NAME OF EMPLOYEE:
(Claimant name)
(Claimant address)
(Claimant address)
Dear Claimant:
Our records indicate that you have a claim for compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) that received a dose reconstruction at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
I am writing to inform you that on August 13, 2007, NIOSH issued OCAS-PER-013, “Evaluation of the Impact of Changes to the Isotopic Ratios for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.” As outlined in OCAS-PER-013, NIOSH revised the Occupational Internal Dose and Occupational Environmental Dose Technical Basis Document to account for transuranic uranium isotopic ratios (relative to uranium) used in performing dose reconstructions at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. This document is available on the NIOSH website at: http://198.246.98.21/niosh/ocas/pdfs/pers/oc-per13-r0.pdf.
The Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) is obligated to ensure that the application of the dose reconstruction methodology is administered in a fair and consistent manner. Given the revision to the underlying scientific assumptions by which the dose reconstruction is performed by NIOSH, the prior dose reconstruction/Probability of Causation (PoC) calculation on your claim may be invalid. While the modification may or may not impact the outcome of your claim, it is necessary for your claim to undergo a new dose reconstruction in order to make that determination. Accordingly, the DEEOIC is returning your case to NIOSH.
Once the revised dose reconstruction is complete, you will have the opportunity to review the dose reconstruction report, and will again be required by NIOSH to sign the OCAS-1 to acknowledge your receipt of the revised report and dose reconstruction results.
The DEEOIC will then use the information from the revised dose reconstruction to calculate the PoC to determine whether the claimed cancer(s) was at least as likely as not (50% or greater) related to the covered employment.
Again, the change described above does not mean that your claim will be approved; it simply requires that your dose reconstruction be redone by NIOSH using the new guidance. You will be informed of the results of that new dose reconstruction by NIOSH, and DOL will then decide your claim again, using the new dose reconstruction.
If you have specific questions regarding the procedural revision or the status of the dose reconstruction, you may contact the NIOSH office located in Cincinnati, Ohio at (513) 533-6800 or (513) 533-8423. Any other questions should still be addressed to this office.
Sincerely,
(Claims Examiner)
cc: NIOSH Public Health Advisor