HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:

Pantex Plant, Amarillo, Texas

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 

Pantex Plant

Amarillo, Texas
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:

Pantex Plant, Amarillo, Texas

Page 1 

I. Determination 

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

[Signature on File] September 30, 2013 

 Kathleen Sebelius Date 

II. Employee Class Definition

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

and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Pantex 

Plant in Amarillo, Texas, from January 1, 1951, through December 31, 

1957. 

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 (the 

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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 

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. NIOSH determined that it has 

access to sufficient site-specific information to reconstruct radiation doses incurred by the class of 

employees covered by this report with sufficient accuracy. 

In a letter received by the Secretary on September 3, 2013, 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 employees at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, in 

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

Pantex Plant, Amarillo, Texas

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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.

Based on its full review of the SEC petition 00068, NIOSH determined:

• The principal source of internal radiation dose for workers at Pantex during the years 

from 1951-1957 was depleted uranium. 

• It was confirmed that there were no weapons system dismantlements before 1958. Fresh 

depleted uranium (DU) forms were handled, but there is no evidence of exposure 

potential because of the negligible amount of oxidation present. The burn pits and hydro 

shot testing involved DU, but there are sufficient air sampling data available to NIOSH to 

support dose reconstruction. The Board concurred with NIOSH’s finding that dose 

reconstruction for internal uranium exposures during the period from 1951 through 1957 

is feasible.

• NIOSH finds it is feasible to estimate, with sufficient accuracy, the internal dose for 

workers at the Pantex Plant from January 1, 1951, through December 31, 1957. 

• NIOSH has access to sufficient personnel monitoring and workplace monitoring data to 

bound potential external exposures for workers at the Pantex Plant during the period from 

January 1, 1951, through December 31, 1957. 

• NIOSH also finds it is feasible to reconstruct occupational medical dose, when 

appropriate, for this period. Therefore 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. 

• In sum, NIOSH determined that it has access to sufficient site-specific 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 workers at the Pantex Plant for the time period from 

January 1, 1951, through December 31, 1957; or (2) estimate the internal and external 

radiation doses to workers at the Pantex Plant for the time period from January 1, 1951, 

through December 31, 1957, more precisely than a maximum dose estimate. The Board 

concurred with this determination. 

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

feasible for the class of Pantex Plant covered by Petition 00068 for the period from 

January 1, 1951, to December 31, 1957, and therefore should not be added to the 

SEC.
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:

Pantex Plant, Amarillo, Texas

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Health Endangerment

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

doses encountered by employees at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, 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 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.