Some Sandia Workers to Be Added to SEC
The class to be added consists of all employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and its contractors or subcontractors who worked in any area at the Sandia National Laboratories during the period from Jan. 1, 1995, through Dec. 31, 1996, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days.
NIOSH has published a notice saying it has decided to designate a class of employees from the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000.
The Special Exposure Cohort is a defined category of employees established under the act. The SEC is comprised of classes of employees who have at least one of the 22 SEC cancers and have worked for a specific period of time at one of the SEC work sites. The act provides compensation and medical benefits to eligible workers (or to certain survivors if the worker is deceased) for illnesses related to exposure to radiation or other toxic substances while employed at U.S. Department of Energy, its contractor, or subcontractor facilities in the nuclear weapons industry.
The class to be added consists of all employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and its contractors or subcontractors who worked in any area at the Sandia National Laboratories during the period from Jan. 1, 1995, through Dec. 31, 1996, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees included in the Special Exposure Cohort.
The notice said the designation will become effective Nov. 17, 2018, unless Congress provides otherwise prior to the effective date.