Savannah River Site Construction Worker Meeting 

September 15, 2004 

Attendees: Judson Kenoyer (ORAU Team), Melton Chew (ORAU Team), Buck 

Cameron (CPWR), John Dement (Duke),

The meeting had been set up by the Center for the Protection of Workers Rights (CPWR) 

through the Local Union. Knut Ringen started the meeting, establishing the goal of 

gathering input from the representatives ofthe local trades with regard to special 

considerations that are related to their work. He turned the meeting over to Judson 

Kenoyer to facilitate. Judson asked the attendees go around the table and identify 

themselves and the trade or organization that they represented. 

The following are a mix of comments and areas discussed during the meeting that lasted 

approximately 5 hours, including a working lunch: 

• 	 One ofthe attendees stated that the interviewers associated with the EEOICPA 

project "needed work." In their experience, they were not listening. 

• 	 One worker stated that sometime during the time period of 1974-1975, he was 

involved in an incident (explosion) that involved uranium oxide. 

• 	 Another attendee brought up the question ofthe accuracy ofthe badges worn to 

measure dose. 

• 	 An attendee stated that the Radiation Protection staff would sometimes take his 

film badge, have him use pencil dosimeters, record his dose on a card when he 

came out of an area, and then the card would not be turned in. He also stated that 

recorded records may not be too far off the correct exposure. But, he did not see 

the 3" x 5" card turned in. 

• 	 Another attendee stated that there was one time when his film badge read about 

100 mR and he knows he got 1.4R. (Nothing in minutes saying why he knew 

that.) 
• 	 One attendee stated that sometime in the 1960's or 1970's, during a normal 

shutdown, the Radiation Protection staff took his film badge and gave him a 

pencil dosimeter. He said that this was not an exception to what was done at 

other times. 

• 	 A painter stated that he received a copy of his dose history and it was not even 

close to what he knew he received. They did have an RWP for every job, wore 

film badges and pencil dosimeters. In some jobs, the pencils were pegged. When 

they went back to look for the records, they were not there. 

• 	 In some areas, the background levels were high enough to make re-zeroing the 

pencils a necessity in the morning. Another attendee stated that they tried to find

the records in the HP Department; but, they could not find them. 

• 	 One attendee stated that he received dose records every month. 

• 	 One worker stated that when DuPont left the site, Bechtel and Westinghouse took 

over the operations. He stated that DuPont kept good records. There was 

discussion that when Bechtel and Westinghouse took over, there was "gross 

shredding" that went on. 

• 	 One attendee stated that he would leave his pencil at the gate when he left the area 

and then would pick it up the next morning. In one case, the badges that they had 

been using were removed during the night; when they came in to work in the 

morning, they were gone. 

• 	 Another attendee stated that sometimes they were told to take their badges off 

outside the area that they were going to be working in; he said that it was so that 

the reading would not exceed the legal limit. 

• 	 They knew that if they were a subcontractor and their exposure exceeded a certain 

level that they would be "sent home." 

• 	 Another attendee stated that there was one case that one ofthe monitors started 

alarming and someone called the HP. It was in the 221 Building. The HP stated 

"That machine has been giving us trouble; just go ahead." When the HP did come 

to the location, he found out that the worker did have contamination on him. The 

worker was trying to give the HP a bad time; the attendee stated that the worker 

was later laid off. 

• 	 Someone stated that log books were kept by Operations; work permits also were 

kept. 

• 	 Another person stated that he shredded records for months in approximately 1977. 

This happened when site operations went from DuPont to Westinghouse. 
• 	 One attendee stated that Construction Material Resources had records in 

microfilm. 

• 	 One worker stated that the 313 Building had asbestos throughout the building. 

• 	 A member of the Teamsters stated that when they transported items/things around 

the site, they were not issued dosimeters. They were not told if anything they 

transported might have been radioactive or contaminated. 

• 	 One ofthe painters stated that he was on the "Glazing crew." During some jobs, 

they had to take offthe shielding. A project could last for 30 days or so and 

workers could be there around the clock. Another job was with the Process Room 

shielding; it would be pulled out. The work involved Pu-238 and the workers 

wouldn't know the exposure rates. There were daily work permits that were key; 

they were signed off by the Engineer and also by HP. These were used all over 

the site. They would also have to remove insulation. They used Special Work 

Permits (SWPs) and work packages. Smears would be taken and sometimes a 30­

minute limit on their time was put into place. The 200 F Area was a "hot area." 

He also did work in the Process Rooms for cleanup (floors, walls) and the area 

could include high levels of radiation. Contamination would be under the paint. 

Background could be high due to the presence of sources. The paint crews 

worked out of a Central Paint Shop; they went all over the place. At one time, 

there were about 140 painters. Most ofthe work is on the maintenance side. 

Work in the "gang-belt quarters" could be 3-4 weeks per project. Painters got 

into as much hot work as anyone. The only thing they did not do was clean the 

areas. The person made the statement that operators working with them took 

badges off so that they could get overtime. It was stated that the painters did not 

remove them. The work permit that they worked under would be correct; but, he 

did not know if the records were sent in. He estimated that ifthey double the 

recorded exposure, it might be OK; but, it may still be short. 

• 	 Another attendee stated that he thought the HPs were not doing their job and that 

there were problems in a number of areas. 

• 	 Someone else stated that workers were not monitored in what were considered to 

be non-rad areas. He stated that there were examples of office workers working 

in areas where they could get up to 150 mrem. 

• 	 A roofer stated that he did repair and maintenance work and was told that the 

areas that he worked in did not have Beryllium. It turned out that there was some. 

He stated "Ifthey lie about one thing, they will lie about others. You mistrust 

people." 

• 	 One person said that we should use coworker data. 
• 	 One attendee stated that he worked out of Central Shops and did non-rad work. 

But sometimes the tools that he worked with would come up contaminated. 

People were not aware that this was happening. 

• 	 Another worker said that depending on the type ofjob, the exposures had a wide 

distribution. It could be a 10-fold difference. 

• 	 It was stated that on the environmental data that there was a question on the 

geometric standard deviation. 

• 	 There were monthly reports for the records. The original records were kept in the 

703-A Building. 

• 	 One of the painters stated that some of the labor had to do with cleanup. No 

records were kept. They (HPs) didn't see anything. That person has shown some 

Beryllium sensitivity with spots on the lung and cysts on the liver and spleen. 

• 	 An Ironworker stated that he worked in several areas including the 100 Area, K, 

L, P, C (Cleanup), and R Areas. He also did some work in the Hot Shop to 

dismantle equipment. He did rigging, lifting, used the crane and welding 

machines, upgraded and replaced equipment. It was stated that the personal 

protection was fairly uniform across the site. 

• 	 Another attendee stated that there was one time that a subcontractor was working 

outside the area digging a ditch using a backhoe. He was told that he didn't need 

a badge. An HP went over to take measurements and he had to stop him; there 

was too much radiation. There was some contamination. The worker was 

concerned. They never really checked him. 

• 	 Someone stated that the construction workers were always treated like "secondclass citizens." 

• 	 Someone stated that he worked close to people that were dressed out and he 

wasn't. 

• 	 One ofthe workers stated that one time he went to pick up his badge and it wasn't 

there. The HP would pick up the badges when conditions change. 

• 	 A sheet metal worker stated that he did work at Tank Farms, the "Hot Tank," and 

would cut holes and work on the HVAC system. Jobs could last 8-9 months. In 

his jobs there were "dust" exposures and he "didn't trust anybody." Sometimes 

the laundry would come back contaminated. 

• 	 An example was stated that people would get tired of waiting to work, go home, 

come to work the next morning and set off the contamination alarms. 
• 	 A question was asked of all ofthe trade representatives: Are there any trades that 

would receive less exposure than others? Clerical was mentioned. Engineering 

also. Teamsters (drivers on site) was also brought up as a possible one. We 

discussed electricians, pipe fitters, sheet metal workers, maintenance, insulators, 

carpenters, millwrights, boilermakers, operators, operation engineers, roofers, 

crane operators. It was finally decided that over the long term period, with the 

variability in the jobs (and associated exposures) and the different crews that were 

needed for different jobs, that the exposures might just average out. It was 

agreed that the people performing the transportation onsite (on the average) might 

have a lower exposure. 

• 	 The SRS Incident Database was mentioned. Not many ofthe attendees knew 

about it. 

• 	 Someone stated that they believe the records are "out there." But, they also said 

that if we found the real records, that they (the site) would be embarrassed. 

• 	 Knut Ringen stated that they (the rad workers) need a program to estimate the 

exposures like the Beryllium program does. They can get a clear fix on non-rad 

levels. Some parameters that are looked at include trades, facilities, time periods, 

type of construction performed. It is hard to come up with a manageable list. 

• 	 An example of a roofer that was supposedly working in a non-rad area was 

discussed. He had not been given dosimetry to wear; but, it turned out that he 

should have been wearing some. He was working above a source. But, he had no 

dose record for that time period. It was stated that sometimes it is very difficult to 

figure out if someone needs dosimetry or does not need it. 

• 	 A question came up with regard to the reliability of exposure data and how 

variable is it. It was stated by at least one person that they believed that 

construction workers' exposure data would be more variable than other workers. 

• 	 One attendee stated that training on site was good. 

Judson Kenoyer and Mel Chew discussed the efforts that the ORAU Team have had to 

date. This included the establishment of a task force with people on it that had 

construction experience and their interface with the Medical Surveillance Group and the 

CPWR. It also included discussions with the people working with the SRS Westinghouse 

Incident Database. The SOE Radiation Exposure Monitoring System (REMS) data 

available was discussed during the meeting and it showed some years that no exposure 

records were available (at least electronically). Some interesting trends for the years with 

data were discussed. 

Judson Kenoyer wrapped up the discussion by thanking everyone that participated in the 

effort. He said that their input would be used in the planning ofthe Construction Worker 

Chapter for the SRS site that would be added to the site profile.