Necessity for Public Domain Availability of Computing Software for Federal EEOICPA Compensation for Exposure to Nuclear Weapon Radiation

• Activity Number: 218 - Contributed Poster Presentations: Section on Statistical Consulting
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 4, 2020 : 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Consulting
• Author(s): Chris Barker* and Terrie Barrie
• Companies: Statistical Planning and Analysis Services, Inc. and ANWAG
• Keywords: radiation; exposure; plutonium weapon triggers

Abstract

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) compensates individuals who develop and were diagnosed with one or more cancers and had a prior work history with radioactive materials at US Department of Energy facilities, or its predecessor agencies. I first learned about this from a relative MK”, who worked on machining plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons at the Rocky Flats Colorado facility during the Cold War period (1945-1989). Under the EEOICPA, NIOSH is required to reconstructed dose from film strips recording radiation exposure during work with radioactive materials. A dose reconstruction algorithm is implemented in a computer program -Interactive RadioEpidemiological Program (IREP), IREP is used to make a prediction of the probability of occurrence of one or more cancers. The computer program code and documentation is not in the public domain. Claimants, their authorized representative, other advocates and board members who advise NIOSH on dose reconstruction methods are forbidden from accessing this program to verify calculations. We recommend the software, algorithms and documentation are released to the public domain.