HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination: 

Wah Chang Facility, Albany, Oregon 

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 

Wah Chang Facility 

Albany, Oregon
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination: 

Wah Chang Facility, Albany, Oregon 

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.

_____June 3, 2011_____ _[Signature on file]_______________

Date Kathleen Sebelius

II. Employee Class Definition

All Atomic Weapons Employees who worked in any building at the 

Wah Chang facility in Albany, Oregon for the entire residual 

contamination period from January 1, 1973 through October 31, 2009. 

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 March 30, 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 Wah Chang

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

Wah Chang Facility, Albany, Oregon 

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 residual period may have received 

internal and external exposure to residual uranium contamination from the 

operational period.

• NIOSH found that source term data are sufficient to support assessing internal 

uranium exposures for Wah Chang facility workers during the residual contamination 

period. 

• Although NIOSH identified issues impacting its ability to bound internal doses for the 

evaluated class during the operational period from January 1, 1971 through 

December 31, 1972, NIOSH determined that sufficient information and data exist to 

support bounding personnel internal doses for the entire residual contamination 

period from January 1, 1973 through October 31, 2009.

• NIOSH determined that source term data, coupled with the available NIOSH dose 

reconstruction methods, are sufficient to support assessing external uranium 

exposures for Wah Chang facility workers during the residual contamination period. 

• Although NIOSH identified issues impacting its ability to bound external doses for the 

evaluated class during the operational period from January 1, 1971 through 

December 31, 1972, NIOSH does believe that sufficient information and data exist to 

support bounding personnel external doses for the entire residual contamination 

period from January 1, 1973 through October 31, 2009.

• NIOSH determined that the reconstruction of internal and external doses is feasible 

for the residual contamination period from January 1, 1973 through October 31, 

2009.

• NIOSH determined that it has access to sufficient Wah Chang facility 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 Wah Chang facility employees as specified in this class, a 

determination of health endangerment is not required.
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination: 

Wah Chang Facility, Albany, Oregon 

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.