EEOICA was established by congress in 2000 to provide compensatory payments to certain workers or their survivors for workplace exposure to radiation associated with certain military and Department of Energy projects.  At Lackawanna New York the Bethlehem Steel mills were used to roll uranium into fuel rods for nuclear reactors in 1949-1955.  The program is authorized in the United States Code at 42 U.S.C. 7384, et seq.  The program contemplates a single $150,000 payment to successful claimants. 

    By Executive Order, the program is administered by the Department of Labor's workers' compensation division in accordance with federal regulations and agency rules of practice, all  in conjunction with the Administrative Procedures Act. The program is designed, theoretically, to be user-friendly and informal thereby allowing claimants to present claims to the department, to have the claims processed and considered without the complexity of litigation.

    A successful claimant for radiation induced cancer must show all of the following:

1)  that he was employed by the Department of Energy or one of its subcontractors

2) that he was employed during the time period department or subcontractor was handling radioactive material

3) that he suffers one of the listed cancers

4) that he was exposed to radiation

5) that the cause of his cancer was as likely as not the radiation exposure.

    Certain workers who were employed at facilities specifically found to be highly exposed are members of a Special Exposure Cohort. For these claimants, every listed cancer is assumed to be caused by radiation exposure and the claim is granted without the showing of items 4 and 5 above.   For workers not in a Special Exposure Cohort, the amount of radiation exposure must be calculated through "Dose Reconstruction".  With the radiation dose thus calculated, the department then calculates the probability of causation under the "as likely as not" standard.  For Bethlehem employees, everyone needed to go through the dose reconstruction.

    The dose reconstruction is essentially a scientific estimate (or guess, depending on your perspective) about how a worker was exposed.  The methodology of the dose reconstruction is set by federal regulations 42 CFR Part 82 and is binding on the program under 20 CFR 30.318.  The claimant may, however, challenge the application of the method to the individual case.  How is this different?  Well for example assume the method, sometimes called the matrix, says that if you worked in the mill for eight hours you got a certain amount of radiation.  That fact: "eight hours gets you so many rads of exposure" couldn't be argued-but whether the worker was there for eight hours or twelve hours or whether the worker's exposure was greater because of proximity to the source could be argued.  A major question exists as to whether the method or matrix is fairly designed and whether it accurately reflects the reality of what happened at Bethlehem in the 40's and 50's.  Many of the workers I have spoken with believe that there are huge gaps and unfounded assumptions that have been made.  These challenges will be worked out only through the objection and litigation processes.  Following the regulations a study of the exposure matrix was prepared by NIOSH.  This is the "Basis for Development of an Exposure Matrix for Bethlehem Steel Corp.

    Once the dose has been calculated, that figure is entered into a probability computer model which calculates whether the cancer is as likely as not to have been caused by the exposure.  This model is established by federal regulations as well.  42 CFR Part 81.

   I welcome your comments, questions and inquires at:  Richard@Hackerd.com