Rocky Flats radiation to be reviewed

DENVER, April 24 (UPI) -- A National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health advisory panel begins a three-day meeting in Denver Tuesday, focusing on the Rocky Flats.

The officials are to discuss a petition filed by United Steelworkers Local 8031, seeking compensation for former workers who were exposed to radiation and were diagnosed with one of 22 cancers while working at the Department of Energy's facility that was formerly used to process plutonium.

Rocky Flats workers have filed 2,866 radiation claims with the U.S. Labor Department, but about half the claims were transferred to NIOSH for dose determinations, The Denver Post reported Monday. The petition claims NIOSH is unable to accurately calculate radiation exposures.

The union's past president, Tony DeMaiori, told the newspaper missing records, workers who didn't wear their radiation measuring badges and exposure to a unique form of plutonium are among the reasons workers can't get a fair assessment.

"We don't think the records are adequate or accurate," DeMaiori said. "And the auditors agreed with us."

In December, a Virginia- based auditing firm determined poor record-keeping at Rocky Flats could skew radiation calculations.