Docket Number: 48688-2005

EMPLOYEE: [Name Deleted]

CLAIMANT: [Name Deleted]

FILE NUMBER: [Number Deleted]

DOCKET NUMBER: 48688-2005

DECISION DATE: September 14, 2005

REMAND ORDER

This is a decision of the Final Adjudication Branch (FAB) concerning your claim for compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended. 42 U.S.C. § 7384 et seq. For the reasons set forth below, the case is remanded to the Cleveland district office.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On July 23 2005, the Cleveland district office issued a recommended decision which concluded that you were entitled to benefits under 42 U.S.C. § 7384s of the EEOICPA, because your employment at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAP) qualified you for benefits as a member of a Special Exposure Cohort (SEC).

On your Form EE-3 (Employment History), you indicated that you worked for Silas Mason at the IAAP from October 1966 to December 1974. You further indicated that you performed duties at the IAAP on Lines 3A, 6 and 7.

Effective June 19, 2005, the following class of employees was added to the SEC: employees of the DOE or DOE contractors or subcontractors employed by the Iowa Ordnance Plant (Iowa Army Ammunition Plant), Line 1, during the period March 1949 through 1974 who were employed for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days either solely under this employment or in combination with work days within the parameters (excluding aggregate work day requirements) established for other classes of employees in the SEC. 70 Fed. Reg. 37409 (June 29, 2005) This class of employee eligible for the SEC designation has been further described to include all workers and activities involved in AEC operations at IAAP.

Duties performed on Line 3A at the IAAP involve the loading, assembling and packing operations for artillery and mortar rounds. Duties performed on Line 6 at the IAAP involve the production, storage and shipping of detonators, relays, and hand grenade fuses. Duties performed on Line 7 at the IAAP involve assembling and pack operation where artillery primers, rocket igniters and time fuses were assembled for World War II and the Korean War. The Department of Energy (DOE) verified your employment at the IAAP from October 12, 1966 through December 6, 1974. There is no evidence to support that the duties performed on Lines 3A, Line 6 or Line 7 at the IAAP involve Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) activities as required by the IAAP SEC designation. Your employment during the relevant time period was on Lines 3A, 6 and 7 at the IAAP and cannot be considered in calculating the required 250 days needed for IAAP SEC status. You have not alleged employment at IAAP in AEC operations.

Therefore, the case must be remanded to the district office for further development of employment evidence that might establish your employment for 250 days on AEC activities at the IAAP during the relevant time period. If no such evidence is available, the entire case file must be forwarded the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in order to reconstruct the radiation dose received in the course of employment. Upon completion of the NIOSH Dose Reconstruction, the district office will determine whether the employee’s cancer was “at least likely as not” due to exposure to radiation at a DOE facility.

Therefore, the final decision is vacated and the case is returned to the district office for further development.

Washington, DC

Curtis Johnson

Hearing Representative