FINAL REPORT FORMER RADIATION WORKER MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM AT ROCKY FLATS For Department of Energy Programs

Medical surveillance is mandated for workers with potential exposure to hazardous materials. However, little guidance is provided regarding the components of a medical surveillance testing program for these individuals. This article describes the medical surveillance program for a group of 72 employees who respond to hazardous material releases throughout the United States. Conditions related to chemical exposures were not identified in this group. However, several non-occupational health conditions were identified, including a relatively high prevalence of one or more signs of metabolic syndrome. Medical surveillance may provide valuable information regarding an individual's underlying health status and non-occupational health conditions to be addressed at an early stage.

Download Full-text

Medical Surveillance Program of the New Epidemiological and Special Studies Branch of NIAAA: An Approach to an Epidemiologic Program on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research ◽

10.1111/j.1530-0277.1977.tb05792.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 1 (4) ◽

pp. 349-354 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jacob A. Brody

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Abuse ◽

Surveillance Program ◽

Medical Surveillance ◽

Special Studies

Download Full-text

The Safety Climate of a Department of Energy Nuclear Facility: A Sociotechnical Analysis

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129303701418 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 37 (14) ◽

pp. 1019-1023 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Allan E. Johnson ◽

Jerry L. Harbour

Keyword(s):

Safety Climate ◽

Safety Performance ◽

Department Of Energy ◽

Close Linkage ◽

Nuclear Facility ◽

Organizational Safety ◽

Rocky Flats ◽

Sociotechnical Analysis

Government- and public-sponsored groups are demanding greater accountability by the Department of Energy's weapons complex. Many demands have focused on the development of a positive safety climate, one that not only protects workers onsite, but also the surrounding populace and environment as well. These demands are in part a response to findings which demonstrate a close linkage between actual organizational safety performance and the organization's safety climate, i.e., the collective attitudes employees hold concerning the level of safety in their organization. This paper describes the approach taken in systematically assessing the safety climate at EG&G Rocky Flats Plant (RFP).

Download Full-text

Lessons Learned at the Rocky Flats Closure Project and Their Applicability to the Emerging Cleanup of the United Kingdom’s Civil Nuclear Liabilities

9th ASME International Conference on Radioactive Waste Management and Environmental Remediation: Volumes 1, 2, and 3 ◽

10.1115/icem2003-4784 ◽

2003 ◽

Author(s):

Nany Tuor ◽

Allen Schubert

Keyword(s):

Nuclear Weapons ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Hazardous Materials ◽

Shared Vision ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Department Of Energy ◽

Nuclear Materials ◽

Rocky Flats ◽

Enriched Uranium ◽

The U.S

The Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site is a former nuclear weapons production facility owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Located in central Colorado near Denver, the facility produced nuclear and non-nuclear components for weapons from 1953 to 1989. During this period, Rocky Flats grew to more than 800 facilities and structures situated on 2,500 hectares. Production activities and processes contaminated a number of facilities, soil, groundwater and surface water with radioactive and hazardous materials. In 1989, almost all radioactive weapons component production activities at Rocky Flats were suspended due to safety and environmental concerns related to operations, and the site was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List (also known as the Superfund list). In 1992, the nuclear weapons production role at Rocky Flats officially ended and the mission changed from weapons production to one of risk reduction. In 1995, Kaiser-Hill, LLC (Kaiser-Hill) was awarded a five-year contract to reduce the urgent health and safety risks at the site, as well as begin the cleanup. At that time, the U.S. government estimated that it would cost more than $36 billion and take more than 70 years to cleanup and close Rocky Flats. Beginning in the summer of 1995, Kaiser-Hill developed a series of strategic planning models which demonstrated that accelerated cleanup of the site could be achieved while dramatically reducing cleanup costs. Within a few years, Kaiser-Hill developed a cleanup plan or lifecycle baseline that described how cleanup could be accomplished by 2010 for about $7.3 billion. Additionally, between 1995 and 2000, Kaiser-Hill made significant progress toward stabilizing special nuclear materials, cleaning up environmental contamination, demolishing buildings and shipping radioactive and hazardous waste for disposal. This initial contract was completed for approximately $2.8 billion. In January 2000, based its record of successes, Kaiser-Hill was awarded DOE’s first “closure contract” to close the site no later than December 2006, at a target cost of $3.96 billion. To date, some of the key enablers of the accelerated closure project concept and successful closure project execution include: • Shared vision of the end state; • Flexible, consultative regulatory agreement; • Credible project plan and robust project management systems; • Closure contract; • Empowered and motivated workforce; • Commitment to safety; • Closure-enhancing technologies. The scope of the closure project encompasses the following key completion metrics: • Disposition of 21 metric tons of weapons-grade nuclear materials; • Treatment of more than 100 metric tons of high-content plutonium wastes called residues; • Processing of 30,000 liters of plutonium and enriched uranium solutions; • Demolition of more than 800 facilities and structures totaling more that 325,000 square meters — many of which are contaminated with radioactive and/or hazardous materials; • Offsite shipment of more than 250,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste; • Disposition of approximately 370 environmental sites.

Download Full-text

The Use of a Polyurea Coating as a Replacement for IP-2 Containers in the Transportation of Large, Low-Level Waste Material

12th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, Volume 2 ◽

10.1115/icone12-49056 ◽

2004 ◽

Author(s):

John Laffitte ◽

Leo Lagos

Keyword(s):

Health And Safety ◽

Reduction Process ◽

Department Of Energy ◽

Small Scale ◽

Potential Health ◽

Low Level ◽

Rocky Flats ◽

Safety Risks ◽

Drop Tests ◽

Florida International University

The decontamination and decommissioning of the Department of Energy Rocky Flats site has resulted in a number of large waste items that need to be shipped to waste collection areas. However, in order to transport these items, they need to be size-reduced and packed into DOT-approved containers such as standard industrial packaging (IP) waste containers. The size reduction process costs time and money while exposing workers to potential health and safety risks. Spray-on polyurea coatings have the potential of allowing large items to be encapsulated by the coating and transported without having to size-reduce the items. The Hemispheric Center for Environmental Technology (HCET) at Florida International University (FIU) recently performed an engineering analysis that includes mechanical testing and small-scale drop tests to determine the feasibility of using a spray-on polyurea coating for shipment of large, low-level waste items instead of using standard IP waste containers.

Download Full-text