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"U. S. panel advises $150,000 payments Former Bethlehem Steel workers and their families got the good news Thursday for which they had been waiting for years. A federal advisory panel recommended that former Bethlehem workers-or their surviving family members - be compensated for diseases that might have resulted from their work on the company's Cold War-era nuclear programs. The recommendation by the 16- member Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health places the Bethlehem workers in a "special exposure cohort" that makes them eligible for federal payments of $150,000. "

"An Energy Department review has concluded that a program for protecting workers from a toxic metal at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site has a number of weaknesses and could have been implemented more quickly. An Energy Department review has concluded that a program for protecting workers from a toxic metal at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site has a number of weaknesses and could have been implemented more quickly. However, the review released Wednesday also found the beryllium program is an improvement over past practices. Beryllium was used in the production of reactor fuel at south-central Washington's Hanford nuclear reservation, and dust remains in some buildings. Worker safety groups have raised concerns that workers have not been adequately protected from exposure to beryllium, which can cause a lung disease."

Former workers may be at increased risk for cancer, study says Researchers have found a new, potentially more dangerous source of radon exposure for workers at the now-demolished Fernald uranium foundry. Advertisement The findings have many ramifications for former Fernald workers and their families, said Susan Pinney, an environmental health researcher at the University of Cincinnati and co-author of the study. "Now we know workers in the plant's production area prior to 1959 may be at increased risk for developing lung cancer and other exposure-related health problems," Pinney said.

Professional Case Management of Tennessee held town hall meetings Thursday at the American Museum of Science and Energy to share information with federal workers about its program and other related sick-worker issues. Professional Case Management is a Department of Labor-enrolled provider of home nursing to chronically ill nuclear workers. PCM recently opened an office in Oak Ridge and is currently serving 30 Oak Ridge residents who are eligible for care under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA).

Udall introduces Senate bill to help sick Rocky Flats and other nuclear workers The nuclear bombs Charlie Wolf built helped win the Cold War. But his toughest battles came afterward, when he applied to a troubled federal compensation program intended for those whose top-secret work made them sick. Wolf wound up battling a bureaucratic morass for more than six years - all while fighting brain cancer that was supposed to have killed him in six months - trying to prove he qualified for financial and medical aid.

They want to find out why a group of workers were subjected to a higher than expected dose while moving a flask containing intermediate-level waste (ILW) on November 25. Checks are ongoing to determine the exposure levels of between six and nine workers, though it has been established they do not breach legal or site-imposed limits. The probe follows an incident in the summer when two workers had to have low-level contamination removed from their hands while working on a clean-up job in the site's sphere-shaped reactor. The two problems come in the wake of a steady improvement in both the nuclear and industrial safety record of operators, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd. It is understood management are keen to tighten up standards in the site's Fuel Cycle Area - which houses the complex of reactor and waste stores - to maintain the recent progress. DSRL spokesman Colin Punler yesterday gave details of the latest incident.

They want to find out why a group of workers were subjected to a higher than expected dose while moving a flask containing intermediate-level waste (ILW) on November 25. Checks are ongoing to determine the exposure levels of between six and nine workers, though it has been established they do not breach legal or site-imposed limits. The probe follows an incident in the summer when two workers had to have low-level contamination removed from their hands while working on a clean-up job in the site's sphere-shaped reactor. The two problems come in the wake of a steady improvement in both the nuclear and industrial safety record of operators, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd. It is understood management are keen to tighten up standards in the site's Fuel Cycle Area - which houses the complex of reactor and waste stores - to maintain the recent progress. DSRL spokesman Colin Punler yesterday gave details of the latest incident.

"The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that a new class of nuclear weapons workers from plants located in California and New Jersey have been added to the Special Exposure Cohort of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA), which provides compensation and medical benefits to workers who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified workers may also be entitled to benefits. All former Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory employees who worked at the Berkeley, Calif., site between Aug. 13, 1942, and Dec. 31, 1961, as well as former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employees who worked at the Livermore, Calif., site between Jan. 1, 1950, and Dec. 31, 1973, have been added to the Special Exposure Cohort. In addition, former Westinghouse Electric Corp. employees who worked at the Bloomfield, N.J., site between Aug. 13, 1942, and Dec. 31, 1949, are included. "

Free health screenings, available through University of Iowa studies of both Army and Department of Energy workers at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant are continuing through this fall. Researchers are continuing to enroll people in the IAAP Munitions Workers Study. One aim of the research study, directed by Laurence Fuortes, M.D., professor of occupational and environmental health, is to assess exposure to beryllium alloys among conventional weapons workers at the plant. Participants also will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire and to provide a blood sample for analysis of beryllium sensitivity. Participation requires a 30- to 45-minute time commitment. Compensation is provided.

An amendment that would have allowed more survivors of ill Hanford workers to collect compensation hit a dead end Tuesday in the Senate. Before the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2009 was considered, the Senate voted to cut off debate on the bill, effectively killing the amendment. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., had proposed the amendment to ensure that compensation for sick former nuclear workers would not be taken away in cases in which an ill worker or a survivor who had filed a claim died before the claim was processed. The Department of Labor estimated it would have helped about 1,200 current and future claimants under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program.

Two Colorado congressmen say it was "completely irresponsible" for the Department of Labor to fail to explain decisions that make it more difficult for sick and dying nuclear weapons workers - or their survivors - to qualify for federal compensation. This week, the Rocky Mountain News reported that the Labor Department, which oversees the program, derailed aid to workers by keeping reports secret from them, constantly changing rules and delaying cases until sick workers died.

Beginning in 1957, Pinellas County was home to a plant that built triggers for nuclear weapons. Some of that Largo plant's former workers claim that they were exposed to toxic substances and are fighting for compensation. Dave Bossard worked at the General Electric Neutron Devices plant for 34 years and eventually became a supervisor. His duties included supervising the area that contained the chemical storage building. He said the workers were exposed to 473 "deadly toxins … chemicals and radiation" that are still causing diseases in former workers.

Lawmakers aim to improve a federal program designed to provide workers' compensation benefits for nuclear facility employees who become ill as a result of their jobs. Sponsors of the Charlie Wolf Nuclear Workers' Compensation Act, named for an employee who developed brain cancer as a result of working at the Rocky Flats Plant nuclear weapons site near Denver, said the bill would make important changes to reduce the bureaucracy in the program and expand the list of cancers for which individuals are eligible to receive compensation. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., one of the sponsors of the bill, said that while the compensation program was set up to help workers who develop illnesses from exposure to radiation or other toxins on the job, employees have instead found their cases delayed for years by bureaucratic red tape.

"Former Nevada Test Site workers who are seeking compensation from the federal government for cancer they contracted while working on underground nuclear tests are one big step closer to achieving that goal. The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health has granted "special exposure cohort status" to individuals who worked at the Test Site from 1963 through 1992, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced today. Reid hailed the unanimous vote as great news for workers who served the nation during the Cold War."

"Terrie Barrie of ANWAG (Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups) passes along a letter from Glenn Podonsky of the Dept. of Energy, responding to Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, on issues pertaining to GAO's recommended reforms of the sick nuclear workers compensation program, and some follow-up info. Here is a link to the letter that responds to the senator's June 25 correspondence. Cantwell, and fellow U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, subsequently announced that a new online database had been made available for worker at Hanford and other sites to help them get exposure information needed for compensation claims."

Lane Christenson has been dead for more than a decade, but he is causing problems for the federal government. The story of what's happened to the family of this burly, former atomic bomb builder shows how federal officials have ignored evidence and their own rules to avoid compensating the nation's sick nuclear weapons workers. The government has steadfastly maintained for more than three years that no evidence exists to show Rocky Flats workers have been shut out of automatic compensation for certain victims of Cold War nuclear weapons production. The problem Christenson's case presents is this: His records do exist.

Neither the former workers at a nuclear weapons plant in Largo nor Sen. Bill Nelson are buying into a recently released Inspector General report. The report by the Inspector General for the federal Labor Department says claims for benefits under a program for sick plant workers are being processed according to law. Congress passed a program in 2000 to compensate sick workers at the General Electric plant and pay their medical bills.

Researchers have found a new, potentially more dangerous source of radon exposure for workers at the now-demolished Fernald uranium foundry. The findings have many ramifications for former Fernald workers and their families, said Susan Pinney, an environmental health researcher at the University of Cincinnati and co-author of the study. "Now we know workers in the plant's production area prior to 1959 may be at increased risk for developing lung cancer and other exposure-related health problems," Pinney said.

A federal agency has taken the first step toward possibly fast-tracking compensation for sick workers at a defunct Jefferson County nuclear fuel rod plant. Former workers at United Nuclear Corp.'s plant in Hematite recently were notified that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has certified a petition they filed this summer. The federal agency now will begin evaluating the petition seeking a special designation that, if granted, would allow compensation claims to be approved without forcing Hematite workers to prove how they were exposed to radiation.

Incident during warhead assembly was violation of rules OAK RIDGE - A worker at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant admitted using handwritten crib notes - a violation of procedures - during a warhead assembly operation earlier this year, leading to a temporary shutdown of those activities. An error occurred during the operation as a direct result of the worker using the cheat sheet, according to a report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The operator had copied the part sizes from a specification sheet for a different nuclear weapons unit than the one actually being assembled, the report said.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., today introduced legislation that he said would help the families of sick nuclear workers in cases where a worker dies before his or her claim for compensation is processed. "We should not allow an inefficent bureaucracy to run out the clock through a claims process that takes so long that our Cold War heroes are dying before their claims are processed, leaving their families with no compensation," Alexander said in a statement distributed to the news media.