Department of Energy Former Worker Program

Section 3162 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 directed the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to develop a program of medical evaluation for current and former DOE workers at significant risk of health problems due to exposures to hazardous or radioactive substances during employment. 

In March of 1996, the Federal Register (Vol. 61 No. 42) announced a request for proposals by the DOE's Office of Environment, Safety, and Health. Funds had been made available to evaluate former workers whose employment at DOE departmental facilities may have placed their long-term health at significant risk. 

Originally, six medical surveillance projects were funded through cooperative agreements, that would identify, notify, and medically screen groups of former workers potentially at significant risk for health problems due to work-related exposures. In October 1996, the DOE funded teams of health and labor specialists to conduct "Needs Assessments" at the Nevada Test Site, Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (CO), Oak Ridge (TN), Hanford (WA), and gaseous diffusion plants in Portsmouth (OH);  Paducah, (KY); and Oak Ridge (TN). Each project team was responsible for identifying the workers, if any, who could have been exposed to significant radiation or workplace hazards linked to disease. Each group examined available health and exposure data, developed ways to contact former workers, estimated the most significant hazards and concerns, and identified possible approaches for medical screening programs. 

Today, there are a total of ten former worker programs, including two programs at Savannah River (SC), Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (ID), and Los Alamos National Laboratory (NM). For links to each of these ten former worker programs, click here.