Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP)

Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC)

Exposure to Ionizing Radiation

Below are the head notes for the final FAB decisions relating to the topic heading, Exposure to Ionizing Radiation. The head notes are grouped under a single subheading: Evidence of. In order to view a particular decision in its entirety, click on the hyperlink for that decision at the end of the head note.

Evidence of Exposure

• The estimated exposure period, approximately December 1, 1965 to January 1, 1974, was determined by a certified health physicist employed by OWCP and supported by a DOE study. Employee was found to have been exposed to ionizing radiation where evidence showed that the employee was working on Amchitka Island for S.S. Mullins during a period when employees could have been exposed to ionizing radiation as a result of the airborne radiation from the Long Shot underground nuclear test. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 1400-2002 (Dep’t of Labor, January 22, 2002).
• Lack of evidence that employee was monitored for exposure to radiation was overcome because: (1) DOE verified that employee was employed intermittently at the Oak Ridge gaseous diffusion plant; and (2) DOE-sponsored report found that “worker radiation monitoring was in place since the site’s earliest days of operation, and film badges were used for employees routinely assigned to work in areas where penetrating radiation was likely to be encountered.” EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 2960-2002 (Dep’t of Labor, December 12, 2001).
• Pursuant to Chapter 2-500.3a (June 2002) of the Federal (EEOICPA) Procedure Manual, employees who worked at the Portsmouth gaseous diffusion plant between September 1, 1954 and February 1, 1992 performed work comparable to a job that was monitored through the use of dosimetry badges, thereby satisfying the dosimetry badge requirement for SEC membership. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 17556-2003 (Dep’t of Labor, September 27, 2004); EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 58478-2004 (Dep’t of Labor, September 15, 2004); EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 59055-2004 (Dep’t of Labor, September 17, 2004).
• Employees must show that they were exposed to ionizing radiation in the performance of duty related to the underground nuclear tests on Amchitka Island, Alaska, to be a member of the SEC. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 28766-2003 (Dep’t of Labor, June 20, 2003).
• Where DOE has no employment information about an employee, but claimant is able to prove that he was issued dosimetry badge and provided an affidavit from a work associate who verified employment at Amchitka, the claimant met the evidentiary requirements for exposure to ionizing radiation. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 28766-2003 (Dep’t of Labor, June 20, 2003).
• Where the record lacked evidence that employee was monitored through the use of dosimetry badges but employee worked at the Paducah gaseous diffusion plant during a time period when, according to a DOE-sponsored report, some or all employees were issued dosimetry badges, the dosimetry badge requirement for SEC membership was satisfied. Under Chapter 2-500.3a (June 2002) of the Federal (EEOICPA) Procedure Manual, an employee at the Paducah gaseous diffusion plant during the period July 1952 through February 1, 1992 had exposure comparable to a job that is or was monitored through the use of dosimetry badges. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 54503-2004 (Dep’t of Labor, September 23, 2004).