) The Board concurred with NIOSH’s finding that the health of the class may 

have been endangered and defined the class according to the 250-work day 

requirement specified under 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(3)(ii). 

V. Effect and Effective Date of Designation

The Secretary submits this report on the designation of one additional class to the 

SEC for review by Congress, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 7384l(14)(C)(ii) and 

7384q(c)(2)(A), as amended by the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, Pub. L. No. 108-375 (codified as amended in 

scattered sections of 42 U.S.C.). Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(14)(C)(ii), as 

amended by the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

Year 2005, Pub. L. No. 108-375 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 42 

U.S.C.), the designation in this report will become effective 30 days after the date of 

this report’s submission to Congress “unless Congress otherwise provides.”

VI. Administrative Review of Designation

The health endangerment determination of the designation provided in this report 

may be subject to an administrative review within HHS, pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 

83.18(a). On the basis of such a review, if the Secretary decides to expand the class 

of employees covered by this designation, the Secretary would transmit a 

supplementary report to Congress providing the expanded employee class definition 

and the criteria and findings on which the decision was based.