Defense Threat Reduction Agency Dose Reconstruction for Atomic Veterans
The dose reconstruction team of Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) and its partners, MJW Corporation Inc. (MJW) and Dade Moeller & Associates is also supporting the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) dose reconstruction program for “atomic veterans.”
Military personnel observe an atmospheric nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site in the early 1950s. Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office.
These military personnel may have had cancer as a result of their radiation exposure during atmospheric nuclear weapons tests at the Nevada Test Site or Pacific Proving Grounds or from their service as occupation troops or POWs near Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of World War II.
If the cancer is linked to their service-related radiation exposure, then these veterans are eligible for benefits from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs through the Nuclear Test Personnel Review (NTPR) program.
The NTPR has performed some 4,000 dose reconstructions since 1978; however, a 2003 National Academy of Sciences audit identified several issues in the dose reconstruction methods. As a result, about 1,200 cases must be re-worked, in addition to continuing to process new claims.
The ORAU team is assisting with this re-work as well as the new cases. The ORAU team’s role includes:
- Deciding on the appropriate dose reconstruction method
- Defining the Scenario of Participation and Radiation Exposure (SPARE), which essentially places a veteran in time and space at a weapons test or in Hiroshima or Nagasaki
- Performing independent reviews of draft dose reconstructions
- Developing and applying expedited methods for dose reconstructions
The ORAU team also is working with both the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and DTRA to help bring consistency to the ways these federal programs handle claims for similar exposures through the NTPR and NIOSH’s Energy Employees Occupational Injury Compensation Program Act. The ORAU team also holds a dose reconstruction contract with NIOSH.