HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey (SEC Petition 00217)

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 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 

Westinghouse Electric Corporation 

Bloomfield, New Jersey
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey (SEC Petition 00217)

Page 2

I. Designation 

I, Sylvia M. Burwell, 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.

July 28, 2015 [Signature on File]

Date Sylvia M. Burwell

II. Employee Class Definition

All Atomic Weapons Employees who worked at the facility owned by Westinghouse 

Electric Corp., in Bloomfield, New Jersey, during the period from February 1, 1958, 

through May 31, 1958, or during the period from June 1, 1959, through June 30, 

1959, 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.
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey (SEC Petition 00217)

Page 3

NIOSH determined that there is insufficient information to estimate the radiation dose of 

individual members of the class with sufficient accuracy under the two above-mentioned 

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 July 1, 2015.

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.

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

during the operational and residual contamination periods at the facility include 

exposures to uranium and thorium utilized in the site’s commercial activities; uranium 

metal and contamination during AWE-related rolling operations; and residual uranium 

and thorium contamination from previous AWE operations during the 1942-1949 period. 

• NIOSH does not have access to personnel and workplace monitoring data for the uranium 

and thorium commercial radiological activities that were performed concurrently with 

AWE-related operations. Therefore, NIOSH finds it is not feasible to estimate internal 

and external exposures due to the commercial activities with sufficient accuracy for all 

workers at the WEC site during the periods from February 1, 1958 through May 31, 

1958, and June 1, 1959 through June 30, 1959.

• NIOSH obtained sufficient information allowing it to estimate internal radiation doses 

due to the AWE rolling operations for the periods from February 1, 1958 through May 

31, 1958, and June 1, 1959 through June 30, 1959. Additionally, NIOSH obtained 

sufficient information allowing it to estimate internal radiation doses for the following 

time periods: January 1, 1950 through January 31, 1958; June 1, 1958 through May 31, 

1959; and July 1, 1959 through April 30, 2000. 

• NIOSH will use methods outlined in Battelle‐TBD‐6000, OCAS‐TIB‐009, and ORAUTOTIB‐0070, as well as available air data and operational descriptions, for reconstructing 

external exposures due to the AWE rolling operations for the periods from February 1, 

1958 through May 31, 1958, and June 1, 1959 through June 30, 1959. NIOSH also found 

it could estimate external radiation doses with sufficient accuracy for the following time 

periods: January 1, 1950 through January 31, 1958; June 1, 1958 through May 31, 1959; 

and July 1, 1959 through April 30, 2000. 

• NIOSH has determined that reconstruction of medical dose is feasible by using methods 

and claimant-favorable assumptions in the technical information bulletin Dose 

Reconstruction from Occupational Medical X-Ray Procedures (ORAUT-OTIB-0006).

• Therefore, in the absence of available personnel and workplace monitoring data for the 

site’s commercial activities, NIOSH finds that it is not feasible to completely estimate 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey (SEC Petition 00217)

Page 4

internal and external exposures with sufficient accuracy for all workers at the WEC site 

during the periods from February 1, 1958 through May 31, 1958, and June 1, 1959 

through June 30, 1959.

• 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 dose reconstruction processes or procedures). Therefore, dose 

reconstructions for individuals employed with Westinghouse Electric Corp., including 

contractors and subcontractors during the periods from February 1, 1958 through May 31, 

1958, and June 1, 1959 through June 30, 1959, but who do not qualify for inclusion in the 

SEC, may also be performed using this 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.

• The Board concurred with NIOSH’s recommendation to add the proposed class of 

workers 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 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-workday requirement specified 

under 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(3)(ii).
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey (SEC Petition 00217)

Page 5

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.