special exposure cohort Archives

Advisory Board to discuss petition that could help Y-12 workers

Posted at 5:14 pm August 20, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A Wednesday meeting could be of interest to workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex, as well as former workers and survivors of former employees, because it will discuss a petition that could benefit them.

The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health will meet from 8:15 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday at the DoubleTree by Hilton at 215 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

There will be a public comment period from 6-7 p.m. (The public comment period will conclude at 7 p.m. or following the final call for public comment, whichever comes first. If you plan to comment, please be prepared to comment at 6 p.m.)

[Read more…]

Final notice: New class of Y-12 workers added to compensation program

Posted at 5:50 pm April 12, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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 workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been added to a federal energy employees compensation program that was established about two decades ago, officials announced Thursday.

The affected employees would have worked at Y-12 between January 1, 1958, and December 31, 1976. They would have been employees of the U.S. Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, or their contractors and subcontractors. They would have had an aggregate of at least 250 work days. That could have occurred either only through this employment or in combination with work days that meet the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees in what is known as the Special Exposure Cohort.

The notice that the new class of employees has been added to the Special Exposure Cohort was published in the Federal Register by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday. Oak Ridge Today reported in December that the class was being evaluated, based on exposure to radiation from thorium metal parts and plutonium-241 isotopes, and reported in March that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had designated the class of employees to be added. The new designation became effective March 28.

[Read more…]

(For members) NIOSH evaluating another class of Y-12 workers for compensation program

Posted at 2:58 pm April 8, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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)

Federal health and safety officials are evaluating another class of Y-12 employees for a workersÂ compensation program that involves certain illnesses and work at sites that are affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The petition being evaluated now could include all laborers who fabricated or processed uranium between January 1, 1977, and December 31, 1994, in any area at Y-12. The petition was received November 1 and qualified for evaluation on March 25.

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(For members) HHS designates class of Y-12 workers to be added to compensation program

Posted at 9:05 pm March 25, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated a class of Y-12 employees to be added to a federal worker compensation program thatÂ involves certain illnesses and work at sites like Y-12 that are affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The employees who could be added, unless Congress says otherwise, would have worked at Y-12 between January 1, 1958, and December 31, 1976, when the plant was manufacturing nuclear weapons components during the Cold War. TheyÂ would have had an aggregate total of at least 250 work days. They could have beenÂ employees of DOE, its predecessor agencies, or their contractors and subcontractors.

Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that the workers could be added to theÂ compensation program based on exposure to radiation from thorium metal parts and plutonium-241 isotopes.

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

Posted at 6:33 pm December 28, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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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New class of Y-12 employees being evaluated for worker compensation program

Posted at 12:53 pm December 14, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above in June 2012. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

A new class of employees at the Y-12 National Security Complex is being evaluated for possible inclusion in a worker compensation program that involves certain illnesses and work at sites affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The class of employees being evaluated now would have worked at Y-12 between January 1, 1958, through December 31, 1976, and they would have had an aggregate total of at least 250 work days, according to a notice published in the Federal Register on Friday. The class could change, however, based upon the evaluation.

The decision to evaluate the petition for the Y-12 employees was announced by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

It’s not clear when the petition was filed, who filed it, or how long the evaluation might take. Oak Ridge Today has requested more information from the CDC. [Read more…]

NIOSH renews ORAU contract for sick worker program

Posted at 3:00 pm April 11, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Andy Page

Contract could be worth about $150 million over five years

For the second time in about five years, a federal health and safety institute has renewed its contract with Oak Ridge Associated Universities for the support it provides on a sick worker program. The new contract could be worth about $150 million during a five-year period.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health awarded the contract to a team headed by ORAU in Oak Ridge. Under the new contract, ORAU and its partners Dade Moeller and Associates Inc. and MJW Technical Services Inc. will continue to support NIOSH and its work under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, or EEOICPA, a press release said.

Last renewed in 2009, this contract has been managed by ORAU for more than a decade, and this is the second time NIOSH has renewed with ORAU and its partners, the release said. [Read more…]

Department of Labor has meetings Wednesday for nuclear weapons workers

Posted at 3:20 pm February 11, 2013
By U.S. Department of Labor Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Labor will host three town hall meetings on Wednesday in Oak RidgeÂ to provide information about the medical benefits provided under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.

The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. At the meetings, specific information will be discussed concerning home health care services, the Privacy Act, and how to better serve EEOICPA claimants.

The meetings are scheduled for 9:30 a.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. Wednesday.

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