Board advising NIOSH plans for December 2021 meeting

The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health held a teleconference on October 20, 2021 to plan for the full board meeting which will be held virtually on December 8-9, 2021.

Dr. Henry Anderson, the Board’s Chair, advised the Board that NIOSH extended the search for new board members and has received a good spread of nominations. He thought that a decision will be made, and the new board members will be installed early next year. He asked that those current board members who plan to retire to delay their retirement until the new members are brought up to speed on their responsibilities and ethical requirements.

NIOSH provided an update on the Cybersecurity Modernization Initiative.  NIOSH has created a secure environment and is now receiving new claims from the Department of Labor (DOL) and returning completed to dose reconstructions to DOL.  As of October 15, 2021, NIOSH has completed and returned 157 claims to DOL. All terminal cases have been processed without delay. NIOSH, the Board, and the Board’s contractor, Sanford Cohen and Associates still cannot access the Site Research Database (SRDB). This database is vital in the review of Special Exposure Cohort petitions. NIOSH could not provide the Board with an estimated date when the SRDB would be accessible.

The meetings agenda items will include a discussion of the Pinellas Plant’s SEC petition, an update from the Subcommittee on Procedure Review, and an update from the Subcommittee on Dose Reconstruction Reviews. The latter Subcommittee has identified a claim where NIOSH used an old procedure when reconstructing dose.

Jenny Naylor has been the Health and Human Services’ (HHS) legal counsel to the Board since the beginning of the program. She announced her resignation from HHS effective November 6, 2021. The Board thanked her for her service and will formalize her service in a letter.

The information on how to listen to the December meeting has not yet been posted. Cold War Patriots will publish that as soon as it becomes available. Cold War Patriots will also provide a summary of the Board meeting for those who cannot attend.