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Feed Materials Production Center

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(Site Profile/Docket Number 024)

Location: Fernald, Ohio

Also known as: Fernald, Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP), FERMCO

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 the Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC).

Class(es) Added to the SEC

  • All employees of DOE, DOE contractors, or subcontractors who worked at all locations at the Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) in Fernald, Ohio, also known as the Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP), from January 1, 1968, through December 31, 1978, 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 classes of employees included in the Special Exposure Cohort.

    Note: This class was established from Petition 46.

  • All employees of the Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) in Fernald, Ohio, who were not employed by National Lead of Ohio, NLO, or the Department of Energy or its predecessor agencies, who worked at FMPC from January 1, 1951, through December 31, 1983, 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 46.

  • All employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) in Fernald, Ohio, from January 1, 1954, through December 31, 1967, 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 46.

Classes Not Added to the SEC

  • (1) All employees of the Department of Energy (DOE), its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked in any area of the Feed Materials Production Center at Fernald Ohio, from January 1, 1984, through December 31, 1989; and (2) all employees of the DOE, its predecessor agencies, National Lead of Ohio, or NLO, Inc., in any area of the Feed Materials Production Center from January 1, 1979, through December 31, 1983.

    Note: This class was established from Petition 46.

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.

SEC Petitions Not Qualifying for Evaluation

There were two additional petitions received but did not qualify for evaluation. The petitions did not meet the minimum petition requirements for evaluation.

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.

Worker Outreach Activities for the Feed Materials Production Center:

Advisory Board Work Group on Feed Materials Production Center (Fernald)

This Work Group is responsible for reviewing the Fernald Site Profile, the SEC petition from Fernald petitioners, the NIOSH Evaluation Report of the petition, the SC&A Review of the Fernald 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:

  • Bradley P. Clawson (Chair)

  • Paul L. Ziemer, Ph.D.

Meeting Information:

Pre-Decisional Document Policy

Please Note: 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 [280 KB (12 pages)]
    Revised August 5, 2016

    Revision Includes: Changes title to Feed Materials Production Center, to add Special Exposure Cohort information, and to incorporate minor changes and corrections to ensure consistency across this Site Profile. Includes editorial changes. No changes occurred as a result of formal internal review. Incorporates formal NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Site Description [290 KB (44 pages)]
    Revised March 31, 2014

    Revision Includes: Updates site information and Special Exposure Cohort information. Changes title to use Feed Materials Production Center rather than Fernald Environmental Management Project. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

  • Occupational Medical Dose [244 KB (22 pages)]
    Revised January 2, 2014

  • Occupational Environmental Dose [6 MB (64 pages)]
    Revised September 22, 2016

    Revision Includes: Revision initiated to correct a unit conversion error in the calculational excel spreadsheet. The value 27.027 was incorrectly assigned to a spreadsheet variable named “BqPERpCi” that was used in several calculations. It was replaced by the correct value of 0.037. The variable was used only in the calculation of intake rates and air concentration after 1988. Corrections are made to the effected values in Tables 4-2, 4-17 and 4-18. The correction has the effect of reducing the intake rate during 1989 and subsequent years by a factor of 0.00137 for all radionuclides, except radon. The correction also reduces the uranium, Th-230 and radon air concentrations presented in Table 4-17 and 4-18 by a factor of 0.00137. Additionally, the specific activity values defined in ORAUT-TKBS-0017-5 for 1% and 2% enriched uranium were used in the revised calculation spreadsheet. The recycled uranium radionuclides and contaminant concentrations specified were applied. The result is a modified Table 4-2. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments.

  • Occupational Internal Dose [2.5 MB (188 pages)]
    Revised March 30, 2017

    Revision Includes: Changes on how HIS-20 uranium bioassay data is to be interpreted. Corrects the specific activity of 1% enrichment uranium for uranium coworker intakes. Revises the uranium coworker methodology and subsequent intakes in Attachment C to incorporate these two changes. Revises sections 5.4.2, 5.4.3, 5.5.1.1, 5.5.2.1.1, 5.5.2.1.2, 5.5.2.2, and Attachment C. Provides clarification on some dose reconstruction methods. Incorporates resolution to Advisory Board on Radiation Worker Health comments on ORAUT-OTIB-0078. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments.

  • Occupational External Dose [669 KB (54 pages)]
    Revised March 25, 2014

    Revision Includes: Adds Purpose, Scope, and Special Exposure Cohort sections. Includes additional neutron information. Updates and adds references including but not limited to ORAUT-OTIB-0017, ORAUT-OTIB-0012, ORAUT-OTIB-0020, ORAUT-OTIB-0055, and DCAS-TIB-0013. Incorporates changes in response to formal internal and NIOSH review comments and Sanford Cohen & Associates matrix issues. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs)

  • Internal Dosimetry Coworker Data for the Feed Materials Production Center-CANCELED
    Formerly titled “Internal Dosimetry Coworker Data for the Fernald Environmental Management Project”

    Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0078 Rev-03

    Note: There is no longer a need to keep this information in a stand-alone document. The information contained in this document has been incorporated into ORAUT-TKBS-0017-5 Rev 01, Feed Materials Production Center – Occupational Internal Dose. This document is located in the Document Archive section of this page.

Advisory Board and NIOSH Discussions on Feed Materials Production Center (Fernald)

The documents listed under this section were prepared by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (or their technical support contractor) or NIOSH. Some of the items listed below are working documents and were developed for discussion purposes only. The documents represent preliminary positions taken on technical issues. Draft, preliminary, interim, and white paper documents are not final positions unless specifically marked as such.

The documents below 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.

Public Comments on Feed Materials Production Center (Fernald) Documents

How to Submit Comments

Comments on Feed Materials Production Center 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 (024) on all comments.

Comments Received

At this time, no comments have been submitted.

Document Archive for Feed Materials Production Center (Fernald)

  • Site Profile: Introduction Section
  • Site Description [1.4 MB (83 pages)]
    Approved May 20, 2004
  • Occupational Medical Dose [216 KB (26 pages)]

    Approved February 11, 2004

  • Site Profile: Occupational Environmental Dose Section
    • Revised December 3, 2015 [2 MB (65 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Modifies the K-65 radon emissions from the median value to the 95th-percentile value, to include Am-241 in the list of radionuclides that contaminate recycled uranium, and to address S. Cohen & Associates comments. These revisions were made to an auditable set of calculations in an updated referenced spreadsheet. Incorporates minor changes made for clarification purposes. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

    • Revised March 13, 2014 [1.6 MB (65 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Changes site name to Feed Materials Production Center. Incorporates Sanford Cohen & Associates matrix issues. Adds Special Exposure Cohort information and includes additional references, updates, and personnel radon exposure data information. Incorporates an auditable set of calculations in a referenced spreadsheet. Combines all intake rate calculations into a single spreadsheet available in the Site Research Database and deletes Attachment E, which contained sample exposure calculations and the detailed calculation results, and Attachment F, which contained the exposure rate calculation results. After 1988, operations ceased, environmental monitoring was increased, and so the Exposure Areas (EA) used to define intakes prior to 1989 is replaced by the standard approach defined in ORAUT-PROC-0031. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

    • Revised February 7, 2006 [4.6 MB (110 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Adds NIOSH “boilerplate” language. Adds totals to tables 4.2a and b,, revises tables 4.9a and b to include Radon-222, table 4-10a to include intakes uranium and non uranium radionuclides and table 4-10b to include site wide intakes of Radon-222, adds radon-222 concentrations in Table 4A in Appendix A. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

    • Approved April 6, 2004 [3.3 MB (83 pages)]
  • Site Profile: Occupational Internal Dose
    • Revised September 30, 2016 [5 MB (189 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Revised to correct Recycled Uranium (RU) contaminant intakes (Bq/Bq/ U) in Table 5-34. Corrected Silo activity concentration for Ra-228 and Th-228 and modified silo activities from percentage to activity fractions in Table 5-13. Corrected “Ratios of silo 1 and silo 2 nuclides to 226Ra” Table 5-16 and “Ratios of silos 1, 2, and 3 nuclides to 230Th” Table 5-17. Corrected typos. Incorporates formal internal review comments.

    • Revised July 22, 2016 [5 MB (188 pages)]

      Revision Includes: Revised in response to Task 5 dose reconstruction needs for clarification. Added Purpose, Scope, and Special Exposure Cohort sections to Section 1.0. Revised to incorporate responses to comments and responses in various white papers that were consolidated into ORAUT-RPRT-0052. Incorporated changes in response to formal internal and NIOSH review comments and Sanford Cohen & Associates matrix issues. Revised to reflect changes resulting from Special Exposure Cohort designations. Revised recycled uranium mixture and default uranium enrichment assumptions. Added 241Am and other radionuclides as recycled uranium contaminants. Added instructions for interpretation of in vivo data including methods for calculating thorium, thoron, unsupported radium, and raffinate exposures, including 226Ra from radon breath analysis results. Incorporated supporting documents pertaining to rationale for 400 ppb U Pu, uranium (ORAUT-OTIB-0078) and thorium coworker intakes, assignment of thorium dose based on 10% of the derived air concentrations, thoron exposures, and effective derived air concentrations. Updated and added references, as appropriate. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

    • Revised May 28, 2004 [482 KB (42 pages)]

      Revision Includes: New Technical Basis Document for the Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) – Occupational Internal Dose.

    • Revised April 20, 2004 [365 KB (36 pages)]

      Revision Includes: New technical basis document for Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) – Occupational External Dose.

  • ORAUT-OTIB-0073 Rev-00: External Coworker Dosimetry Data for the Fernald Environmental Management Project [147 KB (12 pages)]-CANCELED
    September 22, 2008

    About this Document: Provides information to allow dose reconstructors to assign doses at the Fernald Environmental Management Project to certain workers who have no or limited monitoring data, based on site coworker data.

    Please Note: This document was canceled. There is no longer a need to keep this information in a stand-alone document.  The information contained in this document has been incorporated into ORAUT-TKBS-0017-6 Rev 01, Feed Materials Production Center – Occupational External Dose.

  • ORAUT-OTIB-0078 Rev-01: Internal Dosimetry Coworker Data for the Fernald Environmental Management Project
    Currently titled “Internal Dosimetry Coworker Data for the Feed Materials Production Center”
    • Revised August 19, 2015 [701 KB (23 pages)]
      Formerly titled “Internal Dosimetry Coworker Data for the Fernald Environmental Management Project”

      Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0078 Rev-03

      About this Document: Provides coworker data for the Fernald Environmental Management Project workers.

      Revised: August 19, 2015

      Revision Includes: Incorporates the latest time-weighted one person–one statistic modeling techniques from ORAUT-RPRT-0053, Revision 02, Analysis of Stratified Coworker Datasets. The enrichment assumption used prior to 1957 has been changed to 1% enriched uranium. Renamed the document to Internal Dosimetry Coworker Data for the Feed Materials Production Center

    • Revised December 12, 2012 [302 KB (23 pages)]

      Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0078 Rev-02

      About this Document: Provides coworker data for the Fernald Environmental Management Project workers.

      Revision Includes: Incorporates code “50” bioassay results into the modeling and utilize the latest one person–one sample modeling techniques per ORAUT-RPRT-0053, Analysis of Stratified Coworker Datasets in response to an Advisory Board Work Group issue. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

    • Revised June 3, 2010 [459 KB (27 pages)]

      Document Number: ORAUT-OTIB-0078 Rev-01

      Revision Includes: Incorporates the option for dose reconstructors to use 95th percentile intake rates in response to an Advisory Board Work Group issue. No changes occurred as a result of formal internal review. Incorporates NIOSH review comments.

      About this Document: Incorporates the option for dose reconstructors to use 95th percentile intake rates in response to an Advisory Board Work Group issue. No changes occurred as a result of formal internal review. Incorporates NIOSH review comments.

    • August 31, 2009 [363 KB (27 pages)]

      About this Document: New Technical Information Bulletin to provide coworker data for the Fernald Environmental Management Project workers. Incorporates formal internal, NIOSH, and Advisory Board review comments.