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Argonne National Laboratory - West

(Site Profile/Docket Number 038)

Location: Scoville, Idaho

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 is currently one open/active SEC petition, Petition 243. NIOSH is reviewing the petition to see if it qualifies for evaluation. If the petition qualifies, it will receive a full evaluation by NIOSH, the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

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 Argonne National Laboratory-West during the time period from April 10, 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 224

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.

Petition 224 (April 10, 1951 to December 31, 1979)

Petition 224
Steps in Petition Process: Petition Details:
Date Received December 4, 2014
Date Qualified for Evaluation March 13, 2015
Summary of Information in Petition Job Titles and/or Job Duties: All workers who worked in any location of the Argonne National Laboratory­West.

Period of Employment: April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1979.

Note: The information above is what qualified for evaluation. During our evaluation of whether dose reconstructions can adequately be completed for the above job titles and period of employment, information may cause NIOSH to change some the dates or job titles/duties. Therefore, as this petition proceeds through the SEC petition process and if an SEC class is proposed, the proposed class may not exactly match the above information.
Copy of the Petition Received Argonne National Laboratory – West SEC Petition for April 10, 1951 to December 31, 1979 [761 KB (8 pages)]
Federal Register Notice Announcing that an Argonne National Laboratory – West SEC Petition has met the Minimum Qualifications for Review and Evaluation March 25, 2015 [57 KB (1 page)]
(April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1979)
SEC Petition Evaluation Report February 18, 2016 [9 MB (260 pages)]
(April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1979)
Evaluation Report Sent to the Advisory Board February 24, 2016
(April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1979)
Petition Discussed by the Advisory Board The petition was discussed on March 23, 2016, during the Advisory Board’s regular meeting.
(April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1979)

Note: Agendas and transcripts for Board meetings will be posted on the Advisory Board and Public Meetings page as soon as they become available.
Advisory Board Recommendation on SEC Petition May 2, 2016 [71 MB (2 pages)]
(April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1957)
HHS Letters to Congress Regarding the SEC Petition June 3, 2016 [127 KB (14 pages)]
(April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1957)
HHS Designation/Determination of Additional Members to the SEC Designation:

Note: A “designation” will be published if there is a recommendation to add a class to the SEC. A “determination” will be published if there is a recommendation not to add a class to the SEC.
Federal Register Notice: Designation/Determination Regarding a Class of Employees for Addition to the Special Exposure Cohort Designation:
  • June 17, 2016 [56 KB (1 page)
    (April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1957)
  • Note: A “designation” will be published if there is a recommendation to add a class to the SEC. A “determination” will be published if there is a recommendation not to add a class to the SEC.
Effective Date for the SEC Class July 3, 2016
(April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1957)

Note: this only applies if the class is added to the SEC.
Federal Register Notice: Final Effect of Designation of a Class of Employees for Addition to the Special Exposure Cohort July 19, 2016 [78 KB (2 pages)]
(April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1957)

Note: this only applies if the class is added to the SEC.
Letter to DOL Regarding the Addition of a New Class of Employees to the SEC July 5, 2016 [71 KB (1 page)]
(April 10, 1951 through December 31, 1957)

Note: this only applies if the class is added to the SEC.

Advisory Board Work Group on Argonne National Laboratory-West/Idaho National Laboratory

This Work Group is responsible for a review of the Argonne National Laboratory-West and Idaho National Laboratory Site Profiles (as revised) and a review of the Site Profiles by the Board’s contractor (SC&A). The Work Group shall consider issues identified by SC&A concerning the Site Profiles and shall assist NIOSH and SC&A in the resolution of such issues. The Work Group may recommend to the Board changes in the Site Profiles as appropriate. The Work Group is also responsible for a review of SEC petitions from Argonne National Laboratory-West and Idaho National Laboratory petitioners, the resultant SEC Petition Evaluations from NIOSH, and any SC&A reviews of the SEC Petitions and NIOSH Petition Evaluations. The Work Group shall assist NIOSH and SC&A in the resolution of issues concerning the petitions and should strive to develop a recommendation to the Board on whether a class should be added to the SEC.

Meeting information (including agendas and transcripts) for this Work Group can be found on either the individual site page for Idaho National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory-West, or the Advisory Board and Public Meetings page.

Work Group Members:

  • Phillip Schofield (Chair)
  • Josie Beach
  • James Malcolm Melius, M.D., Dr. P.H. (Chair)
  • Genevieve S. Roessler
  • David B. Richardson

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 [72 KB (9 pages)]
    Revised March 12, 2010Revision Includes: Revised to combine the Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory–West Introduction sections into a single document. Updated NIOSH required language. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments.
  • Site Description [736 KB (86 pages)]
    Revised August 2, 2010Revision Includes: Combines Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory–West Site Descriptions. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments.
  • Occupational Medical Dose [231 KB (19 pages)]
    Revised December 21, 2009Revision Includes Revised to combine Argonne National Laboratory–West Occupational Medical Dose Technical Basis Document (ORAUT-TKBS-0026-3 Rev 01) into the Idaho National Laboratory Occupational Medical Dose Technical Basis Document. Separated X-ray doses into posterior-anterior and lateral in Tables 3-7 and 3-8. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.
  • Occupational Environmental Dose [2.6 MB (67 pages)]
    Revised January 8, 2010Revision Includes Revised to combine Argonne National Laboratory–West TBD into the Idaho National Laboratory TBD. Updated Intake and External Dose tables to add data from 2006 to 2008. Added 129I intake values to intake tables for all areas. Incorporates formal internal review comments. No changes were needed as a result of formal NIOSH review. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.
  • Occupational Internal Dose [551 KB (63 pages)]
    Revised March 2, 2010Revision Includes: Incorporates the Argonne National Laboratory–West site. In order to resolve several issues identified in an independent audit of this TBD and other issues identified by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, the approaches for assessing the Idaho National Laboratory bioassay data have been completely revised. The potential lung absorption types to be considered have also been expanded for several radionuclides. These changes generally result in lower organ doses. However, for specific scenarios they can result in higher doses to certain metabolic organs such as the thyroid. In addition, this revision fully incorporates the Argonne National Laboratory – West back into this TBD and eliminates the ANL-W Occupational Internal Dose TBD. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.
  • Occupational External Dose [1.3 MB (58 pages)]
    Revised April 19, 2011Revision Includes: Incorporates Argonne National Laboratory–West – Occupational External Dose Technical Basis Document (ORAUT-TKBS-0026-6 Rev 01) into the Idaho National Laboratory Occupational External Dosimetry Technical Basis Document. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Removed the Site Expert line from page 1 since the former Site Expert served no role in this revision. Updated Section 6.8 to reflect that in all cases where the former site expert’s information or prior studies or writings are included or relied on by the new Document Owner, those materials are fully attributed to the source in accordance with the “NIOSH Policy Statement: Management of Conflict or Bias in the Radiation Dose Reconstruction Program.” Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

Advisory Board and NIOSH Discussions on Argonne National Laboratory – West

The Argonne National Laboratory – West 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 have 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.

Program Evaluation Plans

  • OCAS-PEP-0017 Rev-00: Evaluation of Incomplete Internal Dosimetry Records from Idaho, Argonne – West and Argonne – West National Laboratories [17 KB (3 pages)]
    March 21, 2007About this Document: In April/May 2006, while reviewing dose reconstructions (DR) for an Idaho National Laboratory (INL) case and an Argonne National Laboratory – West (ANL-E) case, a particular notation (“no recordable dose”) in the INL dosimetry response, as well as a similar notation (“no internal dose”) in the ANL-E dosimetry response, was questioned. Both the INL and ANL-E points of contact (POC) were contacted and asked if this notation meant that the energy employee (EE) was not monitored. The INL POC responded that this notation meant that this particular EE may have been monitored but no internal dose was assigned. The ANL-E POC provided information that the EE had internal dose records for most years of his employment. [Although Argonne National Laboratory – West (ANL-W) requests are sent thru the Chicago Operations Office, the dosimetry records are provided by INL.]In May/June 2006, it was determined that INL/ANL-W/ANL-E did not consistently include internal dose data in all of their individual dosimetry responses and that additional requests were needed for submitted cases with a POC less than 50%. For a particular EE, INL/ANL-W/ANL-E either provided all or none of the EE’s internal dosimetry records. A good indicator that there may be internal dosimetry data is that the OCAS-INT-004 (check-box form) may have a hand-written note next to the internal dosimetry status section that says – “no internal dose” or “no recordable dose.”

Program Evaluation Reports

Public Comments on Argonne National Laboratory – West Documents

How to Submit Comments

Comments on Argonne National Laboratory – West 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 (038) on all comments.

Comments Received

At this time, no public comments have been submitted.

Document Archive for Argonne National Laboratory – West

  • Site Profile: Introduction section
    • Revised May 11, 2007 [65 KB (9 pages)]Revision Includes: Attributions and Annotations included. Incorporates formal internal review comments. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep this information in a stand-alone document. The information contained in this Technical Basis Document has been incorporated into the Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory-West – Introduction Technical Basis Document (ORAUT-TKBS-0007-1 Rev 03).
    • Approved December 1, 2004 [35 KB (7 pages)]
  • Site Profile: Site Description section
    • Revised June 22, 2007 [434 KB (31 pages)]Revision Includes: Added Purpose, Scope, and Attributions and Annotations sections. Updated References and formatting. Incorporates formal internal review comments. No further changes occurred as a result of formal NIOSH review . Constitutes a total rewrite of document. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep this information in a stand-alone document. The information contained in this Technical Basis Document has been incorporated into the Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory-West – Site Description Technical Basis Document (ORAUT-TKBS-0007-2 Rev 04).
    • Approved September 9, 2004 [382 KB (24 pages)]
  • Site Profile: Occupational Medical Dose section
    • Revised July 30, 2007 [98 KB (12 pages)]Revision Includes: Added Attributions and Annotations section. Moved Appendix into document. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments.Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep this information in a stand-alone document. The information contained in this Technical Basis Document has been incorporated into the Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory-West – Occupational Medical Dose Technical Basis Document (ORAUT-TKBS-0007-3 Rev 02).
    • Page Change Revision May 16, 2005 [48 KB (11 pages)]Page Change Revision Includes: Replaces first paragraph of section 3.2 on page 4 and the associated table specifying x-ray /age requirements. Revises Table 3A-1 on page 11 to reflect these changes.
    • Approved September 9, 2004 [72 KB (11 pages)]
  • Site Profile: Occupational Environmental Dose section
    • Revised June 5, 2007 [832 KB (39 pages)]Page Change Revision Includes: Incorporates Attribution and Annotation section. 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.Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep this information in a stand-alone document. The information contained in this Technical Basis Document has been incorporated into the Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory-West – Occupational Environmental Technical Basis Document (ORAUT-TKBS-0007-4 Rev 02).
    • Approved September 30, 2004 [956 KB (26 pages)]
  • Site Profile: Occupational Internal Dose section
    • Revised May 23, 2007 [291 KB (29 pages)]Revision Includes: Attributions and Annotations added. Incorporates formal internal review comments. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep this information in a stand-alone document. The information contained in this Technical Basis Document has been incorporated into the Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory-West – Occupational Internal Technical Basis Document (ORAUT-TKBS-0007-5 Rev 03).
    • Approved January 20, 2005 [270 KB (26 pages)]
  • Site Profile: Occupational External Dose section
    • Revised May 15, 2007 [907 KB (57 pages)]Revision Includes: Approved revision for biennial review. Incorporates Attributions and Annotations. 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.Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep this information in a stand-alone document. The information contained in this Technical Basis Document has been incorporated into the Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory-West –Occupational External Dose Technical Basis Document (ORAUT-TKBS-0007-6 Rev 03).
    • Approved September 30, 2004 [881 KB (45 pages)]

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