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Downey Facility

On This Page

Special Exposure Cohort
Technical Documents
Public Comments
Document Archive

(Site Profile/Docket Number 204)

Location: Los Angeles County, California

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

To date, there are no open/active SEC petitions from Downey Facility.

Class(es) Added to the SEC

All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Downey Facility in Los Angeles County, California from January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees included in the Special Exposure Cohort.

Note: This class was established from Petition 167

Petitions Qualified for Evaluation

Below is a list of the petitions that qualified for evaluation. Select a petition on the list to view the table for that particular petition.

Petition 167
Steps in Petition Process:	Petition Details:
Date Received	March 10, 2010
Date Qualified for Evaluation	March 11, 2010
Summary of Information in Petition	Job Titles and/or Job Duties: All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors Period of Employment: January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955 Note: The information above is what qualified for evaluation. During our evaluation of whether dose reconstructions can adequately be completed for the above job titles and period of employment, information may cause NIOSH to change some the dates or job titles/duties. Therefore, as this petition proceeds through the SEC petition process and if an SEC class is proposed, the proposed class may not exactly match the above information.
Copy of the Petition Received	March 10, 2010 [223 KB (4 pages)] (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955)
Federal Register Notice Announcing that a Downey Facility SEC Petition has met the Minimum Qualifications for Review and Evaluation	March 22, 2010 [54 KB (1 page)] (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955)
SEC Petition Evaluation Report	March 25, 2010 [375 KB (77 pages)] (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955)
Evaluation Report Sent to the Advisory Board	April 12, 2010 (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955)
Petition Discussed by the Advisory Board	The petition was discussed by the Advisory Board on May 21, 2010, during its regular meeting. Note: Agendas and transcripts for Board meetings will be posted on the Advisory Board and Public Meetings page as soon as they become available.
Advisory Board Recommendation on SEC Petition	June 11, 2010 [34 KB (2 pages)] (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955)
HHS Letters to Congress Regarding the SEC Petition	July 13, 2010 [79 KB (10 pages)] (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955)
HHS Designation/Determination of Additional Members to the SEC	Designation: July 13, 2010 [36 KB (5 pages)] (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955) Note: A “designation” means that HHS is recommending a class be added to the SEC. A “determination” means that HHS is recommending to not add a class to the SEC.
Federal Register Notice: Designation/Determination Of a Class of Employees for Addition to the Special Exposure Cohort	Designation: July 30, 2010 [40 KB (1 page)] (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955) Note: A “designation” will be published if there is a recommendation to add a class to the SEC. A “determination” will be published if there is a recommendation not to add a class to the SEC.
Effective Date for the SEC Class	August 12, 2010 (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955) Note: This only applies if the class is added to the SEC.
Federal Register Notice: Final Effect of Designation of a Class of Employees for Addition to the Special Exposure Cohort	August 23, 2010 [41 KB (1 page)] (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955) Note: This only applies if the class is added to the SEC.
Letter to DOL Regarding the Addition of a New Class of Employees to the SEC	August 24, 2010 [21 KB (2 pages)] (January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1955) Note: This only applies if the class is added to the SEC.

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

Note: The Site Profile below can be used to complete dose reconstructions for Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, the Canoga Avenue Facility (Vanowen Building), the Downey Facility, and the De Soto Facility (these are sometimes referred to as Energy Technology Engineering Center [ETEC] or Atomics International).

Introduction [128 KB (8 pages)]
Revised August 30, 2006

Revision Includes: Revision to change site name to Atomics International throughout document in keeping with revised DOE site naming conventions. Approved issue of Revision 01. Added information to Site Description in Section 1.2.1 on page 6. No further changes occurred as a result of formal internal review. Incorporates NIOSH formal review comments. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose.
Site Description [1.6 MB (47 pages)]
Approved February 2, 2006
Occupational Medical Dose [224 KB (25 pages)]
Revised October 31, 2008

Revision Includes: Revision to change the site name to Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, the Canoga Avenue Facility, the Downey Facility, and the Downey Facility (sometimes referred to as Energy Technology Engineering Center [ETEC] or Atomics International) to match the new DOE site naming conventions. Added Attributions and Annotations section. Organ doses are revised as follows:
- AP lumbar spine, before 1971, uterine dose is decreased by a factor of 10; correcting an error,
- AP and LAT lumbar spine, after 1997, except for breast and remainder, all organ doses are marginally decreased due to a change in beam quality assumption,
- AP and LAT lumbar spine, all years, remainder organ dose is increased by a factor ranging from 2 to 15 due to a change in the reference organ used to define the remainder.
- Doses to skin at additional locations to the primary beam entrance are added in accordance with Revision 01 of ORAUT-PROC-0031. All skin doses at newly tabulated locations are lower than the skin dose at the primary beam entrance location. Maximum organ dose tables for PA and LAT chest, and AP and LAT lumbar spine, are deleted in accordance with Revision 01 of ORAUT-PROC-0031. A discrepancy between the dose tables and the text is corrected. The corrected frequency is lower to ensure any misunderstanding due to the discrepancy that would result in a favorable to claimant dose assessment. Text in Section 3.5.1.2 about examination frequency is relocated to Section 3.4 where it logically belongs.
- Breast doses from AP lumbar spine projections for periods after 1971 are increased by a factor 2.2 to 2.6. For the LAT lumbar spine projections the breast dose increases range from no change, up to a factor of 1.1. The increase results from a change in the assumed dose conversion factors recommended by the Principal Medical Dosimetrist.
- The term “view” is globally replaced with the more modern term “projection” and the term Entrance Skin Exposure (ESE) is replaced by the more modern term “entrance air kerma.” The term “routine” when describing examination frequency is replaced by the more descriptive word “periodic.” The terms “entrance” and “exit” in Tables 3-2 through 3-5 are replaced with “pre-employment” and “termination.”
- Additional information on eye/brain organ doses prior to 1971 is added to Tables 3-2 and 3-3. The column showing entrance skin exposure in Table 3-2 through 3-5 is eliminated as this is not needed for dose reconstruction.
- The possibility that photon energy could be less than 30 keV is eliminated as this is applicable only to mammography. Testes dose in Table 3-5 associated with LAT lumbar spine exposures after 1997 decreases by 60% as a data error in the DCF is corrected.
- The description of skin doses has been modified to match that in newly issued guidance, and skin dose tables have been separated into two each for clarity in describing doses under poorly collimated versus well collimated exposure conditions.
- Incorporates formal NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.
Occupational Environmental Dose [278 KB (23 pages)]
Revised April 26, 2010

Revision Includes: Incorporates SEC information in Section 4.1 and formal internal and NIOSH review comments.
Occupational Environmental Dose [1.5 MB (82 pages)]
Revised April 26, 2010

Revision Includes: Revision to change the site name to Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, the Canoga Avenue Facility, the Downey Facility, and the Downey Facility (sometimes referred to as Energy Technology Engineering Center [ETEC] or Atomics International. Updated required language in Section 5.1. Additional information added on the solubility of uranium aluminide and sensitivity of bioassay analyses. Added Attachment G, Sensitivity of Bioassay Analyses by Bioassay Code U. S. Testing and Other Laboratories. Acronyms added for ICRP, kCi, kg, mo, POC, TTF, wk, µCi, µm, and §. Changes are being made to Section 5.1.3, Scope, as requested by DOL to clarify which organizations performed work eligible for compensation. Reporting levels and MDAs were adjusted in Table 5-3 for NSEC. A paragraph was deleted from Section 5.2, Internal Dosimetry Overview. The abbreviation “UR” for uranium radiometric was added to Section 5.3.1.3. Last paragraph of Section 5.3.1.4 was modified to clarify the sensitivity (reporting level) vs. MDA. The numbers and order in the documents for tables 5-7 and 5-8 were switched. An additional footnote was added to Table 5-9. Minor changes were made to the references and glossary. A list of figures was added to Attachment B. The figures and descriptions in Attachment A were reordered, the descriptions of two forms were combined, and in some cases descriptions were added to the same page as the figures. Attachment D was split into two attachments (D and E) and the original attachments E and F were re-lettered to F and G. The Table in Attachment G was split into in-vitro and in-vivo tables. Numerous minor edits were also made to clarify or improve the readability of the document without changing the technical content. Added Attributions and Annotations section. Activity fractions for reactors and related facilities were eliminated and references to OTIB-0054 were added. Added SEC information and added information in Section 5.3.1.5 pertaining to the use of CEP data. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of document.
Occupational External Dose [176 KB (20 pages)]
Revised April 26, 2010

Revision Includes: Incorporates SEC information in Section 6.1.2 and corrected an error in Table 6-8 pertaining to NTA film and footnote b. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments.

Public Comments on Downey Facility Documents

How to Submit Comments

Comments on Downey Facility 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 (204) on all comments.

Comments Received

At this time, no comments have been submitted.

Document Archive for Downey Facility

Site Profile: Introduction [53 KB (8 pages)]
Approved February 21, 2006
Site Profile: Occupational Medical Dose
- Revised September 8, 2006 [255 KB (25 pages)]
  
  Revision Includes: Revision to change the site name to Atomics International throughout the document in keeping with DOE site naming conventions. Updated required language in Section 3.1. Purpose section (Section 3.2) and Scope section (Section 3.3) were added. No further changes occurred as a result of formal internal review. Incorporates NIOSH formal review comments.
- Approved February 3, 2006 [248 KB (24 pages)]
Site Profile: Occupational Environmental Dose
- Revised March 8, 2007 [257 KB (22 pages)]
  
  Revision Includes: Revision to change the site name throughout the document. Changes site name to Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, the Canoga Avenue Facility (Vanowen Building), the Downey Facility, and the Downey Facility (sometimes referred to as Energy Technology Engineering Center [ETEC] or Atomics International. Updated required language in Section 4.1. Purpose section (Section 4.2) and Scope section (Section 4.3) were added. Incorporates internal and NIOSH formal review comments. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose and no PER is required.
- Approved March 1, 2006 [251 KB (21 pages)]
Site Profile: Occupational Internal Dose [1.3 MB (64 pages)]

Approved February 22, 2006
Site Profile: Occupational External Dose
- Revised November 16, 2006 [146 KB (17 pages)]
  
  Revision Includes: Revision to change the site name to Atomics International throughout the document in keeping with DOE site naming conventions. Updated required language in Section 6.1. Constitutes a total rewrite of document. Incorporates internal formal review comments and corrects typographical errors. Adds a paragraph to section 6.1.2 and clarification to missed dose and magnitude of background dose, Sections 6.2 and 6.8 respectively, as requested by DOL. This revision results in no change to the assigned dose, and no PER is required.
- Approved February 22, 2006 [127 KB (17 pages)]