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Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG)

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(Site Profile/Docket Number 080)

Location: Marshall Islands, Marshall Islands

Also known as: The Pacific Proving Grounds included Bikini Atoll, Enewetak Atoll, Johnston Island (nuclear weapons testing activities only), and Christmas Island (U. S. nuclear weapons testing activities only).

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 Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG).

Class(es) Added to the SEC

  • Pacific Proving Grounds – Department of Energy (DOE) employees or DOE contractor or subcontractor employees who worked at the Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG) from 1946 through 1962 for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, either solely under this employment or in combination with work days within the parameters (excluding aggregate work day requirements) established for other classes of employees included in the SEC, and who were monitored or should have been monitored

    Note: This class was established from Petition 20

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.

Advisory Board Work Group on Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG)

This Work Group is responsible for a review of the Pacific Proving Grounds Site Profile and a review of the Site Profile by the Board’s contractor (SC&A). The Work Group shall consider issues identified by SC&A concerning the Site Profile and shall assist 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.

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 the CDC/ATSDR FOIA office at foiarequests@cdc.gov.

Work Group Members:

  • James E. Lockey, M.D. (Chair)

  • Henry A. Anderson, M.D.

  • Loretta R. Valerio

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

  • Summary Site Profile for the Pacific Proving Grounds [1 MB (40 pages)]
    January 3, 2019

    Revision Includes: Revised Section 6.1 to clarify when beta-to-gamma ratios for fresh and weathered fallout should be applied. Revised Section 6.3 to include dose comparison instructions for periods after 1955. Corrected the date for the Greenhouse Operation to 1951. Revised justification for not assigning ambient external dose in Section 4.0. Throughout document and Table A-1, reference to Operations dose changed to yearly dose. Removed Rev.02 Attachment A information from Table A-1. Deleted Table 6-5. Revised guidance for application of OTIB-0052 to not allow application of CTW adjustment factors. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Revised Table A-1 to fill dose gaps in years without operational data. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document.

Program Evaluation Reports (PERs) and Program Evaluation Plans (PEPs)

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.

  • DCAS-PER-088, Rev. 0: Pacific Proving Grounds Program Evaluation Report [132 KB (3 pages)]

    Approved: November 12, 2019

    About this Document: New document to determine the effect of issuing revision 3 to ORAUT-TKBS-0052 (Pacific Proving Ground TBD) on previously completed claims.

    Summary: NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all the claims evaluated under this PER. Further, NIOSH will request that the Department of Labor return the 9 claims that resulted in a probability of causation greater than 50% to NIOSH for a new dose reconstruction.

Advisory Board and NIOSH Comments and Discussion Papers on Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG)

The Papers on Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG) 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 have been cleared for distribution.

Public Comments on Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG) Documents

How to Submit Comments

Comments on Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG) 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 (080) on all comments.

Comments Received

At this time, no comments have been submitted on Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG) documents.

Document Archive for Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG)

  • Site Profile: Summary, Rev. 2 [1 MB (40 pages)]
    Approved July 23, 2018

    Revision Includes: Revision initiated to revise 95th-percentile doses. Revised Section 6.3.1 to allow for prorating 95th-percentile doses. Added clarifying text to Section 7.0 on how recorded dose should be compared with 95th-percentile dose. Revised entire Attachment A. Incorporates formal internal review comments. No changes were needed as a result of NIOSH formal review.

  • Site Profile: Summary, Rev. 1 [1 MB (33 pages)]
    Approved July 11, 2016

    About this document: Revision initiated to update occupational medical and external dose information. Added excerpts to Section 1.3 from EEOICPA Bulletin No. 06-15 and EEOICPA Bulletin No. 07-05 clarifying that 83 days of continuous presence on land or ships would be equivalent to the 250-workday requirement for eligibility for compensation. Removed reference in Section 3.0 to ORAUT-PROC-0061 and added evaluation requirements under ORAUT-OTIB-0079. Provided additional information about the assignment of X-ray procedures based on various DOE responses. Revised Section 6.0 requirement to assign 95th-percentile doses from Attachment A for unmonitored workers and added requirement to Attachment A for comparison and assignment of the larger of missed plus recorded dose to the 95th-percentile doses. Removed requirement to assume beta-to-gamma ratios from the Nevada Test Site profile. Added Section 6.1 to provide beta-to-gamma ratios as a function of time after detonation and distance from source plane, which is favorable to claimants. Added Section 6.2 to provide methods for reconstructing dose from fallout from the GREENHOUSE operation for workers on contaminated islands and ships. Added Sections 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 to provide methods for determining penetrating and nonpenetrating dose. Added Section 6.3.3 for determining penetrating and nonpenetrating dose from fallout. Revised Section 7.0 to include all dose reconstruction methods. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments.

  • Site Profile: Summary, Rev. 0 [562 KB (18 pages)]
    Approved August 30, 2006

    About this document: New document to describe the Pacific Proving Ground and other oceanic test locations to enable the preparation of dose reconstructions.