UNC Study May Have Harmed Cold War Nuclear Researchers

"The amount (of beryllium) used at UNC was very small, and there's no public health hazard," said Josh Silverman, a research analyst for the U.S. Department of Energy. "But the researchers could have been exposed to the beryllium."

As part of an Dec. 7 executive order issued by President Clinton, the DOE released a list last week of 317 facilities involved in nuclear weapons production and research during the Cold War.

Clinton issued the order in an attempt to identify workers who might be eligible for compensation due to exposure-related health problems under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act of 2000.

Silverman said UNC is listed as a beryllium vendor because of a government-classified study conducted from 1949 to 1954. The research, which was contracted by the Atomic Energy Commission, produced the report, "Radioautographic Study of Distribution and Retention of Beryllium in the Rat."

"UNC conducted a research experiment that involved beryllium, which is a highly toxic metal," Silverman said. "The experiment had to do with when rats ingest beryllium from a health standpoint. It was a study on the physical properties of beryllium."

Beryllium is a silvery-gray metallic element that is used in nuclear weapons components. Exposure to beryllium particles can cause chronic beryllium disease, which is an irreversible and possibly fatal scarring of the lungs.

While it was general knowledge in the 1950s that beryllium could be dangerous to people who were exposed to large amounts of the element, most scientists were not aware that it could be harmful for those who experienced minimal exposure, Silverman said.

"There are individuals who could have inhaled beryllium," he said. "They should get in touch with the Department of Energy."

Silverman said he doesn't know what UNC department did the study, which researchers were involved or even if it was definitely UNC-Chapel Hill that did the research. "I'm not even positive it's in Chapel Hill," he said. "It was a UNC contract, but it may have not been Chapel Hill."

But he said the UNC-system did not include many schools in the 1950s, so the study most likely took place in Chapel Hill. "At the time, it was classified, but the documents related to it are no longer classified," Silverman said. "All I have is a brief summary. I don't know how much more we're going to know unless we can dig up copies of the report."

Since the list was released last week, UNC administrators said they have been trying to find out why the University was included and that they had no previous knowledge of the study.

"It may take us a little while to sort all this out and find out who was involved," said Ray Hackney, industrial hygiene manager for the UNC Office of Health and Safety. "We're investigating to find out who may have been involved in the study."

Silverman said the DOE is dealing with poor records and also is doing its best to reach workers who might qualify for compensation. "We have a couple ways of reaching folks," he said. "We released the list of sites, but the employment records are very sketchy. We're working with contractors and unions. It's fairly scattered at this point."

But the fact that the national government is making an effort toward identifying nuclear-related workers marks a new attitude in compensation.

"It had been the policy of the department to generally oppose worker compensation claims," Silverman said. "Only in the past two years have they decided that that was wrong and that it needed to be changed. In October, Congress passed and the President signed a new entitlement program that made workers who got sick eligible for compensation."

Silverman also said the burden of proof will be on the government's shoulders and not the workers'. "They still have to prove they worked at the facility and might have been exposed."

But he said the DOE has gotten a large response since they released the facilities list. "Our phones are ringing off the hook," Silverman said. "On Friday we got close to 2,000 calls."

Silverman said many of those calls came from people who said they worked at one of the listed facilities and wanted to know how to file a claim. "It's going to be a long process. Right now we're only collecting information."

He said a claims process would be in place by this summer and would be conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor. And while workers have no time limit on when they can put in a claim, Silverman said it's very important for workers to come forth and offer information.

"We knew this would generate a lot of interest," he said. "But we don't want to scare or alarm people."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.