HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California

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 

Sandia National Laboratories - Livermore

Livermore, California
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California

Page 2

I. Designation 

I, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 

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.

[Signature on File] December 12, 2013

Kathleen Sebelius Date

II. Employee Class Definition

All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors 

and subcontractors who worked in any area at the Sandia National Laboratories-Livermore in 

Livermore, California, from October 1, 1957, through December 31, 1994, 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 included 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, 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.

NIOSH determined that there is insufficient information to estimate the radiation doses that the class 

received with sufficient accuracy under the two abovementioned situations. 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 November 12, 2013.
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California

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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.

Internal Feasibility

• The principal sources of internal radiation for members of the proposed class include 

exposure to depleted uranium, tritium, uranium tritide, uranium hydrides, thorium, and highly 

enriched uranium. Primary sources of potential internal doses to depleted uranium were from 

machining performed in the Weapons Laboratory Facility Complex. Tritium, uranium tritide, 

and uranium hydride dose sources were associated with research activities taking place within 

the Tritium Research Laboratory. Highly enriched uranium and thorium may have been 

involved in classified activities at other site locations and also resulted in potential internal 

doses.

• NIOSH has access to records suggesting that tritium and uranium urinalyses were performed 

for workers within the Tritium Research Laboratory and those machining depleted uranium. 

NIOSH does not, however, have access to all internal monitoring results or complete source 

term and process records, nor can it assess what fraction of the records are available at the 

site prior to 1995. 

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

internal dose for workers at the Sandia National Laboratories-Livermore in Livermore, 

California, from October 1, 1957, through December 31, 1994.

External Feasibility

• The principal sources of external radiation doses for members of the proposed class include 

exposures to highly enriched uranium, uranium hydrides, thorium, Radiography Facility 

isotope sources, and potentially other radionuclides from classified work. 

• NIOSH has access to records suggesting that external monitoring was performed for many 

site workers. NIOSH does not, however, have access to all external monitoring results or 

complete source term and process records at the site prior to 1995. 

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

external dose for workers at the Sandia National Laboratories-Livermore in Livermore, 

California, from October 1, 1957, through December 31, 1994.

• NIOSH finds that it is likely feasible to reconstruct occupational medical dose with sufficient 

accuracy for Sandia National Laboratories-Livermore workers at the site up through 1989, 

using claimant-favorable assumptions in the Technical Basis Document, Summary Site 

Profile for Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California (ORAUT-TKBS-0053, 

Rev. 00) After 1989, medical x-rays are not applicable because they were performed offsite. 

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

the proposed class, NIOSH intends to use any internal and external monitoring data that may 

become available for an individual claim (and that can be interpreted using existing NIOSH 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California

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dose reconstruction processes or procedures). Therefore, dose reconstructions for individuals 

employed at Sandia National Laboratories-Livermore during the period from October 1, 

1957, through December 31, 1994, but who do not qualify for inclusion in the SEC, may be 

performed using these data, as appropriate.

• 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.

• NIOSH lacks sufficient information, which includes internal and external personnel 

monitoring data, process data, and radiological source term information, to allow it to 

estimate with sufficient accuracy the potential internal and external exposures to 

radionuclides, which include but are not limited to uranium, uranium tritides and hydrides, 

tritium, and thorium, as well as potential exposures from radiological classified activities for 

workers at the Sandia National Laboratories-Livermore in Livermore, California, from 

October 1, 1957, through December 31, 1994.

• The NIOSH Director concurred with the Board and recommended the proposed class for 

addition to the SEC. 

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).
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California

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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.