HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:

Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor, Piqua, Ohio

HHS 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 Employees from 

Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor

Piqua, Ohio
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:

Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor, Piqua, Ohio

I. Determination 

I, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary), 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.

__October 26, 2011__ __[Signature on file] ________

Date Kathleen Sebelius

II. Employee Class Definition

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

contractors and subcontractors who worked in any location at the Piqua Organic 

Moderated Reactor during the operational period from January 1, 1963 through May 

1, 1966.

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 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.

In a letter received by the Secretary on September 19, 2011, the Board, pursuant to 42 

U.S.C. § 7384q, agreed with the following NIOSH findings, effectively advising the Secretary 

that radiation dose can be reconstructed with sufficient accuracy for certain Norton 

Company employees in accordance with provisions of EEOICPA and the SEC final rule.
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:

Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor, Piqua, Ohio

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.

• NIOSH determined that workers during the operational period from January 1, 1963 

through May 1, 1966 may have received internal and external exposure to photon, 

beta, and/or neutron radiation from activities associated with maintaining and 

operating the reactor. Potential exposure sources also include radioactive materials 

from the operation and maintenance of the nuclear reactor and radioactive materials 

in the form of calibration sources. 

• NIOSH has determined that it has access to sufficient external dose summary 

reports and workplace monitoring data to bound potential external exposures for all 

employees associated with reactor activities who worked within and around the 

reactor dome at the Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor site during the period from 

January 1, 1963 through February 28, 1969. NIOSH also finds it is feasible to 

reconstruct occupational medical X-ray dose for this period. Consequently, NIOSH 

finds that it is feasible to estimate, with sufficient accuracy, the total external dose 

and occupational medical dose for the class of employees covered by this 

evaluation.

• NIOSH concluded that it could reconstruct with sufficient accuracy all external and 

occupational medical X-ray dose, and internal dose from various radionuclides from 

January 1, 1963 through May 1, 1966. 

• NIOSH determined that it has access to sufficient Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor 

in Piqua, Ohio, site information to either (1) estimate the maximum internal and 

external 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 evaluated class; or (2) estimate the internal and external radiation 

doses to members of the evaluated class more precisely than a maximum dose 

estimate. 

• The Board concurred with the NIOSH findings.

Health Endangerment

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

radiation doses encountered by Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor employees as specified 

in this class, a determination of health endangerment is not required.

V. Effect of the Determination
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:

Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor, Piqua, Ohio

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 DOE 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 would transmit a new report to Congress 

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