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Glossary

Below is an alphabetical list of terms relevant to the Act/EEOICPA, our activities under the NIOSH dose reconstruction program, and nuclear weapons production.

A-Z Index:

A

  • Act/EEOICPA: the law that established a compensation program for energy workers who became ill from exposure to radiation, beryllium, silica, or other toxic substances while working for the Department of Energy or some of its contractors and subcontractors. The official name of the law is the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 – abbreviated as EEOICPA. It was passed in December of 2000. More information on the Act can be found on our Act/EEOICPA page.

  • Administratively Closed: the closure of a claim by NIOSH or the Department of Labor (DOL) before a compensation decision is made by DOL.

  • Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (the Board or Advisory Board): a Federal advisory committee established under the Act/EEOICPA. The Board was appointed by the President of the United States to advise the Department of Health and Human Services and NIOSH on their activities conducted under the Act. The Board advises NIOSH on dose reconstructions and Special Exposure Cohort petitions. More information on the Board can be found on our Advisory Board page.

  • “At least as likely as not”: the legal phrase used under the Act/EEOICPA to indicate whether a claimant will receive compensation. It is used to state whether an energy worker’s cancer was likely caused by his/her workplace exposure to radiation. Example: “An energy worker’s cancer is ‘at least as likely as not’ caused by his/her workplace radiation exposure.” This means that there is at least a 50% possibility that the worker’s cancer was caused by radiation exposure while working at a covered nuclear facility.

  • Atomic Energy Commission (AEC): created in 1946 to manage the development, use, and control of atomic (nuclear) energy for military and civilian applications. The AEC was succeeded by the Energy Research and Development Administration (now part of the U.S. Department of Energy) and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). More information on the AEC can be found on the U.S.NRC Website.

  • Atomic Weapons Employer (AWE) site: a private company that processed or produced radioactive material used to create atomic weapons for the United States, except for uranium mining and milling. This can include a period of residual contamination. Workers at AWE sites are eligible for Subtitle B under the Act/EEOICPA. The Department of Energy determines which sites are AWE sites.

  • Authorized Derivative Classifier (ADC) Reviewer: an individual who reviews data and determines whether or not information should be classified. An ADC reviewer will also determine which classification category the data should be categorized (e.g., Unclassified; classified as Restricted Data, Formerly Restricted Data, and/or National Security Information) and at what level (Top Secret, Secret, Confidential, Unclassified, Restricted) based on classification guidance or source documents.

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C

  • Claimant: an individual who filed a claim and is seeking compensation under the Act/EEOICPA; either an energy worker or a survivor of an energy worker.

  • Claimant Favorable Assumptions: refers to the dose reconstruction procedures used by NIOSH in cases where scientific information is lacking or unavailable and a decision is needed on how to handle this missing information. Claimant favorable assumptions indicate that the higher radiation dose values are given to the energy worker when the scientific information shows a variety of values that are equally possible.

  • Classification Officer (CO): a Department of Energy (DOE) approved individual responsible for administering the classification and Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Information (UCNI) program at a DOE site. 

  • Classified: information available only to authorized people for reasons of national security. The basic categories are Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret.

  • Closeout Phone Call: a scheduled phone call conducted by NIOSH after the claimant receives a copy of the draft dose reconstruction report. The purpose of the call is to review the draft report. It is also an opportunity for the claimant to provide any more relevant information that may affect the dose reconstruction or indicate that he/she is in the process of obtaining such information.

  • Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR): the Department of Energy’s (DOE) electronic database comprised of health studies of DOE contract workers and environmental studies of areas surrounding DOE facilities. CEDR provides independent researchers and the public with access to de-identified data collected since the Department’s early production years. CEDR is supported by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. More information on CEDR can be found on the CEDR Website. 

  • Confidential: lowest classification level of information; if publicly disclosed, would cause some measurable “damage” to national security. 

  • Controlled Unclassified Information: any unclassified information that, if improperly disclosed, modified or deleted, could adversely affect the national interest, the conduct of federal initiatives or the privacy of individuals.

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D

  • Data Reconnaissance: the process of obtaining information about the activities, resources, etc., of a site before the actual data retrieval occurs. Finding aids and search indexes may result from a data reconnaissance trip.

  • Declassified documents: documents that were formerly classified as secret that are no longer restricted.

  • Department of Energy (DOE): under the Act/EEOICPA, DOE is the Federal agency responsible for providing exposure monitoring records to the Department of Labor (DOL) and NIOSH. These records are used as a starting point to help determine the amount of radiation an energy worker likely received in the workplace. DOE also identifies and recommends to DOL which nuclear facilities should be covered under the Act.

  • Department of Energy (DOE) Citations Database (ECD): provides free access to over 2,466,000 science research citations with continued growth through regular updates. There are over 300,000 electronic documents, primarily from 1943 forward, available via the database. Citations and documents are made publicly available by DOE. More information can be found on the DOE Citations Database Website.

  • Department of Energy (DOE) Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR): electronic database comprised of health studies of DOE contract workers and environmental studies of areas surrounding DOE facilities. CEDR provides independent researchers and the public with access to de-identified data collected since the Department’s early production years. Current CEDR holdings include more than 76 studies of over 1 million workers at 31 DOE sites. Access to these data is at no cost to the user. More information can be found on the DOE CEDR Website.

  • Department of Energy (DOE) Considered Sites Database: provides information to the public about sites that were formerly used in the nation’s nuclear weapons and early atomic energy programs and that had the potential for residual radioactive contamination on site. More information can be found on DOE’s Office of Legacy Management Considered Sites Website.

  • Department of Energy (DOE) Information Bridge (IB): IB was created in 1998 in order to provide web access to DOE documents at no cost to the user. Topics in IB are wide-ranging and include subjects such as chemistry, physics, materials, environmental science, geology, engineering, mathematics, climatology, oceanography, computer science and related disciplines. More information on IB can be found on DOE’s Information Bridge Website.

  • Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA): NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; works to reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad. More information can be found on the DOE NNSA Website.

  • Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS) Facility List Database: database that provides public access to summaries of information collected on the facilities listed in the Federal Register. The summary for each facility includes: facility name, also known as, state, location, time period, facility type (Atomic Weapons Employer/Beryllium Vendor/Department of Energy), and facility description. The database is accessible on the DOE HHS Website on the Find Facilities page.

  • Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management: oversees former nuclear weapons complex sites that have undergone clean up of radioactive and other hazardous wastes. Ensures that DOE’s facilities post-closure responsibilities are met and provides DOE programs for long-term surveillance and maintenance, records management, work force restructuring and benefits continuity, property management, land use planning, and community assistance. Currently manages more than 100 sites located throughout the country. More information can be found on the DOE Office of Legacy Management Website.

  • Department of Energy (DOE) OpenNet System: provides easy, timely access to recently declassified documents, including information declassified in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. In addition to these documents, OpenNet references older document collections from several DOE sources. More information can be found on the DOE OpenNet System Website.

  • Department of Labor (DOL): under the Act/EEOICPA, DOL is the Federal agency responsible for overseeing the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program and making all compensation decisions. DOL processes and reviews each claim to determine if it meets the requirements for further evaluation. If the energy worker meets the requirements and was diagnosed with cancer, then DOL sends the claim to NIOSH for dose reconstruction. More information on DOL and its responsibilities under the Act can be found on their Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) Website.

  • Derivative Classifier (DC): a Department of Energy approved individual responsible for reviewing documents generated for the NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Program, primarily Technical Basis Documents, to determine whether they contain classified information.

  • Division of Compensation Analysis and Support (DCAS): NIOSH established DCAS to assist with implementing a program created by the Act/EEOICPA. formerly known as the Office of Compensation Analysis and Support (OCAS). The difference in name only indicates a different time period, not a different organization. DCAS is primarily responsible for conducting occupational dose reconstructions under Subtitle B for cancer claims and for overseeing the petition process for adding more classes of employees under the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). More information about our responsibilities under the Act can be found on our About DCAS page.

  • Dose Reconstruction (DR): the scientific method NIOSH uses under the Act to determine the amount (dose) of radiation an energy worker likely received while working at a Department of Energy or Atomic Weapons Employer facility. More information can be found on our Dose Reconstruction page.

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E

  • Energy Employee: an individual who worked for an Atomic Weapons Employer or at a Department of Energy facility.

  • Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (Act/EEOICPA): this law was passed in December of 2000. It is intended to compensate energy workers, or their survivors, who became ill from workplace exposures to radiation, beryllium, silica, or other toxic substances and worked at designated Department of Energy or Atomic Weapons Employer facilities involved in nuclear weapons production activities. The Department of Labor oversees the entire compensation program and makes all compensation decisions. This law is also referred to as the Act on our website. More information on the Act/EEOICPA can be found on The Act/EEOICPA page of our website.

  • Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) -1977-2009: in 1977, the Energy Research and Development Administration’s Health and Safety Laboratory (HASL) became a part of the U.S. Department of Energy as the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML). During the next two decades it performed extensive studies in radiation transport and dosimetry and established the Quality Assurance Program for environmental dosimeters and radioanalytical measurements. The lab also performed dose reconstructions for nuclear weapons tests, studied radon in homes, and established programs for the measurement and evaluation of environmental contamination. EML was renamed National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL), effective December 1, 2009.

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F

  • Federal Records Centers (FRCs): centers that provide comprehensive records management services to the Federal Government. Records include everything from tax returns, military personnel files, to Top Secret military records. There are 17 regional facilities that store and provide access to over 25 million cubic feet of records. More information on FRCs can be found on the National Archives – Federal Records Center Website.

  • Final Adjudication: a legal term used under the Act when referring to the final compensation decision for a claim. All final compensation decisions are made by the Department of Labor.

  • Finding Aids: documents that contain detailed information about a specific collection of papers or records within an archive. They are used by our researchers to determine whether information within a collection is relevant to NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Program. The content of a finding aid may differ depending on the type of material it is describing. Usually, a finding aid includes a description of the scope of the collection, biographical and historical information related to the collection, and restrictions on use of or access to the materials. Finding aids may be detailed inventories that list contents.

  • Formerly Restricted Data (FRD): classified information which has been removed from the Restricted Data category after the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense have jointly determined that it relates primarily to the military utilization of atomic weapons, and can be adequately safeguarded as national security information. Documents containing FRD are exempt from automatic declassification and must be reviewed by DOE prior to release.

  • Formerly Utilized Site Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP): established in March 1974 to evaluate radioactive contamination at sites where work was performed to develop the nation’s nuclear weapons and early atomic energy program. More information on FUSRAP can be found on the Department of Energy Environmental management FUSRAP Website.

  • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): a Federal law that gives the public the right to make requests for federal agency records. The regulation provides information on the agency records that are subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure procedures, and grants nine exemptions to the statute. NIOSH is required to make requested records available unless the records are protected from disclosure by certain FOIA exemptions. More information on FOIA can be found on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) page of our website.

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H

  • Hanford Declassified Document Retrieval System (DDRS): database created in 1994 of Hanford declassified documents. Information is scanned into the system and the images are available directly through the site or via OpenNet. The database provides easy and timely access to declassified information including that declassified in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The database is currently offline and may be restored in the future.

  • Health Physicist (HP): an individual with knowledge of the physical, biological, and chemical properties of radiation, radiation producing equipment, and radioactive materials. As such, they work to protect individuals, the population, and the environment from the potentially harmful health effects of radiation exposure. Health Physicists have technical skills encompassing many disciplines such as: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, ecology, industrial hygiene, mathematics, physics, and toxicology. Under the NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Program, HPs are primarily responsible for estimating occupational radiation exposure (dose reconstruction) for nuclear weapons workers covered under Subtitle B of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. For a detailed list of HP roles and responsibilities, please see the FAQs: Cases Concerns page of our website.

  • Health Physics Journal: provides a wide variety of radiation safety professionals including health physicists, nuclear chemists, and physicians with interest in nuclear and radiological medicine information on scientific and technological advances in the field of radiation safety. The journal contains such information as: original papers, technical notes, articles on advances in practical applications, editorials, and correspondence that report on the latest findings in theoretical practical and applied disciplines, of epidemiology and radiation effects; radiation biology and radiation medicine; fate and transport of radioactive materials in biological systems. More information can be found on the Health Physics Journal Website.

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I

  • International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health (IJOEH): resource that covers occupational health, environmental health, and consumer health (the aspects of human disease and injury that are determined or influenced by exposure to consumer goods and their components, including pharmaceuticals, food additives, and other purchased products). Contains original scientific and social scientific research, as well as commentary and analysis in the broad fields of occupational and environmental health. More information can be found on the IJOEH Website.

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M

  • Microfiche cards: cards that contain a flat sheet of microfilm in a form suitable for filing, typically measuring 4 by 6 inches and containing microreproductions, as of printed or graphic matter, in a grid pattern

  • Microfilm: a film bearing a miniature photographic copy of printed or other graphic matter, usually of a document, newspaper or book pages, etc., made for a library, archive, or the like

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N

  • National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): regarded as the nation’s record keeper. NARA safeguards and preserves government records. More information about NARA and its mission can be found on the National Archives Website. 

  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): under the Act/EEOICPA, NIOSH is the Federal agency responsible for conducting dose reconstructions for energy workers who have developed cancer, possibly as a result of radiation exposure they received while conducting nuclear weapons production activities at certain Department of Energy or Atomic Weapons Employer facilities. NIOSH is also responsible for evaluating petitions that are filed by persons seeking to become part of the Special Exposure Cohort. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Department of Health and Human Services. More information on NIOSH and its responsibilities under the Act can be found on our FAQs: Responsibilities under Subtitle B of EEOICPA (The Act) page.

  • National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA): established to oversee and carry out the national nuclear security responsibilities of the Department of Energy. More information can be found on the NNSA Website. 

  • National Security Information: information that requires protection against unauthorized disclosure and is marked to indicate its classified status when in documentary form. 

  • National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL): previously known as the Government-owned, government-operated laboratory. NUSTL is part of the Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). NUSTL is the third name in the laboratory’s history having been renamed from Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) effective December 1, 2009. The laboratory was originally the Health and Safety Laboratory (HASL 1953-1977) and then the EML (1977-2009). NUSTL’s mission is to test, evaluate, and analyze homeland security capabilities while serving as a technical authority to first responder, state, and local entities in protecting our cities. Historically, the laboratory was part of the Energy Research and Development Administration and then a part of the U.S. Department of Energy. The laboratory has been used to perform extensive studies in radiation transport and dosimetry and established the Quality Assurance Program for environmental dosimeters and radioanalytical measurements. The lab also performed dose reconstructions for nuclear weapons tests, studied radon in homes, and established programs for the measurement and evaluation of environmental contamination. More information can be found on the Homeland Security Website.

  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC): created as an independent agency by Congress in 1974 to ensure the safe use of radioactive materials for beneficial civilian purposes while protecting people and the environment. The NRC regulates commercial nuclear power plants and other uses of nuclear materials, such as in nuclear medicine, through licensing, inspection and enforcement of its requirements. More information can be found on the U.S.NRC Website.

  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Agency-wide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Database: the official recordkeeping system, through which the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) provides access to (1) Publicly Available Records System (PARS) Library: contains more than 730,000 full-text documents that the NRC has released since November 1, 1999, and several hundred new documents are added each day and (2) Public Legacy Library: contains more than 2 million bibliographic citations (some with abstracts and full text) for earlier documents with the majority dating back to 1980, which are available in paper or microfiche formats. More information on ADAMS can be found on the U.S.NRC ADAMS Public Documents Website.

  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Public Document Room (PDR): helps the public find and obtain NRC information in the agency’s extensive electronic, paper, and microfiche collections. The PDR is staffed by reference and technical librarians. Its holdings are focused on unclassified documents related to the NRC’s licensing and rule making activities, as well as documents from the regulatory activities of the former Atomic Energy Commission. More information can be found on the U.S.NRC Website.

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O

  • Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU): ORAU supports NIOSH’s responsibilities under the Act. ORAU and its partners work directly with NIOSH to provide services in the following areas: database management, data collection related to claims and petitions, dose reconstruction research, claimant phone calls, dose estimation and reporting, technical and program management support. More information on ORAU can be found on our Dose Reconstruction Support Contractor page and the ORAU Team Dose Reconstruction Project for NIOSH Website.

  • OCAS-1 Form: a form NIOSH sends to all claimants with their draft dose reconstruction report. Claimants must sign and return this form to NIOSH before the final dose reconstruction report can be sent to the Department of Labor for a compensation decision. The claimant has 60 days from the time he/she receives the form to sign and return it to NIOSH. Otherwise, NIOSH may administratively close the case. Signing this form does not mean that the claimant agrees or disagrees with the results of the dose reconstruction. It only confirms that the claimant does not have any more information to share with NIOSH at the time the form is signed. The OCAS-1 Form is titled, “Statement by the Claimant Closing the Record on a Dose Reconstruction Under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.”

  • Office of Compensation Analysis and Support (OCAS): former name of DCAS, Division of Compensation Analysis and Support, before it was changed from an office to a division. OCAS was previously part of the NIOSH Office of the Director (OD). The name change reflects the conversion from an Office to a NIOSH Division that reports to, but is not included within the NIOSH OD. This action is part of an ongoing project to reduce the size of the NIOSH OD, which is one of the goals of an OD Management Review begun in September of 2009. DCAS is primarily responsible for conducting occupational dose reconstructions under Subtitle B for cancer claims and for overseeing the petition process for adding more classes of employees under the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC).

  • Office of Scientific & Technical Information (OSTI): a Department of Energy (DOE) program within the Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. Since 1947, OSTI and its early predecessors have been nationally recognized for contributions to the sharing and exchange of science information. More information can be found on the OSTI Website.

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P

  • Part B: under the Act/EEOICPA, Part B covers illnesses from workplace exposure to radiation, beryllium, and silica. Under Part B, NIOSH is responsible for conducting dose reconstructions for energy workers who were possibly exposed to radiation at work and developed cancer. Under Part B, the Department of Labor is responsible for cases involving energy workers who possibly developed illnesses from workplace exposure to beryllium and silica.

  • Part E: under the Act/EEOICPA, Part E covers illnesses from workplace exposure to any toxic substance. The Department of Labor is responsible for all claims filed under Part E.

  • Period of Covered Employment: a phrase used under the Act that refers to the years of employment eligible for evaluation. Facilities and time periods covered by the Act are designated by the Department of Energy and Department of Labor based on the activities conducted at each nuclear facility.

  • Personally Identifiable Information (PII): any information about an individual maintained by an agency, including, but not limited to, education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as their name, Social Security number, date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, biometric records, etc., including any other personal information which is linked or linkable to an individual.

  • Primary Cancer: a cancer diagnosed at the place in the body where it began. The cancer is often named after that area of the body and is used when completing dose reconstructions.

  • Privacy Act of 1974, as amended at 5 U.S.C. 552a: protects records that can be retrieved by personal identifiers such as a name, social security number, or other identifying number or symbol. An individual is entitled to access to his or her records and to request correction of these records if applicable. The Privacy Act prohibits disclosure of these records without the written consent of the individual(s) to whom the records pertain unless one of the twelve disclosure exceptions enumerated in the Act applies. These records are held in Privacy Act systems of records. A notice of any such system is published in the Federal Register. These notices identify the legal authority for collecting and storing the records, individuals about whom records will be collected, what kinds of information will be collected, and how the records will be used. The Privacy Act binds only Federal agencies, and covers only records in the possession and control of Federal agencies. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has specific Privacy Act Regulations. More information on the Privacy Act can be found on the HHS Privacy Act Website.

  • Probability of Causation (POC): under the Act/EEOICPA, the likelihood (expressed as a percentage between 0% and 100%) that an energy worker’s cancer was caused by workplace exposure to radiation. The Department of Labor uses the completed dose reconstruction to determine the claimant’s POC percentage, which is then used to determine whether the claim qualifies for compensation. 

  • Program Specialist: formerly known as a Public Health Advisor (PHA); under the NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Program, an individual who is responsible for advising claimants about their Part B claims while their claims are with NIOSH for dose reconstruction. Public Health Advisors manage the progress of claims, respond to claimant questions, comments, or concerns, and make any necessary contact with the Department of Labor about a claim while it is with NIOSH.

  • Public Health Advisor (PHA): see Program Specialist

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Q

  • Q Clearance: in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, equivalent to a Top Secret clearance, or the highest level of security clearance, permitting access to secret information, documents, etc., relating to nuclear research.

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R

  • Radiological Survey: the evaluation of the radiation hazards accompanying the production, use, or existence of radioactive materials under a specific set of conditions. Such evaluation customarily includes a physical survey of the disposition of materials and equipment, measurements or estimates of the levels of radiation that may be involved, and a sufficient knowledge of processes affecting these materials to predict hazards resulting from expected or possible changes in materials or equipment.

  • Records: records include all books, papers, maps, photographs, machine readable materials, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by an agency of the US Government under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of Government or because of the information value of the data in them (44 U.S.C. 3301)  

  • Restricted Data (RD): defined by the Atomic Energy Act as all data concerning the design, manufacture, or utilization of atomic weapons; production of special nuclear material (uranium and plutonium); use of special nuclear material in the production of energy. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 recognized the need to make certain atomic energy information more accessible to the United States military. It provided for the transfer of information primarily dealing with the military utilization of atomic weapons from the RD category to another category of classified information. This category of information became known as “Formerly Restricted Data.” Although the word “formerly” implies the information may no longer be classified, it should be noted that Formerly Restricted Data remains classified. Documents containing RD are exempt from automatic declassification and must be reviewed by the Department of Energy prior to release.

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S

  • Secondary Cancer: a cancer that spreads from its origin to another area of the body. 

  • Secret: second-highest classification; if publicly disclosed, would cause “serious damage” to national security.

  • Security Classification: the act or process by which information or matter is determined to require protection in the interest of national security under 42 U.S.C. 2162, Classification and Declassification of Restricted Data [169 KB (2 pages)]. There are 3 levels of security classification: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret.

  • Site Profile: a document that contains information about a facility’s general activities and radiation protection practices (i.e., frequency of badge exchange, types of radiation exposure monitored, medical exposure information). Site Profiles may be used by NIOSH when completing dose reconstructions to further understand or add to the personal exposure information for a particular claim; however, they are not always required to complete a dose reconstruction. Site Profiles are “living documents” and can be updated at any time as relevant information becomes available. If a Site Profile is revised at any time, previous non-compensable dose reconstructions will be reviewed to see if the revision affects the outcome of the claim. If it does affect the outcome, the dose reconstruction will be revised. More information on Site Profiles can be found on our FAQs: Technical Documents page.

  • Site Research Database (SRDB): NIOSH database for research that contains site-specific data that can support the development of Technical Basis Documents, Site Profiles, Special Exposure Cohort petitions, and dose reconstructions.

  • Special Exposure Cohort (SEC): a group of energy workers who do not need a dose reconstruction done for their claim because they meet specific criteria outlined in the Act/EEOICPA: a) have at least one of 22 specified cancers, b) worked at a facility covered under the Cohort, and c) worked for a specified amount of time. Workers may be added to the SEC if it is determined that 1) they were likely exposed to radiation at a nuclear facility, but it is not possible to estimate the amount of radiation the workers received with sufficient accuracy, and 2) there is a reasonable likelihood that the amount of radiation they received may have endangered their health. The Department of Labor determines whether an individual qualifies for compensation as part of the SEC. More information can be found on our Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) page. 

  • Special Exposure Cohort Petition Counselor: a specific individual at NIOSH responsible for providing advice to individuals interested in submitting an SEC petition. The SEC Counselor will assist petitioners in understanding the development, submission, qualification, evaluation, and the Board’s deliberation processes that their petition will undergo. If you are interested in filing an SEC petition or have questions about the petition process, contact the Counselor toll-free at 1-800-356-4674; directly at 513-533-6800; or email dcas@cdc.gov.

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T

  • Technical Basis Documents (TBDs): the individual documents that form a Site Profile. An individual TBD contains information on a specific aspect of the work site. This aspect may be the physical layout of the work site, the work processes used, or other particular features of the work site and the work performed there. More information can be found on our Technical Documents Used in Dose Reconstruction and FAQs: Technical Documents pages.

  • Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs): documents that contain information on specific technical issues or procedures for estimating radiation exposure. They are used to add to or supplement Technical Basis Documents and Site Profiles. TIBs may be used for a specific work site or multiple work sites. More information can be found on our Technical Documents Used in Dose Reconstruction and FAQs: Technical Documents pages. 

  • Top Secret: highest security level that if publicly disclosed, would cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.

  • Tracking Number: a number assigned to a claim that allows NIOSH to easily access and follow each claim as it moves through the dose reconstruction process. Tracking numbers are assigned in the order NIOSH receives the claim from the Department of Labor.

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U

  • Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Information (UCNI): under jurisdiction of the Department of Energy (DOE), this includes unclassified facility design information, operational information concerning the production, processing or utilization of nuclear material for atomic energy defense programs, safeguards and security information, nuclear material, and declassified controlled nuclear weapon information once classified as Restricted Data. Information is designated UCNI only when it is determined that its unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to have a significant adverse effect on the health and safety of the public or the common defense and security by increasing significantly the likelihood of the illegal production of nuclear weapons or the theft, diversion, or sabotage of Special Nuclear Material, equipment, or facilities. More information on UCNI can be found on DOE’s Website. 

  • Unclassified Documents: not technically a classification; not subject to a security classification; documents that are available to anyone who wishes access; not secret; unrestricted documents.

  • US Transuranium & Uranium Registries (USTUR): database provides access to radiochemistry, health physics, and pathology data from USTUR registrants. Biokinetic data from USTUR is available that can be used to recommend exposure limits and biokinetic models that describe the distribution of radioactive elements in the human body. These models can then be used to calculate radiation doses to the body organs. More information can be found on the USTUR Website.

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W

  • Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Records Archive: a deep geological repository for the safe, permanent disposal of transuranic waste materials generated by atomic energy defense activities and the environmental cleanup associated with that legacy. More information can be found on the Department of Energy Waste Isolation Pilot Plant page.

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Note: A comprehensive list of acronyms related to the NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Program can be found on our website on the Commonly Used Acronyms.

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