HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Hooker Electrochemical Corporation, Niagara Falls, 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 

Hooker Electrochemical Corporation

Niagara Falls, New York
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Hooker Electrochemical Corporation, Niagara Falls, New York

Page 2

I. Designation 

I, Sylvia M. Burwell, Secretary of the Department 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.

September 22, 2015 [Signature on File]

Date Sylvia M. Burwell

II. Employee Class Definition

All Atomic Weapons Employees who worked at the Hooker Electrochemical 

Corporation in Niagara Falls, New York, during the operational period from July 1,

1944, through December 31, 1948, 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.

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 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 the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health (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.

NIOSH initially evaluated the petition for the time period covering the operational period from 

January 1, 1943, through December 31, 1948, and the residual period from January 1, 1949, to 

December 31, 1976, and concluded that there were sufficient data to perform individual dose 

reconstructions for the operational period from January 1, 1943, through December 31, 1948, and the 

residual period from January 1, 1949, to December 31, 1976. This determination was adopted by the 

Secretary on February 2, 2012, but was subsequently challenged by the petitioner. In the fall of 2012, 

a panel of three HHS personnel (Panel), independent of NIOSH, was appointed to conduct an 

administrative review. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) administered this 

Panel on behalf of the Secretary.
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Hooker Electrochemical Corporation, Niagara Falls, New York

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Based on its review of the administrative record for this petition, the Panel concluded that NIOSH 

does not have sufficient information to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose of those 

members of the class who worked at Hooker Electrochemical during the operational period. In a final 

report dated September 10, 2014, the Panel, pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 83.18, recommended that the 

Secretary partially revise the previous determination to deny SEC status to this class of Hooker 

Electrochemical Corporation employees. In a memorandum to OASH dated March 27, 2015, the 

Director of NIOSH agreed to provide a new designation to the Secretary that comports with the 

Panel’s recommendation as set out in their final report, and which encompasses only radiological 

workers.

IV. Designation Findings

Infeasibility of Estimating Radiation Doses with Sufficient Accuracy

The Secretary designates the class of employees covered by this report based upon the findings 

summarized below.

• Although the operational period at the Hooker Electrochemical Corporation was from January 1, 

1943, through December 31, 1948, only non-radiological chemicals were produced during the 

period January 1, 1943, through June 30, 1944.

• NIOSH determined that the principal source of internal radiation exposures for members of the 

proposed class is alpha particles from the uranium in the contaminated slag, which was present at 

Hooker Electrochemical from July 1, 1944, through December 31, 1948. The modes of exposure 

were likely inhalation and ingestion. 

• NIOSH was unable to obtain monitoring or surveying data for potential internal exposure, like 

bioassay or air sampling results, from workers at Hooker Electrochemical. The Panel, after 

reviewing the administrative record in this case, determined that it is not appropriate to use air 

sampling results obtained from other uranium processing facilities during the years 1948 to 1957

for estimating exposures due to contaminated slag handling at Hooker Electrochemical for the 

operational period from January 1, 1943, through December 31, 1948, because of the different 

exposure conditions. NIOSH, therefore, does not have sufficient personnel monitoring, 

workplace monitoring, or source term data to estimate with sufficient accuracy internal exposures 

to Hooker Electrochemical workers before 1949. 

• NIOSH previously determined, and the Panel agreed, that internal dose could be reconstructed 

during the facility’s residual contamination period from January 1, 1949, through December 31, 

1976. 

• The principal sources of external radiation exposure for members of the proposed class included 

gamma and beta radiation associated with handling of uranium-contaminated slag. External 

doses incurred during the operational and residual contamination periods from July 1, 1944,

through December 31, 1976, will be reconstructed using the method described in NIOSH’s 

Technical Basis Document for the Hooker Electrochemical Company.

• Additionally, occupational X-rays, such as pre-employment chest X-rays received as a condition 

of employment during the time period from January 1, 1943, through December 31, 1948, will be 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Hooker Electrochemical Corporation, Niagara Falls, New York

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reconstructed using methods described in ORAUT-OTIB-0006, Dose Reconstruction from 

Occupationally Related X-Ray Procedures. 

• Although it is not possible to reconstruct internal radiation dose for the proposed class, NIOSH 

intends to use any monitoring data that may become available for an individual claim (and that 

can be interpreted using existing NIOSH dose reconstruction processes or procedures). 

Therefore, dose reconstructions for individuals employed at Hooker Electrochemical from July 1, 

1944, through December 31, 1948, but who do not qualify for inclusion in the SEC, may be 

performed using these data as appropriate.

• Based on the foregoing, 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.

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 has determined, and OASH concurs, 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 has 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 established 

for one or more other classes of employees in the Cohort.”

(2) NIOSH has determined, and OASH concurs, that members of the class were not 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 health of the class may have been endangered and the class is defined in accordance with 

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), 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 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Hooker Electrochemical Corporation, Niagara Falls, New York

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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.