Division of Compensation Analysis and 

Support 

Program Evaluation Report 

Document Number: DCAS-PER-088 

Effective Date: 11/12/2019 

Pacific Proving Ground Page 1 of 3 

Author: Signature on file Dave Allen, HP Team Leader Date: 11/12/2019 Supersedes: none 

Approval: Signature on file T. Taulbee, Associate Director for Science Date: 11/12/2019 

 

RECORD OF ISSUE/REVISIONS 

ISSUE AUTHORIZATION 

DATE 

EFFECTIVE 

DATE 

DESCRIPTION 

11/12/2019 11/12/2019 New document to determine the effect of 

issuing revision 3 to ORAUT-TKBS-0052 

(Pacific Proving Ground TBD) on previously 

completed claims. 

1.0 Description 

Revision 3 of the Technical Basis Document (TBD) for the Pacific Proving Ground 

(PPG) (ORAUT-TKBS-0052) was issued on 1/3/2019. Prior to that, three other revisions 

were issued (revisions 2, 1 and 0) on 7/23/2019, 7/11/2016 and 8/30/2006 respectively. 

On 6/26/2006 the Secretary of Health and Human Services designated PPG a member of 

the SEC for the entire covered period (1946 to 1962). 

The effect of issuing revision 3 of the TBD on all previously completed claims is the 

subject of this PER. 

2.0 Issue Evaluation 

Increases in dose due to revision 3 of the TBD include the following issues. 

The original TBD was issued soon after the SEC designation. In 2016, revision 1 of the 

TBD designated that the 95th percentile of the coworker dose would be used to account 

for several sources of uncertainty. Revision 1 also included a change in the way beta to 

gamma ratios would be used to account for non-penetrating doses as well as accounting 

for unmonitored dose from fallout. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Division of Compensation Analysis and 

Support 

Program Evaluation Report 

Document Number: DCAS-PER-088 

Effective Date: 11/12/2019 Page 2 of 3 

Revision 2 of the TBD reevaluated the coworker data based on actual film badge data 

rather than the range-tabulated data previously used. Revision 3 designated the 

assumption that fallout was fresh rather than weathered for all years in which operations 

were conducted. This revision also applied a coworker dose from the nearest year for 

those years in which no operational data existed. 

These changes affect most people employed at the PPG site and as such, no populations 

of claims could be excluded from evaluation based on them being unaffected by the latest 

changes. All claims associated with the PPG site were considered. 

3.0 Plan for Resolving Corrective Action 

A search of the NIOSH Claims Tracking System (NOCTS) database was combined with 

a text search of the dose reconstruction reports of previously completed claims. The 

NOCTS search queried employment at PPG while the text search queried the keyword 

“Pacific Proving Ground.” The combined search resulted in a total of 316 claims. 

The population of claims was reduced by first removing 78 claims that had been pulled 

from dose reconstruction. Most of these were pulled because they had met the criteria for 

compensation under the SEC prior to a dose reconstruction being completed. 

One additional claim was removed from the list because it had been returned to NIOSH 

for a new dose reconstruction and that dose reconstruction would be done according to 

revision 3 of the TBD. 

An additional 89 claims were removed because the original dose reconstructions resulted 

in a probability of causation greater than 50%. Therefore, no increase in dose would 

affect eligibility for compensation. 

Twenty-one claims met the criteria for compensation under the SEC and there was no 

other reason for performing a dose reconstruction. These differ from those pulled for the 

SEC in that dose reconstruction had been completed prior to the SEC designation. 

Lastly, 29 claims were removed because they had no PPG employment or visits during 

the covered period. The claims were included in the original population because the 

Pacific Proving Ground was mentioned in the text of the dose reconstruction. 

Dose for the remaining 98 claims was recalculated using revision 3 of the TBD as well as 

all other applicable procedures. For those claims in which the probability of causation 

fell between 45% and 52%, IREP was run 30 times with 10,000 interactions for each run 

in accordance with NIOSH procedures. 
 

 

Division of Compensation Analysis and 

Support 

Program Evaluation Report 

Document Number: DCAS-PER-088 

Effective Date: 11/12/2019 Page 3 of 3 

The resulting probability of causation for the 98 claims was less than 50% for 89 claims 

and greater than 50% for the remaining 9 claims. 

NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all the claims evaluated 

under this PER. Further, NIOSH will request that the Department of Labor return the 9 

claims that resulted in a probability of causation greater than 50% to NIOSH for a new 

dose reconstruction.