HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center. Winchester, 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 

Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center

Winchester, Massachusetts 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center, Winchester, Massachusetts

Page 2

I. Designation 

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

 August 23, 2012 [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 at the Winchester Engineering and 

Analytical Center in Winchester, Massachusetts, from January 1, 1952, through 

December 31, 1961, 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 in the 

Special Exposure Cohort. 

III. Designation Criteria and Recommendations

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, for the class defined in Section II 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 August 1, 2012. 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center, Winchester, Massachusetts

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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 the principal sources of internal and external radiation exposures 

for members of the proposed class included exposures to uranium and thorium, including 

the progeny of these radionuclides, as found in various grades of ores, raffinates, and 

process effluent samples sent to the facility for analysis.

• NIOSH identified limited personnel internal monitoring data for select individuals for the 

years 1953, 1954, and 1955. The data are not comprehensive and there is no evidence to 

indicate these data are representative of the most highly-exposed workers at the 

Winchester facility, or to indicate that the available sample results are representative of 

all workers. Without additional personnel radiation monitoring data representing the 

period from 1952 through 1961, NIOSH has insufficient information to appropriately 

characterize radioactive material intakes during DOE operations at the Winchester 

Engineering and Analytical Center. 

• NIOSH located little documentation as to the quantities of radiological materials shipped 

to the site for processing or testing. It is clear from reports and worker communication 

that the site worked with uranium and thorium. NIOSH also inferred from research 

reports that various forms of uranium-bearing materials were used in the sites’ research. 

However, without additional documentation, NIOSH is unable to ascertain the quantity or 

forms of the source materials that may have been used or stored on site at any time during 

the period under evaluation. 

• In the absence of adequate internal dose monitoring criteria and personnel monitoring 

data, NIOSH has not found sufficient general area air sampling, breathing zone air 

sampling, site survey, or source term information to allow it to bound potential 

exposures, or to demonstrate that workers were adequately monitored for potential 

exposure to radioactive material at the site during the operational period. Consequently, 

NIOSH finds that it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the total internal 

dose for workers at Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center during the time period 

from January 1, 1952, through December 31, 1961. 

• NIOSH does not have access to sufficient personnel monitoring, workplace monitoring, 

or source term data to estimate potential external exposures to uranium, thorium, or their 

progeny during the period of DOE operations at the Winchester Engineering and 

Analytical Center. Consequently, NIOSH finds that it is not feasible to estimate with 

sufficient accuracy the total external exposures to uranium or thorium and resulting doses 

for workers at Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center during the time period from 

January 1, 1952, through December 31, 1961. NIOSH has determined that adequate 

reconstruction of medical dose is feasible for workers at the Winchester Engineering and 

Analytical Center by using claimant-favorable assumptions and available procedures. 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center, Winchester, Massachusetts

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• NIOSH lacks access to sufficient information and documentation that would allow it to 

estimate with sufficient accuracy the potential internal and external radiological 

exposures to which the proposed class may have been subjected at the Winchester 

Engineering and Analytical Center in Winchester, Massachusetts for the period from 

January 1, 1952, through December 31, 1961. 

• NIOSH has documented that it cannot complete the dose reconstructions related to this 

petition with sufficient accuracy for the employees who worked at the Winchester 

Engineering and Analytical Center in Winchester, Massachusetts for the period from 

January 1, 1952, through December 31, 1961. 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 for that period.

• Although NIOSH found that it is not possible to completely reconstruct radiation doses 

for employees who worked at the Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center in 

Winchester, Massachusetts for the period from January 1, 1952, through December 31, 

1961, NIOSH intends to use any reliable internal and external monitoring data that may 

be available for an individual claim during this period (and that can be interpreted using 

existing NIOSH dose reconstruction processes or procedures) to support a partial dose 

reconstruction for non-presumptive cancers and/or cases that have less than 250 work 

days of employment. 

• 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. 

 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.” 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center, Winchester, Massachusetts

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(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-work day 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. §§ 7384l(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. § 7384l(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.