HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey

 

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 

Westinghouse Electric Corp.

Bloomfield, New Jersey 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey

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.

___April 5, 2010_______ __[Signature on file]________

Date Kathleen Sebelius

II. Employee Class Definition

All Atomic Weapons Employer employees who worked at Westinghouse 

Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey, from August 13, 1942 through 

December 31, 1949, 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 included 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 March 8, 

2010. 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey

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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 lacks sufficient information, which includes biological monitoring data, air 

monitoring information, and process and radiological source information, to 

estimate with sufficient accuracy the potential internal and external exposures to 

uranium, thorium, and their respective progeny to which the proposed class may 

have been subjected. 

• NIOSH finds that it is likely feasible to reconstruct occupational medical dose for 

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey (WEC-NJ), workers with 

sufficient accuracy. 

• Principal sources of internal and external radiation for members of the proposed 

class included exposures to uranium and thorium and their respective progeny. 

During their production of uranium and thorium metal, the main uranium 

processes employed at the facility included green salt production, uranium metal 

production, uranium metal powder production, pressing and sintering uranium 

metal powder, and the production of uranium metal buttons. It should be noted 

that when “green salt” is referred to at WEC-NJ, the reference is to potassium 

uranium pentafluoride (KUF5) and not to uranium tetrafluoride (UF4), which is 

more commonly referred to as “green salt.” 

• NIOSH has been unable to find any records of internal or external monitoring for 

WEC-NJ employees; this includes bioassay, air monitoring, dosimetry, and area 

radiation monitoring data. NIOSH concluded that it is not possible to determine 

the magnitude of any potentially unmonitored external or internal doses at WECNJ and therefore it cannot complete the dose reconstruction(s) related to this 

petition. 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.

• 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.

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

the proposed class, NIOSH intends to use any internal and external monitoring 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey

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data that may become available (and that can be interpreted using existing 

NIOSH dose reconstruction processes or procedures) for an individual claim.

• NIOSH finds it is feasible to reconstruct occupational medical dose for this 

period. It is feasible to estimate, with sufficient accuracy, the occupational 

medical dose for the class of employees covered by this evaluation.

 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.”

(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.”
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation:

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey

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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.