nuclear weapons components Archives

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A new class of Y-12 employees could be added to a federal worker compensation program based on exposure to radiation from thorium metal parts and plutonium-241 isotopes between 1958 and 1976, health officials said.

The worker compensation program involves certain illnesses and work at sites like Y-12 that are affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The program is a result of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, which was enacted in October 2000. The act includes what is known as the Special Exposure Cohort. The new class of Y-12 employees could be part of that Special Exposure Cohort.

That designation wouldÂ allow eligible claimants to be compensated without the complete reconstruction of a radiation dose or a determination of the probable cause. AÂ covered employee would have to have at least one of 22 specified cancers.

The class of employees being evaluated now would have worked at Y-12 between January 1, 1958, through December 31, 1976, when Y-12 was manufacturing nuclear weapons components during the Cold War. The employees would have had an aggregate total of at least 250 work days, according to a notice published in the Federal Register this month. The class could change, however, based upon the evaluation.

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Infrastructure improvements in Y-12â€™s Building 9995 include equipment upgrades for the siteâ€™s Plant Lab. The upgrades allow technicians to more safely and efficiently handle hazardous chemicals. (Photo courtesy Y-12 National Security Complex)

The Y-12 National Security Complex has completed significant infrastructure upgrades to the plantâ€™s Analytical Chemistry facility to improve mission capability and reliability. The year-long effort was completed on schedule and budget, a press release said.

Built in 1957, Building 9995 providesÂ comprehensive analytical services in support of core missions, environmental compliance, and overall worker health and safety at the Oak Ridge facility, the press release said.

The infrastructure upgrades at 9995 included improvements to critical heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, electrical system upgrades, and replacement of obsolete radiochemistry hoods. These improvements have greatly improved Building 9995â€™s work environment by reducing risk to operations and enabling the facility to continue to meet the extensive analytical chemistry needs for Y-12, the press release said.

The 9995 infrastructure upgrade was made possible through a $5 million investment allocated by National Nuclear Security Administration Uranium Program Manager Tim Driscoll and matched by $5 million through Consolidated Nuclear Security. Once funding was received, all the planning, procurement, and installation activities for the various improvements were planned and executed expeditiously, the release said. [Read more…]

(For members) Y-12 class could be added to worker compensation program based on thorium, Pu-241 exposure

Y-12 completes $10 million upgrades to Analytical Chemistry facility