42 U.S.C. § 7384n - Exposure in the performance of duty

• Cite as: 42 U.S.C. § 7384n

(a) Beryllium

A covered beryllium employee shall, in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, be determined to have been exposed to beryllium in the performance of duty for the purposes of the compensation program if, and only if, the covered beryllium employee was-

(1) employed at a Department of Energy facility; or

(2) present at a Department of Energy facility, or a facility owned and operated by a beryllium vendor, because of employment by the United States, a beryllium vendor, or a contractor or subcontractor of the Department of Energy,

during a period when beryllium dust, particles, or vapor may have been present at such facility.

(b) Cancer

An individual with cancer specified in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of section 7384l(9)(B)(ii) of this title shall be determined to have sustained that cancer in the performance of duty for purposes of the compensation program if, and only if, the cancer specified in that subclause was at least as likely as not related to employment at the facility specified in that subclause, as determined in accordance with the guidelines established under subsection (c).

(c) Guidelines

(1) For purposes of the compensation program, the President shall by regulation establish guidelines for making the determinations required by subsection (b).

(2) The President shall establish such guidelines after technical review by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health under section 7384o of this title.

(3) Such guidelines shall-

(A) be based on the radiation dose received by the employee (or a group of employees performing similar work) at such facility and the upper 99 percent confidence interval of the probability of causation in the radioepidemiological tables published under section 7(b) of the Orphan Drug Act ( 42 U.S.C. 241 note), as such tables may be updated under section 7(b)(3) of such Act from time to time;

(B) incorporate the methods established under subsection (d); and

(C) take into consideration the type of cancer, past health-related activities (such as smoking), information on the risk of developing a radiation-related cancer from workplace exposure, and other relevant factors.

(4) In the case of an atomic weapons employee described in section 7384l(3)(B) of this title, the following doses of radiation shall be treated, for purposes of paragraph (3)(A) of this subsection, as part of the radiation dose received by the employee at such facility: