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Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC)

Special Exposure Cohort

Below are the head notes for the final FAB decisions relating to the topic heading, Special Exposure Cohort. The head notes are grouped under the following subheadings: Designation by HHS, Specific employment requirements, and Specified cancers. In order to view a particular decision in its entirety, click on the hyperlink for that decision at the end of the head note.

Designation by HHS

On April 11, 2005, the Secretary of HHS designated all employees who worked in the Uranium Division at the Mallinckrodt Destrehan Street facility between the years 1942-1948 as members of the SEC. This designation was based on a finding that: (1) it was not feasible to estimate the radiation dose received by that class of employees; and (2) there existed a reasonable likelihood that such radiation dose may have endangered the health of that class of workers. The designation was effective as of May 12, 2005. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 787-2005 (Dep’t of Labor, June 29, 2005).

On June 26, 2006, the Secretary of HHS designated a class of employees as an addition to the SEC, consisting of DOE employees or DOE contractor employees who worked at the Nevada Test Site from January 27, 1951 through December 31, 1962, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, either solely under this employment or in combination with other employment within the parameters established for other classes of employees included in the SEC (excluding work day requirements), and who were monitored or should have been monitored. This designation became effective on July 26, 2006. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 50784-2007 (Dep’t of Labor, November 22, 2006).

On August 8, 2006, the Secretary of HHS designated as members of the SEC all DOE employees or DOE contractor or subcontractor employees who worked at the Ames Laboratory in Chemistry Annex 1 (also known as the old women’s gymnasium and Little Ankeny), Chemistry Annex 2, Chemistry Building (also known as Gilman Hall), Research Building, or the Metallurgical Building (also known as Harley Wilhelm Hall) from 1942 through 1948 for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, or in combination with work days within the parameters (excluding aggregate work day requirements) established for one or more classes of employees in the SEC, and who were monitored or should have been monitored. The Secretary’s designation was effective as of September 7, 2006. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 59466-2007 (Dep’t of Labor, December 15, 2006).

The Secretary of HHS designated all employees who worked in the Uranium Division of the Destrehan Street Facility of Mallinckrodt Chemical Works from 1949 to 1957 as members of the SEC. See EEOICPA Bulletin No. 06-05 (issued December 27, 2005). Employees must have worked during the specified time frame and been employed for a number of days aggregating at least 250 work days, either solely under this employment or in combination with the parameters of work established for other classes of employees included in the SEC. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 71273-2006 (Dep’t of Labor, July 14, 2006).

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Specific employment requirements

Employee of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who provided services on Amchitka Island was not a member of the SEC because he provided services in conjunction with a Department of Defense venture, the Blair Lake Project, and not pursuant to a contract between DOE and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 366-2002 (Dep’t of Labor, June 3, 2003).

In the professional opinion of a certified health physicist employed by DEEOIC, the exposure period during which an employee who worked on Amchitka Island could have been exposed to ionizing radiation from the Long Shot test, thereby satisfying the requirement for membership in the SEC that the employee was exposed to ionizing radiation in the performance of duty related to the Long Shot, Milrow or Cannikin tests, is from approximately a month after the detonation on October 29, 1965 through January 1, 1974. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 1400-2002 (Dep’t of Labor, January 22, 2002); EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 28766-2003 (Dep’t of Labor, June 20, 2003).

Where the claimant provided no evidence concerning dosimetry badges, the requirement that a DOE contractor employee employed at the Oak Ridge gaseous diffusion plant be monitored for exposure to radiation through the use of dosimetry badges was satisfied by: (1) a DOE-sponsored report entitled Recycled Uranium Mass Balance Project Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site Report, released in June 2000, describing the issuance of film badges at Oak Ridge; and (2) verification by DOE that employee worked intermittently at Oak Ridge from 1969 through 1984. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 2960-2002 (Dep’t of Labor, December 12, 2001).

Employee who worked 42 workweeks at the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant met the 250-workday requirement for SEC membership based on co-worker affidavits stating that workweeks at the plant were six days during the mid 1950’s. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 3092-2002 (Dep’t of Labor, October 7, 2004).

Employee worked at Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee for a year as a “laboratory assistant and analyst.” Although job title was not listed in EEOICPA Bulletin No. 06-04 (November 21, 2005), which provides guidance for processing claims involving the first SEC class at Y-12, other evidence indicated that it was reasonable to find that employee was employed in position covered by the SEC designation. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 15100-2006 (Dep’t of Labor, June 21, 2006).

Pursuant to Chapter 2-500.3 (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).

Under the first SEC designation for the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAP), the term “Line 1” means AEC operations. Other areas of the IAAP, however, that were not part of Line 1 or any other line were also involved in AEC operations, including: Yard C, Yard G, Yard L, Firing Site Area, Burning Site Area, Burning Field “B” and Storage Sites for Pits and Weapons including Buildings 73 and 77. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 20772-2006 (Dep’t of Labor, January 10, 2006).

Employee of the state of Alaska on assignment to Amchitka Island as the governor of Alaska’s representative to witness the Long Shot and Milrow tests was not a member of the SEC because he was not a DOE contractor employee since he provided services on Amchitka for the state and not pursuant to a contract between DOE and the state for the purpose of accomplishing one or more services for DOE. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 27798-2003 (Dep’t of Labor, June 20, 2003).

Hourly wages may not be used to determine that the employee’s work-days aggregated at least 250 work days in order to satisfy the 250-workday requirement in § 7384l(14)(A), unless the actual hourly wage is known. Further, the employee’s overtime hours added together may not be used to establish another eight-hour workday. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 32037-2004 (Dep’t of Labor, March 30, 2005).

Where record did not contain beginning and ending dates for periods employee worked at gaseous diffusion plant, employee’s total wages earned annually at plant were divided by the prevailing hourly rate to determine the number of hours worked each year. As the total hours worked at the plant were less than 2,000 hours, pursuant to EEOICPA Bulletin No. 02-09 (issued May 7, 2002), the 250-workday requirement for SEC membership was not met. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 33361-2004 (Dep’t of Labor, September 8, 2004).

Although claimant’s job titles were not listed in EEOICPA Bulletin No. 06-11 (June 5, 2006), which provides supplemental guidance for processing claims involving the first SEC at the Y-12 plant, there was sufficient evidence in the record to substantiate that the employee worked in a position or location linked to uranium operations or other radiological activities. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 37277-2006 (Dep’t of Labor, June 26, 2006).

Effective June 19, 2005, the following class of employees at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAP) was added to the SEC: employees of the DOE or DOE contractors or subcontractors employed during the period March 1949 through 1974 who were employed for a number of workdays aggregating at least 250 workdays either solely under this employment or in combination with workdays within the parameters established for other classes of employees in the SEC. This class of employees has been further defined as including all workers who performed activities for the AEC at IAAP. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 48688-2005 (Dep’t of Labor, September 14, 2005).

Claimant did not establish employment in AEC operations at the IAAP since there was no evidence that the duties she performed on Line 3A, Line 6 or Line 7 at the IAAP involved AEC activities as required by the SEC designation for that facility. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 48688-2005 (Dep’t of Labor, September 14, 2005).

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 2-500.3 (June 2002) of the Federal (EEOICPA) Procedure Manual, an employee at the Paducah gaseous diffusion plant during the period July 1, 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).

Employee determined to have met 250-workday requirement for SEC membership based on conversion table contained in EEOICPA Bulletin No. 02-09 (issued May 7, 2002). EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 55167-2004 (Dep’t of Labor, September 23, 2003).

The evidence showed that employee worked six eight-hour shifts per week at the Y-12 facility, from November 1944 through October 31, 1945. This period of employment equals more than 250 workdays at Y-12 between March 1943 and December 1947. In addition, the employee worked in a job analyzing uranium content and wore a dosimetry badge. Pursuant to EEOICPA Bulletin No. 06-04 (issued November 21, 2005), this evidence is sufficient to show that the employee qualifies as a member of the first SEC at the Y-12 facility. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 72524-2006 (Dep’t of Labor, April 13, 2006).

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Specified cancers

Where employee has met the requirements for SEC membership but his or her cancer is not a specified cancer, the determination of whether he or she is entitled to compensation must be based on a NIOSH dose reconstruction and a probability of causation calculation. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 966-2004 (Dep’t of Labor, November 10, 2004); EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 23398-2004 (Dep’t of Labor, September 10, 2004).

Survivor of deceased covered employee who was a member of the SEC and who was diagnosed with “mixed squamous/adenocarcinoma of the lung” was entitled to compensation in the amount of $150,000 under Part B; lung cancer is a “specified cancer,” as that term is defined in the EEOICPA. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 1400-2002 (Dep’t of Labor, January 22, 2002).

The FAB found that there was no need for a dose reconstruction by NIOSH for cancer of the pyriform sinus. The pyriform sinus is part of the hypo-pharynx, and EEOICPA Bulletin No. 02-28 (issued September 5, 2002) defines the hypo-pharynx as one of three parts of the pharynx. Since cancer of the pharynx is a specified cancer under the Act, there is no need for a claim involving cancer of the pyriform sinus to be sent to NIOSH for that medical condition. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 2597-2002 (Dep’t of Labor, July 8, 2003).

Cancer of the renal pelvis, a part of the ureter, is considered to be a form of urinary bladder cancer pursuant to EEOICPA Bulletin No. 02-16 (June 12, 2002). A primary cancer of the urinary bladder is a “specified cancer.” EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 26618-2006 (Dep’t of Labor, June 27, 2006).

The time of onset for a diagnosis of lymphoma to be considered a specified cancer is at least five years after the date of initial exposure to radiation, which is the first day of employment at the relevant facility. If less than five years have elapsed, the case must be referred to NIOSH for dose reconstruction. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 44116-2004 (Dep’t of Labor, January 7, 2005).

Employee’s liver cancer did not qualify as a specified cancer because employee was also found to have cirrhosis of the liver. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 50214-2005 (Dep’t of Labor, March 2, 2005).

Rectal cancer is considered to be colon cancer and is therefore a specified cancer under the EEOICPA. EEOICPA Fin. Dec. No. 59055-2004 (Dep’t of Labor, September 17, 2004).

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