HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination: 

Feed Materials Production Center, Fernald, Ohio [SEC 00046]

 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Determination Concerning a 

Petition to Add Members to the Special Exposure Cohort

under the 

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 

Determination Concerning a Petition for Certain Employees from 

Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) 

Fernald, Ohio 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination: 

Feed Production Materials Center, Fernald, Ohio [SEC 00046]

Page | 2 

I. Determination 

I, Alex M. Azar II, Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) (HHS), have 

determined that the employees defined in Section II of this report do not meet the statutory 

criteria 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. 

 June 21, 2018 [Signature on File] 

Date Alex M. Azar II, Secretary

 

II. Employee Class Definition

(1) All employees of the Department of Energy (DOE), its predecessor agencies, 

and their contractors and subcontractors who worked in any area of the Feed 

Materials Production Center at Fernald, Ohio, from January 1, 1984, through 

December 31, 1989; and (2) all employees of the DOE, its predecessor agencies, 

National Lead of Ohio, or NLO, Inc., in any area of the Feed Materials Production 

Center from January 1, 1979, through December 31, 1983. 

III. Decision Criteria and Recommendations

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, to designate a class for addition to the SEC, the Secretary 

must determine, upon recommendation of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker 

Health (Board), 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 the National Institute 

for Occupational Safety and Health (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 Determination: 

Feed Production Materials Center, Fernald, Ohio [SEC 00046]

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In a letter dated October 25, 2017, the Board, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, agreed with the 

following NIOSH findings, effectively advising the Secretary that radiation doses can be 

reconstructed with sufficient accuracy for certain employees at the Feed Materials Production 

Center (FMPC) in accordance with provisions of EEOICPA and the SEC final rule. 

IV. Determination Findings

Feasibility of Estimating Radiation Doses with Sufficient Accuracy

The Secretary established the feasibility determination for the class of employees covered by 

this report based upon the findings summarized below: 

• The principle sources of internal radiation exposure for assessed members of the 

evaluated class included exposures to uranium, radon, thorium, and thoron. The modes of 

exposure were through ingestion and inhalation. 

• NIOSH has determined that is has sufficient site information and air sampling and 

bioassay data to allow it to conclude that it is feasible to estimate internal exposures to 

uranium, radon, thorium, and thoron with sufficient accuracy for the evaluated class of 

FMPC employees who worked at the site from January 1, 1984, through December 31, 

1989, and for all DOE, National Lead of Ohio, and NLO employees from January 1, 

1979, through December 31, 1983. 

• The sources of external radiation doses were evaluated in the SEC-00046 FMPC 

evaluation report. SEC-00046 concluded that all external doses, including occupational 

medical doses, could be estimated with sufficient accuracy for FMPC workers over the 

entire evaluated time period from January 1, 1951, through December 31, 1989. 

• NIOSH has established that it has access to sufficient information to: (1) estimate the 

maximum radiation dose, for every type of cancer for which radiation doses are 

reconstructed, that could have been incurred in plausible circumstances by any member 

of the class; or (2) estimate radiation doses more precisely than an estimate of maximum 

dose for all covered FMPC employees from January 1, 1984, through December 31, 

1989, and for all DOE, National Lead of Ohio, and NLO employees from January 1, 

1979, through December 31, 1983. Information in available resources is sufficient to 

estimate the maximum internal and external potential exposure to members of the 

evaluated class under plausible circumstances during the specified periods.

• The Board concurred with NIOSH's determination that dose reconstruction is feasible for 

the evaluated class of FMPC employees who worked at the site from January 1, 1984, 

through December 31, 1989, and for all DOE, National Lead of Ohio, and NLO 

employees from January 1, 1979, through December 31, 1983, and therefore the class

should not be added to the SEC. 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination: 

Feed Production Materials Center, Fernald, Ohio [SEC 00046]

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Health Endangerment

Because the Secretary established that it is feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the

radiation doses encountered by FMPC employees as specified in this class, a determination 

of health endangerment is not required. 

V. Effect of the Determination

Members of the class of employees covered by this determination and their survivors 

continue to be eligible to submit claims for compensation under EEOICPA. As required for 

cancer claims covering other Department of Energy and Atomic Weapons Employer 

employees (or Atomic Weapons Employees) not included in the SEC, qualified cancer 

claims under Part B of EEOICPA for members of this class will be adjudicated by the 

Department of Labor, in part, on the basis of radiation dose reconstructions, which will be 

conducted by NIOSH. 

VI. Administrative Review of Determination

The determination 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 designate the class of employees covered by this determination, in part or in 

whole, as an addition to the SEC, the Secretary will transmit a new report to Congress 

providing the designation and the criteria and findings on which the decision was based.