EEOICPA Statistics for Claimants Living in Connecticut
DOL Part B and Part E Statistics
NIOSH Dose Reconstruction Statistics
Connecticut EEOICPA Facilities
Facility descriptions credit: DOE
Photo Credit: David Marks on Pixabay
American Chain and Cable worked under contract to the Du Pont Company to support the manufacture of uranium slugs during the Manhattan Project. In 1944, the company swaged (reduced the diameter) of uranium rods at its Bridgeport facility.
In 1942, the American Brass Company produced the barriers used in the gaseous diffusion process. In the late 1950s, under contract to Nuclear Metals Inc., the company extruded copper-clad uranium billets into tubes at least two separate times for the Savannah River Site. While the original plans called for work on 500 billets, only around 50 were actually processed. The operations involved plating, heating, extruding, sawing, drilling, deburring, cleaning, testing, crating, and shipping. Work was conducted at the West Tube Mill. AEC Health and Safety Laboratory personnel visited the site in 1956 and 1959, and obtained air quality and surface radiation measurements during the later visit.
Bridgeport Brass, at
the Havens Laboratory in Connecticut and in
Adrian, Michigan, worked to improve the process
for extruding uranium. Eventually this work was
taken over by Reactive Metals, which operated
the AEC/DOE extrusion facility in Ashtabula,
Ohio. Bridgeport cut and stored uranium, and may
have been involved in the rolling of uranium.
Some work of the Havens Laboratory was moved to
Seymour, CT, in 1962, to a facility that is now
owned by Seymour Specialty Wire.
This listing
is intended to cover that portion of the Havens
Laboratory known as the Housatonic Pilot Plant,
which has also been called the Housatonic Avenue
Plant.
Combustion
Engineering (CE) sent shipments of uranium to
Fernald between 1965 and 1972 for use in the
nuclear weapons production process. It is
because of these shipments that this site
qualifies as an Atomic Weapons Employer for
these years. Combustion Engineering performed
substantial work for the Atomic Energy
Commission in other years as well, but this work
is not covered under EEOICPA because it was
either non-nuclear or was not related to weapons
production. Starting in the 1940s, this initial
work at the site involved non-nuclear
components. In 1955, CE began to use highly
enriched uranium for its work in supporting the
Naval Reactors Program. In the 1960s, CE
obtained a license to fabricate fuel elements
for power reactors.
Although this site was
designated as part of the Formerly Utilized Site
Remediation Action Program (FUSRAP) in 1994, no
work under this program was ever performed on
site.
During the period of residual
contamination, as designated by the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and
as noted in the dates above, employees of
subsequent owners and operators of this facility
are also covered under the Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.
The Connecticut
Aircraft Nuclear Engine Laboratory (CANEL)
worked on an Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
program to develop a nuclear reactor with which
to propel aircraft. Specifically, CANEL worked
on developing high temperature materials, fuel
elements, and liquid metal components and
coolants. CANEL consisted of a hot laboratory
facility, a nuclear physics laboratory, a fuel
element laboratory, a nuclear materials research
and development laboratory, and other buildings.
The AEC Annual report for 1959 indicates that
approximately $4 million in AEC equipment was at
CANEL. Plutonium, mixed fission products, and
probably uranium were handled at CANEL. A former
ORNL employee who had worked at CANEL stated
that beryllium metal and oxide in a powdered
form were also handled at CANEL. Although
President Kennedy canceled the aircraft nuclear
propulsion program in 1961, AEC work apparently
continued at CANEL until 1965.
In November
1965, the AEC hired Dunbar Transfer Company to
dispose of radioactively contaminated equipment
and materials. This remediation work was
completed on July 8, 1966.
The Dorr Corp.
conducted waste handling tests on low-level
radioactive material (ammonium diuranate). This
work was done as a subcontractor to National
Lead of Ohio (Fernald). National Lead personnel
monitored the tests and took air quality
samples.
During the period of residual
contamination, as designated by the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and
as noted in the dates above, employees of
subsequent owners and operators of this facility
are also covered under the Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.
Fenn conducted swaging tests on uranium rods to determine if the process could be used to produce properly shaped rods for Hanford’s production reactors. Two tests, each lasting less than one day, were conducted in June 1950.
Beginning in the 1940s, Machlett Laboratories worked with beryllium in its commercial business as a supplier of x-ray and electron vacuum tubes. Machlett produced a handful of brazed beryllium window assemblies in 1952 under an AEC contract.
In 1963, the New
England Lime Co. (NELCO) conducted tests on “prill,”
a magnesium-uranium waste product, to determine
the feasibility of recovering these materials
for re-use in the nuclear weapons production
system. The prill came from the AEC’s Fernald
facility. Six drums of prill were sent from
Fernald to NELCO for the test.
The New
England Lime Company also provided magnesium and
calcium to the Manhattan Engineer District and
Atomic Energy Commission from 1944-1956. This
work did not involve radioactive materials.
From 1962 to 1964,
the Bridgeport Brass Company performed contract
work at the Seymour site for the Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC). This work involved developing
an extrusion process for natural uranium metal.
After 1964, the work was consolidated at the
Reactive Metals site in Ohio. Operation of the
Seymour site was later taken over by employees
and the facility eventually became the Seymour
Specialty Wire Company.
Although this site
was designated as part of the Formerly Utilized
Site Remediation Action Program (FUSRAP) in
1985, remediation only took place during 1992
and 1993. This work was performed under the
Bechtel National Inc. umbrella contract or DOE
site environmental remediation.
During
the period of residual contamination, as
designated by the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health and as noted in
the dates above, employees of subsequent owners
and operators of this facility are also covered
under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness
Compensation Program Act.
In 1952 and 1953, Sperry developed processes for testing and examining uranium plates for the Sylvania Corp., a major AEC contractor.
The Torrington Company performed small-scale swaging experiments on uranium rods in the early 1950s. Torrington conducted this work for two companies: the Bridgeport Brass Company and American Machine and Foundry.