U.S. Department of Labor Hosts Event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee For Current and Former Nuclear Weapons Workers

OAK RIDGE, TN – The U.S. Department of Labor will host an event on Wednesday, April 24, 2019, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to discuss the benefits available to current and former nuclear weapons workers from covered facilities, and their families, under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. Representatives from the Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Energy, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will present information on their roles in the program. Staff will provide information on the act's mission, answer questions, provide claim status updates, and help individuals file new claims.

WHAT: Outreach event on Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act benefits

WHERE: New Hope Center
602 Scarboro Road
Oak Ridge, TN 37830

WHEN: Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Presentations: 10:00 a.m. EDT
Staff availability: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EDT
1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. EDT

This event is open to the public and pre-registration is not required. Services are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Current and former workers at Y-12, or any other covered facility involved in nuclear weapons production, are welcome. Search a list of covered facilities.

"The U.S. Department of Labor encourages all current and former nuclear weapons workers and their families living in Tennessee to attend this event and learn more about the benefits to which they may be entitled," said the Department's Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Director Rachel P. Leiton. "Attendees may either file a claim at the event, or check the status of existing claims."

Current and former employees of the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, may qualify for a presumption of causation if they are included in a designated Special Exposure Cohort class of employees and diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers. The change comes after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services amended its Special Exposure Cohort in March 2019.

A presumption of causation can help nuclear weapons workers applying for compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The act provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified workers also may be entitled to benefits.

The Special Exposure Cohort now includes all employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Y-12 Plant for 250 or more work days during one or more of the following periods:

• January 1, 1958 – December 31, 1976 (new)
• January 1, 1948 – December 31, 1957
• March 1, 1943 – December 31, 1947

For more information about this outreach event, or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the Oak Ridge Resource Center at 866-481-0411.

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act provides lump-sum compensation and medical benefits to current and former nuclear weapons workers whose illness is the result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. The program has paid more than $1.9 billion in compensation and medical benefits to 12,845 claimants living in Tennessee, and more than $16 billion nationwide.