NIOSH Dose Reconstruction 

Project Meeting 

On Weldon Spring Profile 

Final Minutes 1 of 6 10/27/2005 

Date: 

February 2, 2005 

Meeting with: 

United Nuclear Weapons Workers (UNWW) 

Attendees: 

Approximately 30 people were in attendance, including retired plant workers and worker 

advocates. Of those, the following chose to sign in as the sheets circulated: 

Denise Brock Director, UNWW - St. Louis Region 

Evelyn Coffelb Retiree 

Joseph and Leanne Fiaziee Retirees 

Janet Manning Retiree 

Don Kampschroder Retiree 

Mark Browning UNWW 

Robert Fulkerson Retiree 

Charles L. Roth Retiree 

Joseph A. Freigurger Subcontractor employee 

John Bognan Retiree 

Anthony Windisch Retiree 

Ralph and Freda Hunter Retiree 

Brian Zink Dalton, Coyne, Cindilt, Hillemann 

Vic Amantea Retiree 

NIOSH and ORAU Team Representatives: 

Tom Tomes – National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Office of 

Compensation Analysis and Support (OCAS) 

William Murray – Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) 

Mark Lewis – Advanced Technologies Laboratories International Inc. (ATL) 

Dawn Catalano – ATL 

Proceedings 

Mr. Lewis opened the meeting by thanking everyone for attending, and thanked Denise Brock 

for her help in arranging the meeting. He said that the Outreach Team came to talk about the 

Site Profile for the Weldon Spring plant -- the former workers are the real experts, the ones who 

needed to add their experiences. He explained that the Site Profile is a tool used to reconstruct 

radiation dose for compensation claims, and stressed the importance of the workers providing 

any information they could share about the operations of the plant to guarantee the development 

of an accurate Site Profile. He stated that to avoid conflict of interest, the authors of the Site 

Profile have no connection to the site. Contractors and government agencies operating the 

facilities provide information for the Site Profiles, but NIOSH and ORAU want the worker’s 

perspective to be represented in the final document. 
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On Weldon Spring Profile 

Final Minutes 2 of 6 10/27/2005 

Mr. Lewis said that he had worked at the Portsmouth DOE site for about 30 years and had some 

radiation exposure himself. He knows how the system works and has empathy for the workers’ 

side. His role is that of liaison between labor and the government to get the most complete 

picture of what happened on site. The team is here to listen to what the workers have to say, and 

will appreciate any information on leads or documentation they could provide regarding 

radiation exposure. He then introduced Mr. Tom Tomes from NIOSH for opening comments. 

Mr. Tomes said that he works as a health physicist with NIOSH, and has been assigned to work 

on the Site Profile for Weldon Spring. In order to characterize the site, he has been researching 

personnel records and site operations documentation and analyzing data that might help recreate 

dose received by workers. Mr. Tomes took several questions at that time (see Discussion 

Session), and then turned the meeting over to Mr. Murray for the presentation. 

Comment: 

I worked for Mallinckrodt for 20 years at Weldon Spring and Destrehan Street. They have 

the information, they’re holding it back – they don’t want to give it to us. When former 

President Bill Clinton signed that bill (referring to Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

Compensation Program Act of 2000) for atomic workers, the government admitted that it 

took responsibility for causing the death and illness of thousands of workers from processing 

uranium. 

I don’t agree that the program should only name 22 types of cancer. It has been proven that 

many illnesses are caused by radiation exposure. As far back as 1910, scientists proved that 

radiation caused skin cancer. Claimants from Bethlehem Steel were compensated for skin 

cancer and prostate cancer, but we were not. The decisions are inconsistent. The 

government caused deaths by hiding the truth. 

I worked as a millwright and assistant foreman at Weldon Springs and worked in every 

building on the site. Workers were exposed to every type of radiation, and never even knew. 

If we had known we were working with dangerous materials we would have had a choice to 

accept or reject employment. Our lives were put in jeopardy. 

Mark Lewis: 

That’s why it’s important to get this information in the Site Profile, to help with a more 

accurate dose reconstruction. Any sources you can point us to would be helpful. 

Comment: 

Records about radioactive materials were kept at Weldon Spring between 1962 and 1967 and 

were maintained on the computer. I worked in the computer department, and I wrote the 

programs that accumulated all the radiation (records) for all the workers there. At that time, 

they were upgrading a big 4K computer to a new 1205 IBM random access computer, and I 

was assigned to write the program that would log this by individual. When an individual 

received an overexposure, a report letter was automatically sent to both the supervisor and 

the individual. Now the records can’t be found anywhere. 
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Project Meeting 

On Weldon Spring Profile 

Final Minutes 3 of 6 10/27/2005 

Mark Lewis: 

This is the kind of information that will help NIOSH and ORAU develop an accurate Site 

Profile. That’s why your collective memory is so important. In a small group activity, you 

can recollect some of your memories of working at the plant, and possibly help each other 

recall some events that you may have forgotten. 

Comment: 

We worked in our street clothes, and weren’t required to shower. Then we got in our cars 

and drove home. It’s hard to tell how much (referring to radiation) we took home with us. 

Mark Lewis: 

The mindset was different at the time the work was being done. Everything was on a “need to 

know” basis, and that policy was not questioned. Now we have the “right to know.” If 

current concerns about classified information are holding you back, NIOSH and ORAU can 

arrange a secure interview. You are members of the greatest generation. We need to 

document the important work you did in the Site Profile. 

Comment: 

People worry that the records have been altered. 

Mark Lewis: 

That’s why it’s important for you to tell us what you remember. Changes in the Site Profile 

can affect dose reconstructions; your input is important to ensure that the document is 

accurate. 

Denise Brock: 

The reason everyone was invited to attend is because of your expertise and institutional 

knowledge. Mr. Murray’s presentation will clarify how the Site Profile is so important in 

dose reconstruction. Your input regarding what you were exposed to or involved with is 

important because only you can tell if that exposure is missing. We have applied for Special 

Exposure Cohort (SEC) status, but at this point the best we can do is document what we 

know. 

I also have documented proof that your records have been altered. I don’t think that this is as 

important as the fact that you have the information we need to put into the Site Profile... tell 

us what you know. 

Mr. Murray thanked the attendees for their willingness to share their experiences. He said that 

the meeting would be primarily focused on the Weldon Spring plant, but if anyone worked at the 

Mallinckrodt Chemical Company, NIOSH and ORAU would be interested in that information as 

well. Mr. Murray also mentioned that the Advisory Board that oversees NIOSH and ORAU’s 

administration of the program would be having a public meeting in St. Louis the following week, 

and he could provide more details about that if anyone thought they might want to attend. 

Mr. Murray explained that a team of health physicists would be going over available records to 

find as much information as possible for the Site Profile. He said that Bob Meyer, the Site 

Profile Team Leader, had made several visits to the site and would return to gather more data. 

He explained that there are two types of claims under the Energy Employees Occupational 
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Project Meeting 

On Weldon Spring Profile 

Final Minutes 4 of 6 10/27/2005 

Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). The section NIOSH and ORAU work on is 

Subtitle B, which covers radiation-induced cancers as well as beryllium and silicosis claims. 

Mr. Murray stated that the award for a claim filed under Subtitle B consists of $150,000 cash 

compensation and medical coverage. He stated that NIOSH and ORAU only handle dose 

reconstruction for the radiation claims. 

Mr. Murray explained that the process of dose reconstruction has 4 components – internal, 

external, environmental, and medical doses. NIOSH and ORAU are in the process of gathering 

technical information to place in the Site Profile in these areas. For the external dose, the team 

considers types of radiation present, types of badges, and other aspects of the monitoring process 

such as the sensitivity of the equipment and frequency of exchanges. The same sorts of things 

are considered for the internal dose. In both cases, DOE has provided the records, but NIOSH 

and ORAU understand that the workers may have additional information that would be helpful to 

produce a more accurate and complete document. 

In addition to the information contained in the workers’ official DOE records, NIOSH and 

ORAU also consider environmental and medical doses. Mr. Murray stated that the years 

between 1956 and 1966 were identified as a critical time frame for exposures, and the monitoring 

program information will be closely examined. Employer required x rays are also added into the 

dose, although the frequency of these x rays at Weldon Spring varied widely. Mr. Murray asked 

anyone with information on the types of equipment used and who the technicians were to contact 

NIOSH. 

Mr. Murray explained that the Site Profile is comprised of six different sections called Technical 

Basis Documents. The Site Description contains information about the plant such as the 

radiation sources present, the processes and activities that took place there, and incidents or 

accidents on record. Information sources for the Site Profile include official records and what 

can be obtained from earlier computer files. Any additional input that workers provide would be 

used to augment these. He stated that NIOSH and ORAU would be interested in talking to 

anyone who might be able to provide information, and asked participants to reach out to anyone 

who could not attend. 

Mr. Murray pointed out an attachment to the handout that contained a list of codes and job 

information. The Site Profile Team is trying to match them up; but the records are not complete, 

so any assistance in matching these up would be appreciated. 

A comment was made that the three-digit numbers were accounting codes for calculating 

production costs, and were grouped by plants. For example, the 300 series refers to Building 

301, the operations plant. The speaker added that the map included in the handout was fairly 

accurate, and the buildings could be identified. Mr. Murray thanked the gentleman and said that 

someone would go over those with him more specifically outside the general meeting. 

Discussion Session 

Question: 

How could dose reconstructions be done accurately before the Site Profile was completed? 

Will denied cases be revisited? 
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Project Meeting 

On Weldon Spring Profile 

Final Minutes 5 of 6 10/27/2005 

Tom Tomes: 

Some claims can be completed without the Site Profile if the claimant’s employee file 

contains good radiation records. As long as the probability of causation is very likely to be 

over 50%, the information in the record is sufficient. 

Question: 

Many of the plant workers have already died, and it is difficult to get any documented 

information. When we try to get test results from Oak Ridge, they say the records were 

misplaced. The government has more information on all of us than we can ever produce. 

When workers got high doses, they were moved to another location. This is something the 

government obviously knows about: why can’t they provide that information? 

Mark Lewis: 

DOE might have that information, but NIOSH doesn’t. The team uses all resources available, 

and counts on your input to help find more. 

Comment: 

Many of the people who worked at Weldon Spring in the 1950’s and 1960’s are in their 

seventies. They are frustrated with what seems like a lengthy process and don’t think they’ll 

be around to see it through. 

Comment: 

A survivor read a description of the working conditions that said (paraphrased): 

Electrical workers were required to change uranium ore to metal. The Metals Building was 

the most dangerous one in the complex. The heat was so intense that it slowed down 

production – people had to work in it while it was red hot and had to stop when they got 

burned. There was radiation coming off the machinery such as the extrusion press. They 

made rods for reactor fuel. They received lethal doses from several explosions. There were 

explosions in the area on a regular basis. 

The survivor said that the claimant worked in the Metals Building during the critical years of 

1957 to 1963. Following a diagnosis of colon cancer, a claim was filed in 2001. A detailed 

letter was submitted along with the claim, but the survivor expressed doubt that it had been 

read. The claimant had a phone interview in April of that year, then died in June. Despite the 

fact that so many details were included in the letter, the claim was denied. 

Comment: 

Workers handled material with nothing more than cotton gloves for protection. The only 

other measure taken was to wear coveralls in the core area. 

Comment: 

Secretaries were exposed as well as production workers. Air supplies and dust collectors had 

radioactive residue that was exhausted into the air, and then returned back into the plant. Air 

samples were taken regularly and sent to the lab, but the results were never released to 

workers. 
NIOSH Dose Reconstruction 

Project Meeting 

On Weldon Spring Profile 

Final Minutes 6 of 6 10/27/2005 

Comment: 

The two year employment requirement is not reasonable. A worker can get enough exposure 

in a short time to cause cancer due to the intensity of the radiation. 

Mr. Murray asked if there were any more questions or comments. He thanked participants for 

attending, and Ms. Brock for her assistance with the arrangements. The meeting adjourned at 

approximately 4:00 p.m.