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Pantex Plant

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(Site Profile/Docket Number 31)

Location: Amarillo, Texas

Special Exposure Cohort Petition Information

The Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) is a unique category of employees established by The Act (42 CFR Part 83). Claims compensated under the SEC do not have to go through the dose reconstruction process. To qualify for compensation under the SEC, a covered employee must meet specific requirements (e.g., must have at least one of 22 “specified cancers,” and have worked for a specified time period at one of the SEC sites). Classes of employees and work sites can be considered for addition to the SEC through a NIOSH petition process. More information about the Special Exposure Cohort can be found on our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Open/Active SEC Petitions

There are currently no open/active SEC petitions from the Pantex Plant.

Class(es) Added to the SEC

  • All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, during the period from January 1, 1958 through December 31, 1983, 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 SEC

    Note: This class was established from Petition 68

  • All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, from January 1, 1984, through December 31, 1991, 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 SEC

    Note: This class was established from Petition 68

  • All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, during the period from January I, 1951, through December 31, 1957, 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 in the Special Exposure Cohort.

    Note: This class was established from Petition 68

SEC Petitions Not Qualifying for Evaluation

In addition to the petition(s) listed above, one petition was received but did not qualify for evaluation.

Petitions Qualified for Evaluation

Below is a list of the petitions that qualified for evaluation. Select a petition on the list to view the table for that particular petition.

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 the Pantex Plant:

Advisory Board Work Group on the Pantex Plant

This Work Group is responsible for reviewing the Pantex Plant Site Profile, the SEC petition from Pantex Plant petitioners, the NIOSH Evaluation Report of the petition, the SC&A Review of the Pantex Plant Site Profile, considering issues raised by the Board’s contractor (SC&A) concerning the Site Profile and the petition Evaluation Report, and for assisting NIOSH and SC&A in the resolution of such issues. The Work Group may recommend to the Board, changes in the Site Profile as appropriate. The Work Group should strive to develop a recommendation to the Board on whether a class should be added to the SEC.

Work Group Members:

  • Bradley P. Clawson (Chair)

  • Josie Beach

  • John W. Poston, Sr.

  • TBA

Meeting Information:

Pre-Decisional Document Policy

Please note that 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.

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.

Site Profile

  • Introduction [197 KB (12 pages)] Revised December 16, 2015

    Revision Includes: Adds Special Exposure Cohort information and updates references. Includes editorial changes. No changes occurred as a result of formal internal review. Incorporates formal NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Site Description [983 KB (23 pages)] Revised December 8, 2015

    Revision Includes: Incorporates information on the approved Special Exposure Cohort classes for the Pantex Plant. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Occupational Medical Dose [202 KB (21 pages)]
    Revised March 20, 2014

    Revision Includes: Revision to ensure organ doses are calculated according to current project practices and according to accumulated historical evidence, to add skin doses for all projections and time periods, and to add dose to the B-lymphocytes. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of document.

  • Occupational Environmental Dose [970 KB (42 pages)]
    January 3, 2014

    Revision Includes: Clarifies dose assignments. Updates Section 4.1. Adds paragraphs to Attachment A for clarification of dose assignments. Updates format; includes editorial changes. Adds Tables A-3 and A-4 to simplify on-site ambient dose assignment. Figure 4-4 was deleted. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Occupational Internal Dose [696 KB (49 pages)] Revised June 1, 2015

    Revision Includes: Changes value of equation 5-2 from 0.027 to 0.072. Updates boilerplate language in the Introduction Section.

  • Occupational External Dose [1 MB (69 pages)] Revised November 29, 2016

    Revision Includes: Initiated due to the determination that NTA Film neutron dosimetry ended in 1973 as opposed to 1976 as previously understood. Revisions were made to Sections 6.5.2, 6.5.2.2, 6.5.5.3, 6.7.2, 6.7.3, and 6.8. References were updated. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments.

Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs)

  • ORAUT-OTIB-0086, Rev. 01: Pantex External Coworker Model [359 KB (24 pages)]
    November 4, 2016

    About this Document: Revision initiated to update document and instructions (Section 5.1, Table 7-2, and Attachment A) to reflect that the use of nuclear track emulsion, Type A film for personnel neutron dosimetry ceased at the end of 1973. Incorporates formal internal review comments and updated coworker data in Tables 7-1, 7-2, and 7-3 based on updated instructions in Attachment A. Incorporates formal NIOSH review comments regarding data in Tables 7-1, 7-2, and 7-3 for the era 1960-1962. Tables 7-1 through 7-3 have been updated and footnoted. In addition, explanatory language was added to Section 5.0. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

Advisory Board and NIOSH Comments and Discussion Papers on Pantex Plant

The Pantex Plant 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 (PEPs) and Program Evaluation Reports (PERs)

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.

  • OCAS-PER-026 Rev-00: Program Evaluation Report: Pantex TBD Revision – ORAUT-TKBS-0013 [16 KB (2 pages)]

    October 31, 2007

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

    Summary: There were 50 Pantex claims meeting the employment dates and target organ criteria above that were completed with a probability of causation below 50% prior to February 1, 2007. NIOSH will review the records of each claim to determine if the dose assigned in the revised TBD is higher than that assigned in the dose reconstruction. NIOSH will provide DOL with the list of 50 claims as well as a determination on each claim as to whether a new Dose Estimate is required. Documentation for each claim not requiring a new dose reconstruction will provide the basis for that determination.

Public Comments on Pantex Plant Documents

How to Submit Comments

Comments on Pantex Plant Documents can be submitted to the NIOSH Docket Officer electronically by email 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 (31) on all comments.

Comments Received

Document Archive for Pantex Plant

Advisory Board
Site Profile
  • Site Profile: Introduction section
  • Site Profile: Site Description section

    • Revised May 8, 2007 [496 KB (21 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Incorporates Attributions and Annotations, Purpose and Scope Sections. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. Incorporates formal internal review comments. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Revised July 27, 2006 [465 KB (18 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Constitutes a total rewrite of document. Revised as a result of the biennial document review. Incorporates NIOSH formal review comments. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Approved March 30, 2004 [404 KB (17 pages)]

  • Site Profile: Occupational Medical Dose section
  • Site Profile: Occupational Environmental Dose section

    • Revised June 22, 2007 [1 MB (43 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Incorporates Attributions and Annotations. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. Incorporates formal internal review comments. No changes were needed as a result of formal NIOSH review. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Approved August 24, 2004 [867 KB (36 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Incorporates Attributions and Annotations. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. Incorporates formal internal review comments. No changes were needed as a result of formal NIOSH review. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

  • Site Profile: Occupational Internal Dose section

    • Revised November 13, 2014 [661 KB (48 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Corrects unmonitored tritium doses in Table 5-3. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments.

    • Revised January 3, 2014 [661 KB (48 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Adds section detailing the Special Exposure Cohort classes and limitations for internal dose assessment from intakes before 1991. Revises Sections 5.2.1 through 5.2.3 to reflect assessment of internal radiation dose only if monitoring data are available for all periods after the end of the SEC periods (1991). Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

    • Revised June 22, 2007 [853 KB (72 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Incorporates Attributions and Annotations and additional references. No sections were deleted. Minor editorial changes were made in Sections 5.2.1, 5.2.1.1, 5.2.1.1.4, 5.2.2.5, and 5.2.2.6.2. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Page Change Revision February 8, 2007 [574 KB (55 pages)]

      Page Change Revision Includes: Page change revision to change the date for the first DU-laden hydroshot from 1952 to 1959 on page 31. Updated the text in Section 5.2.2.6 on page 28 and updated Table 5-11 on page 32 and 5-19 on page 48. Added reference on page 49 for the telephone conversation that confirmed the actual date. Table 5-1 was moved from page 9 to page 10. Results in a decrease in the intake of DU and resultant dose for the years 1952 to 1959. Text was modified or added in Section 5 and References (pages 9-12, 28, 31-32, 48-49, and 53). No sections were deleted. Incorporates internal formal review comments and NIOSH formal review comments. This revision results in a reduction in assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Approved July 27, 2006 [569 KB (55 pages)]

  • Occupational External Dose

    • Revised November 24, 2015 [1 MB (72 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Adds section detailing the Special Exposure Cohort classes for the Pantex Plant. Includes editorial changes. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

    • Revised June 22, 2007 [838 KB (75 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Incorporates Attributions and Annotations section. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. Added references and made editorial changes. Modified Table 6-1 average total dose for 1958, 1977, 1983, and 1997. Modified Table 6-9 to add Radiography NDE. No further changes occurred as a result of formal internal review. Incorporates formal NIOSH review comments. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required. Training required: As determined by the Task Manager. Initiated

    • Approved July 27, 2006 [655 KB (61 pages)]

Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs)