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-workday
requirement specified under 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(3)(ii).

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. §§ 7384/(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. § 7384/(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.

HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation: Page 4
Hood Building, Cambridge, Massachusetts



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 from

Hood Building
Cambridge, Massachusetts

HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:
Hood Building, Cambridge, Massachusetts


lL. Designation ,
|, Charles E. Johnson, Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary),
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.

Marek 31 20097

Date

I. Employee Class Definition

All employees of the Department of Energy (DOE), its predecessor agencies, and
their contractors and subcontractors who worked in the Hood Building in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, from May 9, 1946, through December 31, 1963, 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 SEC.

UL. Designation Criteria and Recommendations

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, for the class defined in Section I! 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.

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 March 4,
2009.

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Hood Building, Cambridge, Massachusetts


IV.

Designation 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.

NIOSH determined that members of this class may have received radiation
exposures from internal and external sources. NIOSH lacks sufficient
information, which includes biological monitoring data, sufficient air monitoring
information, and radiological source information, that would allow it to estimate
the potential internal exposures to enriched uranium and thorium to which the
proposed class may have been exposed.

NIOSH has documented that it cannot complete the dose reconstruction related
to this petition. The basis of this finding demonstrates that NIOSH does not have
access to sufficient information to estimate either the maximum radiation dose
incurred by any member of the class or to estimate such radiation doses more
precisely than a maximum dose estimate.

NIOSH determined that it can likely reconstruct with sufficient accuracy internal
doses received from potential exposure to natural uranium metal. NIOSH
considers it feasible to reconstruct external doses for individuals having personal
monitoring data. NIOSH considers adequate reconstruction of medical dose for
Hood Building workers likely to be feasible by using claimant-favorable
assumptions as well as the applicable protocols in the complex-wide documents.

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 the NIOSH evaluation and recommended the
proposed class for addition to the SEC.

Although NIOSH found that it is not possible to completely reconstruct radiation
doses for these employees, NIOSH intends to use any available internal and
external monitoring data that may be available for an individual claim (and can be
interpreted using existing NIOSH dose reconstruction processes or procedures).
Further, NIOSH has determined that occupational medical dose for all workers
can be reconstructed. Therefore, partial dose reconstructions for individuals with
non-presumptive cancers or fewer than 250 days employment in the class period
may be performed using these data as appropriate.

HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation: Page 3
Hood Building, Cambridge, Massachusetts