Occupational Energy Research Program

Hanford Site

The Hanford Site was established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project. At this time large industrial facilities were built to produce plutonium, which served an important role in the nation's defense. The site’s mission expanded during the Cold War era to include research and development activities associated with the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Today the remains of the facilities and legacy wastes document an important part of the nuclear age story.

Fact sheets

Nuclear workers from the Hanford Site have been included in many NIOSH studies. Below are fact sheets that summarize some of the study findings for workers.

Multi-site leukemia worker notification (March 2008) presented at worker briefing September 2008.

Hanford Site mortality update: Age at exposure to ionizing radiation (June 2005)(PDF Document) 49.61KB (2 pages)

Publications from NIOSH studies done at Hanford

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and radiation: findings among workers at five US nuclear facilities and a review of the recent literature (2007)

Risk of chronic myeloid and acute leukemia mortality following exposure to ionizing radiation among workers at four U.S. nuclear weapons facilities and a nuclear naval shipyard. (2007)

Bone marrow dose estimates from work-related medical X-ray examinations given between 1943 and 1966 for personnel from five U.S. nuclear facilities. (2006)

Assessment of plutonium exposures for an epidemiological study of US nuclear workers. (2005)

Bias and uncertainty of penetrating photon dose measured by film dosimeters in an epidemiologic study of US nuclear workers. (2005)

Risk of cancer after low doses of ionising radiation: retrospective cohort study in 15 countries. (2005)

Evaluation of data for DOE site remediation workers.(2001) (Final Report)
(PDF Document)

Leukemia mortality among radiation-exposed workers. (2001)

United Brotherhood of Carpenters Health and Safety Fund: Health effects of heat on a group of middle-aged construction workers are examined. (2001) Final report, 76 pg. PDF copies: Final report (26 KB), Appendix I, Instruction Manual for Testing (2575 KB), Appendix II, Baseline Medical Questionnaire (82 KB), Appendix II, Pre-Shift Questionnaire (33 KB), Appendix II, Mid-Shift Questionnaire (67 KB), Appendix II, Post-Shift Questionnaire (69 KB), Appendix IV, Outline of Data Analysis (72 KB), Appendix V, Add-On Study of mRNA (148 KB)(PDF Document)

A case control study of multiple myeloma at four nuclear facilities (2000) PDF version of report: pages 1-50 (6566KB); pages 51-100 (3416KB); pages 101-150 (5744KB); pages 151-202 (4283KB).(PDF Document)

Study of mortality among female nuclear weapons workers. (2000)

Epidemiologic evaluation of childhood leukemia and paternal exposure to ionizing radiation. (1997) Final Report(PDF document) 2.97MB (51pages)

An approach to evaluating bias and uncertainty in estimates of external dose obtained from personal dosimeters. (1996)

Publications from grant-funded studies done at Hanford

Biologically based analysis of lung cancer incidence in a large Canadian occupational cohort with low-dose ionizing radiation exposure, and comparison with Japanese atomic bomb survivors. (2006)

Gestational mutations and carcinogenesis. (2005)

The effect of censoring on cancer risk estimates based on the Canadian national dose registry of occupational radiation exposure. (2005)

Effects of exposure uncertainties in the TSCE model and application to the Colorado miners data. (2004)

Surveillance methods for solvent-related hepatotoxicity. (2001) Final Report Tables (146 KB)

Wing S, Richardson D, Wolf S, Mihlan G, Crawford-Brown D, Wood J (2000). A case control study of multiple myeloma at four nuclear facilities. Ann Epidemiol 10: 144-153.

Gilbert ES, Omohundro E, Buchanan JA, Holter NA (1993). Mortality of workers at the Hanford Site: 1945-1986. (1993) Health Phy 64(6):577-590.

Omohundro E, Gilbert E (1993). An evaluation of the adequacy of vital status follow-up in the Hanford Worker Mortality Study. Richland, WA: Hanford Environmental Health Foundation; (DOE Contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830, report prepared for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health/Health-Related Energy Research Branch, Cincinnati, OH). Available from NTIS, Springfield, VA; DE94005179, 40 pg.

Gilbert ES, Cragle DL, Wiggs LD (1993). Update analyses of combined mortality data on workers at the Hanford Site, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant. Radiation Res 136:408-421.

Related websites

DOE Hanford website
External link: http://www.hanford.gov

Medical screening programs available to workers

Building Trades National Medical Screening Program
External link: http://www.btmed.org
To learn more, call 1-800-866-9663