NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Project 

Introductory Meeting on 

Development of Site Profile 

For Sandia National Laboratory 

Final Meeting Minutes 1 of 4 12/30/05 

Meeting Date: 

August 15, 2005 

Meeting with: 

Security Police Association (formerly IUPA Local 7002) 

Attendees: 

Name Organization 

Steven G. Rivera Security Police Association 

Daniel Barela Security Police Association 

Dale Meredith Security Police Association 

NIOSH/ORAU Team: 

Sam Glover, PhD, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Office of 

Compensation, Analysis and Support (OCAS) 

Jack Buddenbaum, ENSR, Site Profile Team Leader 

William Murray, Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) 

Mark Lewis, Advanced Technologies and Laboratories International, Inc. (ATL) 

Mary Elliott, ATL 

Proceedings: 

Mark Lewis opened the meeting at approximately 12:30 p.m. by asking everyone to introduce 

themselves. Mr. Lewis gave a brief introduction of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA), describing the need for workers to provide information 

for the Site Profile as “taking a snapshot of the past,” recalling information that may be helpful to 

make the document a claimant-favorable instrument for reconstructing radiation doses. He 

described his own background as a Department of Energy (DOE) site worker and union 

representative and his current role on the ORAU Worker Outreach Team. 

Mr. Lewis stated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the types of information that 

would be important in developing the Sandia National Laboratory Site Profile. Mr. Lewis 

introduced Sam Glover of NIOSH/OCAS and Jack Buddenbaum of ENSR, who is the site 

profile team leader for Sandia National Laboratories. He said that Mary Elliott was present to 

take notes to ensure accuracy of the minutes. 

Sam Glover explained three NIOSH brochures that were handed out: NIOSH Office of 

Compensation Analysis and Support; NIOSH Fact Sheet What a Claimant Should Know; and

What to Expect During the Dose Reconstruction Process. 

Dr. Glover said that the Site Profile is a “living document” that can be changed at any time as 

new relevant information becomes available. He stressed the importance of getting workers’ 
NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Project 

Introductory Meeting on 

Development of Site Profile 

For Sandia National Laboratory 

Final Meeting Minutes 2 of 4 12/30/05 

input while the Site Profile is being developed. This improves the site profile and can make the 

claims process less frustrating for claimants. 

Jack Buddenbaum said that he is the team leader of the Sandia Site Profile Team, which consists 

of six people. The team is gathering information from various sources and Sandia is cooperating 

with records retrieval, but there is still a lot of information that is not yet in hand. 

Mr. Lewis introduced Bill Murray, the Worker Outreach team leader, who began his presentation 

by describing three phases in which it is important to involve the workers in the development of 

the site profile: 

1. At the beginning of the Site Profile development process, when the ORAU team 

meets with workers to get their input. 

2. A rollout meeting after the Site Profile is completed. 

3. A continuing dialogue with the workers and union representatives, which allows 

for additional input that can lead to revisions in the document.

Mr. Murray said that the site profile is a collection of historic information about a specific DOE 

or Atomic Weapons Employer (AWE) site. The information is assembled from records provided 

by the government and the contractor, but the workers are the true “site experts” and their input 

is needed for historical accuracy. The site profile gives details about work practices and the 

dosimetry, environmental monitoring, and medical X-ray programs at the site. The health 

physicists who perform the radiation dose reconstructions use the site profile as a technical 

handbook. Getting the workers’ perspective as the site profile is being written ensures that it is 

not biased in favor of the employer or the government. 

Mr. Murray explained that the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

Act was enacted by Congress to compensate workers who became ill as a result of occupational 

exposure to radiation or toxic chemicals in the nuclear weapons industry. All claims are 

submitted through the Department of Labor (DOL), which processes EEOICPA claims under 

two different Subtitles of the Act. DOL forwards the Subtitle B claims for radiation-induced 

cancer to NIOSH. If the claim is approved (the radiation dose reconstruction shows that the 

probability of the cancer being radiation-related is greater than 50% ), the claimant may receive 

$150,000 and medical expenses for treatment of that cancer from the date the claim is filed. 

Subtitle B claims also cover berylliosis and silicosis, but the DOL does not forward those claims 

to NIOSH. DOL handles all claims for Subtitle E cases for exposure to toxic chemicals. A 

claimant may be eligible for both without offset of benefits. 

To date, the DOL has sent NIOSH approximately 20,000 claims for radiation dose 

reconstruction. Because of the large volume of cases, NIOSH contracted with ORAU to perform 

the dose reconstructions. 

Question: 

Are any local people working on the Site Profile? 

Bill Murray: 

When the program began, several site profile team leaders had work experience at the sites they 

were documenting. In theory, their experience would make them the “experts” on radiation 
NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Project 

Introductory Meeting on 

Development of Site Profile 

For Sandia National Laboratory 

Final Meeting Minutes 3 of 4 12/30/05 

exposure at the site. But since they may not be objective about the programs at their home site, it 

is considered a conflict of interest for people who monitored the exposure at their plants to 

prepare the Site Profiles. 

Mr. Murray discussed the main components of a Site Profile: the description of work and 

activities at the site, external dose, internal dose, environmental dose, and medical dose. He 

described how the dose reconstruction is done using this information -- the more information that 

is available, the more accurate the dose reconstruction. 

The External Dose section of the site profile primarily concerns people who were assigned 

dosimeter badges to measure their dose. It is important to know if workers wore dosimeters to 

measure radiation exposure, what types of radiation exposure were measured, how often badges 

were exchanged, the location on the body that the badges were worn, which workers received 

badges, how missing and lost badges were handled, and any problems that may have occurred 

with the badges. Estimates of missed doses are applied where there is any doubt. 

For the Internal Dose section, it is important to know what radioactive materials were at the site, 

how the radioactive contamination was controlled, what type of air monitoring was performed 

and how often, and what types of radioactive materials were monitored for and where. It is also 

important to know whether chest counting or whole body counting was done. If urine samples 

were taken to measure how much radioactive material was in the body, it is important to know 

how often and which employees participated in the program. 

Comment: 

Guards move around the facility a lot. You’ll have to look at them from a different perspective 

than other employees. 

Mr. Murray explained that the Occupational Environmental Dose section of the site profile 

considers both internal radiation dose and external radiation dose. For internal radiation dose, it 

is important to find out if the air was monitored for radioactive materials at the site. For external 

radiation dose, it is important to know if any monitoring was performed in outside areas at the 

plant. 

Mr. Murray said that because the occupational medical dose is also considered, it is important to 

know what X-ray practices were used. For most workers, a chest X-ray was required as a 

condition of employment. We need to know who received X-rays, how often X-rays were 

performed, what type of X-rays were performed, and the type of X-ray equipment that was used. 

The Site Description section of the site profile describes what went on at the site over the years. 

It details the radiation sources that were present, the processes and activities that took place at 

the plant and their locations, as well as information regarding incidents and accidents. 

Sam Glover: 

The site description section cites specific radiation exposure incidents that affected a large 

population of workers. 

Bill Murray: 

There are several opportunities during the claimant’s telephone interviews to give information on 

smaller exposure incidents that involved primarily the worker. This is more difficult for 
NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Project 

Introductory Meeting on 

Development of Site Profile 

For Sandia National Laboratory 

Final Meeting Minutes 4 of 4 12/30/05 

survivors who file claims because often they do not know specifics of their relatives’ work. In 

these cases, information from co-workers can be considered to give the claimant every possible 

advantage. 

Mr. Murray said that if a person has classified information that could be used in the Site Profile, 

secure interviews can be arranged. 

The ORAU Team has a data capture group that has an ongoing mission. They travel to different 

sites, as well as federal records facilities, searching for information on all DOE and AWE sites. 

When new information is found, the document is captured electronically and brought back for 

the information to be entered into a database. The database is used in developing site profiles and 

doing dose reconstructions. If the new information impacts the dose reconstructions for a 

particular site, claims can be reopened and the dose reconstructions may be recalculated. 

But employees and retirees may have information that wasn’t included in the government and 

company records; or they may be able to identify other sources of information. If any such 

information is available, it should be sent directly to NIOSH by mail or e-mail. 

Question: 

How many sites were involved in the nuclear weapons complex? 

Bill Murray: 

There are about thirty DOE sites and three hundred AWE sites. 

Mr. Lewis concluded the meeting at approximately 1:20 p.m. by thanking the union 

representatives for meeting with the ORAU Team.