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Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant

(Site Profile/Docket Number 30)

Location: Paducah, Kentucky

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 are currently no open/active petitions from Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

Class(es) Added to the SEC

  • Employees who worked at least 250 days before February 1, 1992, at a gaseous diffusion plant in Paducah, Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio; or Oak Ridge, Tennessee and who were or could have been monitored in those jobs using dosimetry badges

    Note: The SEC was established by The Act. The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant was one of the classes that Congress included when The Act was signed.

SEC Petitions Not Qualifying for Evaluation

In addition to the class listed above, a petition was received but did not qualify for evaluation because it did not meet the minimum petition requirements.

Worker Outreach Activities

Based on a recommendation from the Advisory Board to provide workers and site experts with opportunities to participate in developing the technical documents used in dose reconstruction, NIOSH established a Worker Outreach Program.

At Worker Outreach Meetings, current and former DOE and AWE employees have opportunities to obtain information about Site Profiles, Technical Basis Documents, and Technical Information Bulletins, and to provide information for consideration and possible use in dose reconstruction. This process is valuable to ensure that the technical documents used in dose reconstruction contain correct and useful information.

Below are the Worker Outreach Activities for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant:

Advisory Board Work Group on Paducah, K-25, and Portsmouth (Gaseous Diffusion Plants/GDP)

This Work Group is responsible for reviewing the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site Profile, the SEC petition from Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant petitioners, the NIOSH Evaluation Report of the petition, the SC&A Review of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site Profile, considering issues raised by the Board’s contractor (SC&A) concerning the Site Profile and the petition Evaluation Report, and for assisting NIOSH and SC&A in the resolution of such issues. The Work Group may recommend to the Board, changes in the Site Profile as appropriate. The Work Group should strive to develop a recommendation to the Board on whether a class should be added to the SEC.

Work Group Members:

  • Phillip Schofield (Chair)
  • Henry A. Anderson, M.D.
  • Josie Beach

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 [74 KB (9 pages)] 
    Revised August 23, 2012

    Revision Includes: Added reference ORAUT-OTIB-0079. Revised the description of the Occupational Medical Dose Technical Basis Document. Added information to indicate that coworker studies are now included in the Internal and External Technical Basis Documents. No changes occurred as a result of formal internal and NIOSH review. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Site Description [814 KB (24 pages)] 
    Revised August 22, 2012

    Revision Includes: Corrected references to yellowcake throughout the document. Section 2.1.2, added SEC discussion. Section 2.2, added brief overview of current site status. Revised Figure 2.2. Removed Tables 2-1 and 2-4, necessary information is provided in Sections 2.4.1 through 2.4.12. Removed Tables 2-2 and 2-3 because they were not used to perform dose reconstruction. Clarified CIP/CUP campaign dates throughout document. Section 2.3, paragraph 5, added – Activities in support of the cascade as well as other plant support activities continue in Building C-400. Section 2.4.1 and 2.4.2, changed 1999 to present. Section 2.4.4, paragraph 3, changed enrichment to UF6 reduction and metal production. Section 2.4.4, deleted connecting and disconnecting UF6 tails cylinders and handling tails as UF6, was not appropriate in this section. Section 2.4.7, paragraph 2, corrected wording – changed reassembling to disassembling. Section 2.4.8, deleted Cascade operations – 1953–1964, 1969–1970, and 1972–1976, was not appropriate in this section. Section 2.4.9, paragraph 1, changed converters to fluidized beds. Added Section 2.4.12, Building C-746B. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Occupational Medical Dose [279 KB (21 pages)] 
    Revised August 23, 2012

    Revision Includes: Adds assignment of dose from lumbar spine X-rays. Incorporates all site specific information found into dose assessments. Added skin doses from all procedures and periods. Added ORAUT-OTIB-0079 Rev 00 reference. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Occupational Environmental Dose [1.7 MB (36 pages)] 
    Revised August 24, 2012

    Revision Includes: Addresses SC&A concerns about the document as identified in SC&A-TR-TASK1-0016, Review of the NIOSH Site Profile for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Wording was revised throughout the document to add clarity. Figure 4-5 was added to show onsite air monitoring locations. The external dose equivalent rates in Table 4-6 have been revised based on available historical data. Guidance provided in ORAUT-PROC-0060 has been added. Acronyms and Abbreviations, References, and Glossary Sections have been updated. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Occupational Internal Dose [405 KB (45 pages)] 
    Revised August 24, 2012

    Revision Includes: Added SEC language. Added dates to Table 5-1 for C-720 Maintenance. Clarified column titles in Tables 5-2 and 5-2a. Updated references. Deleted previous Table 5-3 (not used in dose reconstruction). Revised Table numbers. Revised in vitro measurement in Table 5-3 for 1952 – 1988 period from 5 µg/L to 0.005 mg/L. Moved reporting formats and codes to Attachment A. Added Attachment B, Internal Dosimetry Coworker Data for PGDP (formerly ORAUT-OTIB-0037 Rev 00). Added the option for dose reconstructors to use the 95th-percentile intake rate in Attachment B. Added Attachment C to provide dose reconstructors a general idea of the types of job categories, work activities, and work locations for which internal dose assignment might be necessary. Added Section 5.4.5, Assessment of Intake for Unmonitored Employees. Moved Table 5-8, A History of Significant Events, to Attachment C. Incorporates formal NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Occupational External Dose [1.1 MB (55 pages)]
    Revised February 13, 2017

    Revision Includes: Updates direction in Sections 6.3.4.2 and 6.4.1 to apply exposure to organ dose conversion factors to recorded deep dose results for workers for the period through 1988. For 1989 and after, reported deep dose values are considered equivalent to Hp(10). Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Adds dose conversion factor for the skin in Attachment C. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs)

  • ORAUT-OTIB-0037 Rev-00: Internal Dosimetry Coworker Data Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant

    Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep information in this stand-alone document. The information about methods contained in this document has been incorporated into ORAUT-TKBS-0019-5 Rev 03, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant – Occupational Internal Dose. Previous versions of this document are located on this page under the Previous Versions of Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Documents section.

  • ORAUT-OTIB-0031 Rev-00 PC-2: External Coworker Dosimetry Data Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant

    Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep information in this stand-alone document. The information about the methods contained in this document has been incorporated into ORAUT-TKBS-0019-6 Rev 04, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant – Occupational External Dose. Previous versions of this document are located on this page under the Previous Versions of Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Documents section.

Advisory Board and NIOSH Discussions on Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant

The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant 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 has 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.

  • OCAS-PER-0049 Rev-00: Program Evaluation Report: Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant [68 KB (2 pages)]

    August 5, 2016

    About this Document: Determines the effect of revision to the Paducah Site TBD on previously completed claims.

    Summary: Thirteen claims resulted in a probability of causation greater than 50%. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all claims evaluated under this PER and request the return of the 13 claims.

  • OCAS-PER-0013 Rev-00: Program Evaluation Report: Evaluation of the Impact of Changes to the Isotopic Ratios in for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant [23 KB (3 pages)]

    August 13, 2007

    About this Document: This document provides a list of previously completed claims that are potentially affected by a revision to the Paducah isotopic ratios.

    Summary: An initial selection of claims was based on the following search criteria:

    1. Probability of Causation (POC) less than 50%
    2. Dose Reconstructions completed prior to November 7, 2006.

    These criteria were used to produce a list of 734 potentially affected claims. NIOSH will provide this list to DOL and request these claims be returned for a new dose reconstruction. The new dose reconstruction will be completed using all the current methodology which will account for any other changes affecting these claims.

  • OCAS-PEP-0013 Rev-00: Evaluation of the Impact of Changes to the Isotopic Ratios in for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant [20 KB (2 pages)]
    March 21, 2007

    About this Document: October 25, 2006, Revision 01 of ORAUT-TKBS-0019-5, Occupational Internal Dose was issued as part of the biennial review process. During the biennial revision of this TBD section, the information provided in existing document was evaluated to ensure that the published isotopic ratios for transuranic (TRU) radionuclides meet the criteria of providing either an accurate or maximum dose estimate. The results of the evaluation indicated that the current ratios did not meet that goal. Information provided in existing references (particularly PACE and the University of Utah, 2000; BJC, 2000), as well as that found in a new reference was assessed with the result that new TRU isotopic ratios were developed and are included in the TBD as Tables 5-2 and 5-2a in the revised document.

    On November 7, 2006 Revision 01 of ORAUT-TKBS-0019-4, Occupational Environmental Dose was issued. A revaluation of the source data for ORAUT-TKBS-0019-5 led to a revision to the TRU isotopic ratios (relative to uranium) for estimating dose from these radionuclides. In addition, the authors have been able to categorize these ratios according to specific processes and periods as described below in conjunction with ORAUT-TKBS-0019-5.

Public Comments on Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Documents

How to Submit Comments

Comments on Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant 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 (30) on all comments.

Comments Received

Document Archive for Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant

  • Site Profile: Introduction section

    • Revised July 27, 2006 [102 KB (10 pages)]

      Page Change Revision Includes: Incorporates Attributions and Annotations Section 1.3 and updates the References section. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. No further changes occurred as a result of internal formal review. Incorporates NIOSH formal review comments. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Page Change Revision August 30, 2006 [46 KB (6 pages)]

      Page Change Revision Includes: Approved page change revision to review against Worker Outreach comments and periodic revision. Updates required language on page 4 in Section 1.0. No sections were deleted. No further changes occurred as a result of internal formal review. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose.

    • Approved September 9, 2004 [37 KB (6 pages)]
  • Site Profile: Site Description

    • Revised May 8, 2007 [257 KB (31 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Incorporates Attributions and Annotations section. No changes occurred as a result of formal internal review. Incorporates NIOSH formal review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Revised August 21, 2006 [251 KB (29 pages)]

      Revision Includes: This revision addresses comment #2 from the meeting with United Steelworkers Local 5-550 (formerly PACE) and SPFPA Local 111 held on 02/10/2005. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose.

    • Approved May 7, 2004 [209 KB (23 pages)]
  • Site Profile: Occupational Medical Dose
  • Site Profile: Occupational Environmental Dose

    • Revised April 23, 2007 [959 KB (33 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Incorporates Attributions and Annotations section. Rearranged tables and corrected the List of Tables. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. Incorporates formal internal review comments. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Revised November 7, 2006 [943 KB (31 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Approved Revision 01 initiated to address comments from earlier unresolved comments received on TBD. Constitutes a total rewrite of document. Incorporates additional information obtained through additional data capture for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. This revision to addresses the Worker Outreach comment: “The use of the Site Profile is redundant and does not help claimants in any way. The Site Profile only represents incorrect, inaccurate, and incomplete information provided by DOE” This revision involved researching documents to provide a revision which ensured that the most correct, accurate, and complete information available was used. Text was added or modified in sections 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4,and in the Acronyms and Abbreviations, References, and Glossary. No sections were deleted. Incorporates internal, NIOSH and DOL formal review comments. This revision results in an increase in assigned dose and a PER is required. The increase in assigned dose is based on the revision to Table 4-2 that adds transuranic exposures in the environment.

    • Approved July 27, 2006 [569 KB (55 pages)]
  • Site Profile: Occupational Internal Dose section

    • Revised April 4, 2007 [229 KB (25 pages)]

      Page Change Revision Includes: Incorporates Attributions and Annotations section and improved reference citations in the text. No further changes occurred as a result of formal internal review. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Page Change Revision January 31, 2007 [224 KB (24 pages)]

      Page Change Revision Includes: Approved page change revision initiated to correct the title of Table 5-2 on page 10. Modified Table 5-4 on page 13 to consolidate the years of 1952-1998 onto the first line of the table. Added Table 5-2a to the List of Tables. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Includes changes to Table 5-2a (page 11). This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Revised October 25, 2006 [221 KB (24 pages)]

      Page Change Revision Includes: This revision addresses the comment from the meeting with the United Steelworkers Local 5-550 and SPFPA Local 111 held on 2/10/2005. Constitutes a total rewrite of document. Incorporates recent direction from NIOSH to include DOL review comments on page 5. Revisions address corrective actions responding to OCAS assessment and internal review comments from Task 5. Changes were made at the end of Section 5.2. The original Table 5-3 has been deleted and replaced with an expansion of the original Table 5-4, which becomes Table 5-3. Table 5-2 has been updated to reflect new Table numbers. Incorporates internal and NIOSH formal review comments. This revision results in an increase in assigned dose and a PER is required.

    • Approved September 30, 2004 [246 KB (26 pages)]
  • Site Profile: Occupational External Dose section

    • Revised August 24, 2012 [919 KB (48 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Addresses SC&A concerns about the document as identified in SC&A-TR-TASK1-0016, Review of the NIOSH Site Profile for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Wording was revised throughout the document to add clarity. Acronyms and Abbreviations, References, and Glossary Sections have been updated. Table 6-1 has been revised to change four-element film to two-element film from 1953 through July 1, 1960, and to add an annual badge exchange option beginning in 1989. Building start dates in Table 6-3 have been clarified. Guidance for assigning neutron dose has been revised. Guidance for 99Tc exposure has been added as Attachment A. Guidance for coworker dose assignment based on ORAUT-OTIB-0031 has been incorporated into this TBD as Attachment B. The application of Construction Trade Worker doses has been added. Guidance for skin dose assignment based on ORAUT-OTIB-0017 has been incorporated into this TBD as Attachment C. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

    • Revised April 4, 2007 [721 KB (34 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Incorporates Attributions and Annotations section. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.

    • Revised August 30, 2006 [715 KB (33 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Initiated to address comments from earlier unresolved comments received on TBD. Incorporates additional information obtained through additional data capture for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Incorporates revised standard language into Purpose section and adds a Scope section. This revision addresses comments from the Worker Outreach meeting with the United Steelworkers Local 5-550 and Security, Police, Fire Professionals of America Local 111 held on February 10, 2005. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. This revision results in a reduction in assigned dose.

    • Revised March 29, 2005 [638 KB (25 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Incorporates results of additional research and responses to outstanding comments, formal internal review, and NIOSH comments.

    • Approved August 24, 2004 [255 KB (27 pages)]

  • Technical Information Bulletin: ORAUT-OTIB-0037 Rev-00: Internal Dosimetry Coworker Data for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant–CANCELED

    Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep information in this stand-alone document. The information about methods contained in this document has been incorporated into ORAUT-TKBS-0019-5 Rev 03, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant – Occupational Internal Dose.

  • Technical Information Bulletin: ORAUT-OTIB-0037 Rev-00: External Coworker Dosimetry Data Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant–CANCELED

    Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep information in this stand-alone document. The information about methods contained in this document has been incorporated into ORAUT-TKBS-0019-5 Rev 03, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant – Occupational Internal Dose.

    • ORAUT-OTIB-0031 Rev-00 PC-2 [107 KB (12 pages)] 
      Page Change Revision November 7, 2006

      Page Change Revision Includes: Page change revision due to release of ORAUT-OTIB- 0052 Rev 00. Updates required language on page 4 in Section 1.0. References ORAUT-OTIB-0052 Rev 00 on page 6 in Section 5.0. Completes Section 8.0 on page 9. Completes Table 3 title on page 11. No further changes occurred as a result of NIOSH formal review. This revision results in an increase in assigned dose and a PER is required.

    • ORAUT-OTIB-0031 Rev-00 PC-1 [95 KB (11 pages)] 
      Page Change Revision August 15, 2005

      Revision Includes: Page change incorporates recent direction from NIOSH regarding the calculation and use of coworker doses to pages 8 and 10. Text was modified in Sections 7.0 and 8.0. No sections were deleted.

    • ORAUT-OTIB-0031 Rev-00 [98 KB (11 pages)] 
      May 19, 2005

      About this Document: Establishes the technical basis to provide information to allow Dose Reconstructors (Health Physicists) to assign doses at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant to certain workers who have no or limited monitoring data, based on site coworker data.

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