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AWE Site Wide Documents

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Technical Documents

If the energy employee’s personal radiation information is incomplete, NIOSH will use other sources to estimate the radiation dose. This may involve using technical documents called Site Profiles, Technical Basis Documents, and Technical Information Bulletins.

NIOSH developed the AWE site wide technical documents below to help complete dose reconstructions. You can find discussion papers, public comments, and previous versions of these documents on this page also.

Site Profile

Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs)

  • Default Assumptions and Methods for Atomic Weapons Employer Dose Reconstructions [638 KB (70 pages)]

    Document Number: Battelle-TIB-5000 Rev-00

    About this Document: Establishes the assumptions and methods to be used for dose reconstructions from certain AWE sites.

    Approved: April 2, 2007

  • Dose Reconstruction During Residual Radioactivity Periods at Atomic Weapons Employer Facilities [520 KB (24 pages)]

    Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0070 Rev-01

    About this Document: Establishes a process for estimating dose to workers at AWE Facilities during residual radioactivity periods.

    Revised: March 5, 2012

    Revision Includes: Revises the source term depletion rate from 0.01 day-1 to 0.00067 day-1, removes NUREG-1400 source term approach, and deletes Attachment B. References updated. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Estimating the Maximum Plausible Dose to Workers at Atomic Weapons Employer Facilities-CANCELED

    Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0004 Rev-03 PC-2

    Note:This document is no longer needed for dose reconstructions. Information in this document has been superseded by other approved methodologies.

Program Evaluation Reports (PERs) and Program Evaluation Plans (PEPs)

NIOSH is committed to applying the best available science in dose reconstructions. In keeping with this commitment, completed cases with probabilities of causation less than 50% are reviewed as relevant new information becomes available. The results of these reviews are described in a Program Evaluation Report (PER). The PER details the effect, if any, of the new information on the completed dose reconstruction. If it appears that the new information may result in an increase in dose for a completed dose reconstruction with a probability of causation of less than 50%, NIOSH is committed to working with the Department of Labor to reopen and rework the dose reconstruction, as appropriate. A Program Evaluation Plan (PEP) describes plans for evaluating specific program details or issues.

NIOSH developed the PER and PEP documents below as relevant new information became available. You can find discussion papers on these documents on this page also.

  • DCAS-PER-80: General Steel Industries (GSI) Program Evaluation Report, Rev. 0 [50 KB (2 pages)]
    August 30, 2017

    Document Number: DCAS-PER-80

    About this Document: New document to determine the effect of revision 2 and 3 to Battelle-TBD-6000 Appendix BB (General Steel Industries) on previously completed claims.

    Summary: NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all the claims evaluated under this PER. Further, NIOSH will request the return of the 6 claims that would now result in a probability of causation greater than 50%.

  • DCAS-PER-073, Rev. 0: Birdsboro Steel and Foundry Company Program Evaluation Report [75 KB (2 pages)]
    August 1, 2016

    Document Number: DCAS-PER-073

    About this Document: Determines the effect of the revision to Appendix B of Battelle-TBD-6000 (Birdsboro) on previously completed claims.

    Summary: The resulting probability of causation (POC) was below 45% for all effected claims. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all claims evaluated under this PER. Since none would now result in a POC greater than 50%, NOSH will not request the return of any of the claims.

  • PER 72: Seymour Specialty Wiring Company Program Evaluation Report, Rev. 0 [22 KB (2 pages)]
    July 11, 2016

    Document Number: DCAS-PER-072

    About this Document: Determines the effect of issuing revision 1 to Appendix CD of Battelle-TBD-6000 (Seymour Specialty Wiring) on previously completed claims.

    Summary: The resulting probability of causation (POC) was below 45% for all effected claims. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all claims evaluated under this PER. Since none would now result in a POC greater than 50%, NOSH will not request the return of any of the claims.

  • PER 70: Nuclear Metals Inc. Program Evaluation Report, Rev. 0 [72 KB (2 pages)]
    April 5, 2016

    Document Number: DCAS-PER-070

    About this Document: Determines the effect of issuing DCAS-TKBS-0010, (Nuclear Metals Inc.) on previously completed claims.

    Summary: A new dose estimate was performed for 18 effected claims using the TBD, as well as all other applicable approved dose reconstruction methods. The resulting probability of causation (POC) was below 45% for 16 claims. The two remaining claims resulted in a POC between 45% and 50%. For those claims, IREP was run 30 times at 10,000 iterations per NIOSH procedures. The resulting POC remained below 50% for both claims. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all claims evaluated under this PER. Since none would now result in a POC greater than 50%, NOSH will not request the return of any of the claims.

  • PER 69: Jessop Steel Company Program Evaluation Report, Rev. 0 [66 KB (2 pages)]
    April 5, 2016

    Document Number: DCAS-PER-069

    About this Document: Determines the effect of the revision to Appendix BL of Battelle-TBD-6000 (Jessop) on previously completed claims.

    Summary: A new dose estimate was performed for each of the 8 effected claims using revision 1 of the Appendix, as well as all other applicable approved dose reconstruction methods. The resulting probability of causation (POC) was below 45% for all 8 claims. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all claims evaluated under this PER. Since none would now result in a POC greater than 50%, NOSH will not request the return of any of the claims.

  • PER 68: Electro Metallurgical Company Program Evaluation Report, Rev. 0 [46 KB (2 pages)]
    April 5, 2016

    Document Number: DCAS-PER-068

    About this Document: Determines the effect of the revision to DCAS-TKBS-0007, (Electro Metallurgical Company) on previously completed claims.

    Summary: The resulting probability of causation (POC) was below 45% for 19 claims. The 20 remaining claims resulted in a POC greater than 52%. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all claims evaluated under this PER and request the return of those that would result in a POC greater than 50%.

  • PER 67: Allegheny Ludlum Appendix Q Revision [58 KB (2 pages)]
    March 11, 2016

    Document Number: DCAS-PER-067, Rev. 0

    About this Document: Determines the effect of the revision to Appendix Q of BattelleTBD-6000 (Allegheny Ludlum Steel Company) on previously completed claims.

    Approved: March 11, 2016

    Summary: Two claims had a probability of causation greater than 52%. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all claims evaluated under this PER. Further, NIOSH will request the return of the 2 claims that would now result in a probability of causation greater than 50%.

  • PER 65: Anaconda Company Program Evaluation Report [30 KB (2 pages)]
    November 30, 2015

    Document Number: DCAS-PER-065, Rev. 0

    About this Document: Determines the effect of the revision to Appendix G (Anaconda) of Battelle-TBD-6000 on previously completed claims.

    Approved: November 30, 2015

    Summary: The probability of causation (POC) remained below 45% for the effected claims. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all claims evaluated under this PER. Since none would now result in a POC greater than 50%, NOSH will not request the return of any of the claims.

  • PER 63: Aluminum Company of America – Pennsylvania (ALCOA-PN) Appendix R of TBD-6000 Revision [214 KB (2 pages)]
    June 15, 2015

    Document Number: OCAS-PER-0063 Rev-00

    About this Document: Determines the effect of the revision to Appendix R of TBD-6000 (ALCOA-PN) on previously completed claims

    Approved: June 15, 2015

    Summary: Seven claims resulted in a POC greater than 50%. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all claims evaluated under this PER and request the return of the seven claims.

  • PER 55: TBD-6000 Revision [87 KB (3 pages)]
    September 12, 2014

    Document Number: OCAS-PER-0055 Rev-00

    About this Document: Determines the effect on previously completed claims due to issuing revision 1 of Battelle-TBD-6000.

    Approved: September 12, 2014

    Summary: One case resulted in a new POC greater than 50%. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all the claims evaluated under this PER. Further, NIOSH will request the return of the case that would now result in a probability of causation greater than 50%.

  • PER 24 : General Steel Industries TBD Approval [14 KB (1 page)]
    September 25, 2007

    Document Number: OCAS-PER-0024 Rev-00

    About this Document: New document to determine which previously completed claims require evaluation for the effect of approving a GSI TBD.

    Approved: September 25, 2007

    Summary: There were 4 General Steel Industries claims completed with a probability of causation below 50% prior to the approval of the TBD. These were completed using ORAUT-OTIB-0004. Since the new document describes a higher dose for some of the dose estimate, it is necessary to revise these dose estimates to determine the effect. NIOSH is requesting that these claims be returned for a new dose estimate. A new dose reconstruction will be completed for each of the claims using the latest revision to the General Steel Industries TBD.

Worker Outreach Activities

Based on a recommendation from the Advisory Board to provide workers and site experts with opportunities to participate in developing the technical documents used in dose reconstruction, NIOSH established a Worker Outreach Program.

At Worker Outreach Meetings, current and former DOE and AWE employees have opportunities to obtain information about Site Profiles, Technical Basis Documents, and Technical Information Bulletins, and to provide information for consideration and possible use in dose reconstruction. This process is valuable to ensure that the technical documents used in dose reconstruction contain correct and useful information.

Below are the Worker Outreach Activities for AWE Site Wide Documents:

Advisory Board Work Group on TBD 6000

This Work Group is responsible for the review of the specified TBDs and the Appendices that apply to specific work sites. The Work Group will also review reports developed by the Board’s contractor (SC&A) pertaining to these TBDs and the Appendices. They will assist NIOSH and SC&A in resolving issues that arise through the review process. The Work Group will make recommendations to the Board in cases where Appendices involve sites with SEC petitions.

Sites currently being considered by the Work Group include:

Note: Baker Brothers, Bliss & Laughlin Steel, and Simonds Saw and Steel Company work sites were previously discussed by the TBD 6000 Work Group, but are not currently under discussion.

Meeting information (including agendas and transcripts) for this Work Group are on the individual work site pages listed above and the Advisory Board and Public Meetings pages.

Work Group Members:

  • Paul L. Ziemer, Ph.D. (Chair)

  • Henry A. Anderson, M.D.

  • Josie Beach

Meeting Information:
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Pre-Decisional Document Policy

Please Note: As part of the procedures and processes of the Advisory Board's Work Groups, several kinds of pre-decisional documents may be developed. These pre-decisional documents, such as white papers, matrices, working drafts, etc., are distributed among Work Group members as research and background tools to facilitate discussion and deliberation. Although discussion during a public meeting may cover pre-decisional documents, these documents often are not further revised or finalized, and thus do not reflect the final determination or evaluation of the Advisory Board and its Work Groups. Additionally, some pre-decisional documents not otherwise posted on the website may contain sensitive information, which would require an interested party to obtain such documents by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the CDC/ATSDR FOIA office at foiarequests@cdc.gov.

Advisory Board Work Group on Uranium Refining Atomic Weapons Employers (AWEs)–formerly TBD 6001 Work Group

This Work Group reviews technical documents and Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) petitions for uranium refining AWEs assigned to it by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health. The Work Group makes recommendations to the Board on SEC petitions, reviews reports developed by the Board’s contractor (SC&A), and assists NIOSH and SC&A in resolving issues that arise through the review process.

Sites currently being considered by the Work Group include: General Atomics, Hooker Electrochemical, Reduction Pilot Plant, Westinghouse Electric Corp. (New Jersey), and W.R. Grace (Erwin, TN).

Meeting information (including agendas and transcripts) for this Work Group can be found on either the individual work site pages or on the Advisory Board and Public Meetings page.

Note: Baker-Perkins Co., Du Pont Deepwater Works, Electro Metallurgical Company, Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) – Apollo, Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) – Parks Township, and United Nuclear Corp. were previously discussed by this Work Group, but are not currently under discussion.

Work Group Members:

  • Henry A. Anderson, M.D. (Chair)

  • David Kotelchuck, Ph.D., M.P.H., C.I.H.

  • David Pompa

Meeting Information:

Advisory Board and NIOSH Discussions on AWE Site Wide Documents

The AWE Site Wide discussion papers listed below are working documents prepared by NIOSH or its contractor for use in discussions with the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health or its Working Groups or Subcommittees. Draft, preliminary, interim, and white paper documents are not final NIOSH or Advisory Board (or their technical support and review contractors) positions unless specifically marked as such. These documents represent preliminary positions taken on technical issues prepared by NIOSH or its contractor.

The discussion papers have been reviewed to identify and redact any information that is protected by the Privacy Act 5 USC §552a and has been cleared for distribution.

Program Evaluation Plans and Reports (PERs and PEPs) below are Advisory Board and NIOSH discussion papers on PERs and PEPs. The original documents are in the Program Evaluation Reports (PERs) and Program Evaluation Plans (PEPs) section of this page.

Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs)
Below are Advisory Board and NIOSH discussion papers on Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs). The original documents are in the Technical Documents, Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs) section of this page.

AWE Sites with Discussion Papers

Program Evaluation Plans and Reports (PEPs and PERs)

Technical Documents (Site Profiles/Technical Basis Documents)

Technical Basis Document (TBD) 6000
Technical Basis Document (TBD) 6001

Technical Documents (Technical Information Bulletins)

Technical Information Bulletin (TBD) 5000

Public Comments on AWE Site Wide Documents

How to Submit Comments
Comments on AWE Site Wide documents can be submitted to the NIOSH Docket Officer electronically by e-mail at nioshdocket@cdc.gov or printed comments can be mailed to NIOSH Docket Office, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, MS-C34, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45226. Please include the Site Profile/Docket Number (020) on all comments.

Comments Received

Document Archive for AWE Site Wide Documents

  • Site Profiles for Atomic Weapons Employers that Refined Uranium and Thorium–TBD 6001 — Canceled

    Note: In April 2011, this document was canceled. The Appendices in this document that applied to the specific work sites listed below were made into standalone documents.

    • Appendix AA — Hooker Electrochemical
      Canceled April 4, 2011

      Note: This document is now a standalone document and can be found under the Technical Basis Document section of the Hooker Electrochemical work site page.

    • Appendix B — Du Pont Deepwater Works
      Canceled February 15, 2011

      Note: This document is now a standalone document and can be found under the Technical Basis Document section of the Du Pont Deepwater Works work site page.

    • Appendix BH — International Minerals and Chemical Corporation
      Canceled July 10, 2008

      Note: This document was canceled. This is a phosphate plant and this Site Profile (Site Profile for Atomic Weapons Employers that Refined Uranium and Thorium) only deals with the uranium exposure. Because there are a limited number of claims from this facility, NIOSH will complete the dose reconstructions without the use of this Site Profile.

    • Appendix C — Electro Metallurgical Company
      Canceled February 15, 2011

      Note: This document is now a standalone document and can be found under the Technical Basis Document section of the Electro Metallurgical Company work site page.

    • Appendix D — United Nuclear Corp.
      Canceled March 21, 2011

      Note: This document is now a standalone document and can be found under the Technical Basis Document section of the United Nuclear Corp. work site page.

    • Appendix P — Baker-Perkins–Michigan
      Canceled February 17, 2011

      Note: This document is now a standalone document and can be found under the Technical Basis Document section of the Baker-Perkins Co. work site page.

  • Site Profiles for Atomic Weapons Employers that Worked Uranium Metals

    1. Appendix BL — Jessop Steel Co. [107 KB (10 pages)]
      Approved May 25, 2007

    2. Appendix D — Bliss & Laughlin Steel [162 KB (9 pages)]
      Approved September 11, 2012

  • Dose Reconstruction During Residual Radioactivity Periods at Atomic Weapons Employer Facilities [349 KB (26 pages)]

    Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0070 Rev-00

    About this Document: Establishes a process for estimating dose to workers at AWE Facilities during residual radioactivity periods.

    Approved: March 10, 2008

  • Estimating the Maximum Plausible Dose to Workers at Atomic Weapons Employer Facilities (TIB 4)–CANCELED
    Note:This document is no longer needed for dose reconstructions. Information in this document has been superseded by other approved methodologies.

    • Page Change Revision December 6, 2006 [285 KB (25 pages)]

      Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0004 Rev-03 PC-2

      Page Change Revision Includes: Removes Westinghouse Atomic Power Development Plant from Table B-1 in Attachment B on page 25, because their radiological activities included more than metallic uranium work. Updated required language in Purpose section on page 5. No further changes occurred as a result of internal formal review. Incorporated NIOSH formal review comment. This revision may result in an increase in assigned dose to Westinghouse Atomic Power Development Plant cases and a PER is required for Westinghouse Atomic Power Development Plant cases previously completed using this document.

    • Page Change Revision November 18, 2005 [196 KB (24 pages)]

      Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0004 Rev-03 PC-1

      Page Change Revision Includes: Approved page change revision to correct enriched uranium intake numbers in Table 3-5 (page 12).

    • Revised August 12, 2005 [258 KB (25 pages)]

      Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0004 Rev-03

      Revision Includes: Updates Appendix A, List of Applicable Facilities, and adds wording to clarify the application of the document. Allows for expansion to other facility types; includes estimate of industrial source exposures based on analyses of 1960-1980 commercial doses; deletes applicability (at this time) to U-recovery with phosphoric acid; adds type S assumption; used activity rather than mass air concentrations for calculations; uses different specific activity assumption for consistency with IMBA; uses OCAS-TIB-009 ingestion scenario; adds consideration of urinalysis; adds RU and EU assumptions; updates MCNP ingot doses; modifies ingot external dose assumptions; modifies external dose contamination calculation by accounting for isotopic fractions to consider effect of EU; removes external organ doses, but provides separate analyses (concern from Task 5 that reconstruction methods subject to their program should not be in Site Profile – the line is still blurry); added nonpenetrating dose assumptions; added photofluorography assumption prior to 1962. Corrected Table 3-8, first row to acute. Addressed OCAS comments: explicitly stated exception to default radiography doses could be made on a case-by-case basis, limited Appendix A industrial exposures to covered periods, and changed Appendix A industrial dose estimates back to linear (versus exponential) fit of data.

    • Revised December 4, 2003 [166 KB (13 pages)]

      Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0004 Rev-02

      Revision Includes: Adds remainder dose to Table 4.

    • Revised November 25, 2003 [164 KB (13 pages)]

      Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0004 Rev-01

      Revision Includes: Incorporates changes to correct errors on pages 4 and 10. TIB incorrectly referred to Absorption Type in ingestion discussion.

    • Approved November 20, 2003 [162 KB (13 pages)]
      Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0004 Rev-00

      About this Document: Establishes the technical basis for a process for estimating the maximum plausible dose to workers at selected AWE Facilities.

  • Site Profile for Atomic Weapons Employers that Refined Uranium and Thorium [446 KB (75 pages)]
    Approved December 13, 2006

    About this Document: This technical basis is established for the reconstruction of radiation doses of workers at AWE sites which refined uranium under contract to the United States government from 1942 to 1958. This document covers the generic aspects of uranium refining and the data are useful where no other dosimetry data exist. Site specific appendices are included that provide information that apply to only the identified site.

  • Site Profile for Atomic Weapons Employers that Worked Uranium and Thorium Metals [394 KB (57 pages)]
    Now titled “Site Profile for Atomic Weapons Employers that Worked Uranium Metals”
    Approved December 13, 2006

    About this Document: This document provides an exposure matrix for workers at AWE facilities that performed metal-working operations with uranium metal. Over 110 facilities performed these operations, and this document intends to provide guidance for dose reconstruction at any of these facilities. The main body of this document, in Sections 2-6, includes general discussions of operations and exposure conditions at these facilities. Following the main body of this document is a collection of appendices, with one appendix for each AWE site that performed metal-working operations. Each appendix contains site-specific information that can be used for dose reconstruction. For those sites where this information is insufficient or totally lacking, the dose reconstructor must use information in the main body of the Site Profile.

Advisory Board Work Group on TBD 6000/6001, Appendix BB

This Work Group no longer exists. In March 2010, this Work Group was divided into two separate Work Groups–Advisory Board Work Group on TBD 6000 and Advisory Board Work Group on TBD 6001.

This Work Group is responsible for the review of the specified TBDs as well as the Appendices that apply to specific work sites. They will also review any reports developed by the Board’s contractor (SC&A) pertaining to these TBDs and the Appendices, and will assist NIOSH and SC&A in resolving issues that arise through the review process. The initial focus of the Work Group will be on Appendix BB of TBD 6000, dealing with General Steel Industries. The Work Group will make recommendations to the Board in cases where Appendices involve sites with SEC petitions.

Work Group Members

  • Paul L. Ziemer, Ph.D.-Chair

  • Josie Beach

  • John W. Poston, Sr.

  • Wanda I. Munn–Alternate

Meeting Information

  • December 16, 2009
    Meeting of the Advisory Board’s Work Group on TBD 6000/6001, Appendix BB

    9:30 a.m. (Eastern time)

    Cincinnati Airport Marriott
    2395 Progress Dr.
    Hebron, KY 41048
    (859) 586-0166

    This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

    Available Meeting Items:

  • October 14, 2009
    Meeting of the Advisory Board’s Work Group on TBD 6000/6001, Appendix BB

    9:30 a.m. (Eastern time)

    Cincinnati Airport Marriott
    2395 Progress Dr.
    Hebron, KY 41048
    (859) 586-0166

    This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

    Available Meeting Items:

  • March 11, 2009
    Meeting of the Advisory Board’s Work Group on TBD 6000/6001, Appendix BB

    10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time)

    Cincinnati Airport Marriott
    2395 Progress Dr.
    Hebron, KY 41048
    (859) 586-0166

    This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

    Available Meeting Items:

  • November 10, 2008
    Meeting of the Advisory Board’s Work Group on TBD 6000/6001, Appendix BB

    9:30 a.m. (Eastern time)

    Cincinnati Airport Marriott
    2395 Progress Dr.
    Hebron, KY 41048
    (859) 586-0166

    This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

    Available Meeting Items: