In re TMI Litigation

Decision Date27 June 1997
Docket NumberNos. 96-7623,s. 96-7623
Parties(3rd Cir. 1999) IN RE: TMI LITIGATION LORI DOLAN; JOSEPH GAUGHAN; RONALD WARD; ESTATE OF PEARL HICKERNELL; KENNETH PUTT; ESTATE OF ETHELDA HILT; PAULA OBERCASH; JOLENE PETERSON; ESTATE OF GARY VILLELLA; ESTATE OF LEO BEAM, APPELLANTS NO. 96-7623 IN RE: TMI LITIGATION ALL PLAINTIFFS EXCEPT LORI DOLAN, JOSEPH GAUGHAN, RONALD WARD, ESTATE OF PEARL HICKERNELL, KENNETH PUTT, ESTATE OF ETHELDA HILT, PAULA OBERCASH, JOLENE PETERSON, ESTATE OF GARY VILLELLA AND ESTATE OF LEO BEAM, APPELLANTS NO. 96-7624 IN RE: TMI LITIGATION ALL PLAINTIFFS; ARNOLD LEVIN; LAURENCE BERMAN; LEE SWARTZ APPELLANTS NO. 96-7625 /7624/7625 ARGUED:
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA (Civil No. 88-cv-01452) (District Judge: Honorable Sylvia H. Rambo) [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

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[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Arnold Levin, Esq. Laurence S. Berman, Esq. (Argued) Craig D. Ginsburg, Esq. Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman 510 Walnut Street, Suite 500 Philadelphia, PA 19106

Lee C. Swartz, Esq. Hepford, Swartz & Morgan 111 North Front Street P.O. Box 889 Harrisburg, PA 17108 Attorneys for Appellants in No. 96-7623/7624/7625

Lou Tarasi, Esq. Tarasi & Johnson, P.C. 510 Third Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15129 Of Counsel for Certain Appellants Identified in the Entry of Appearance in Appeal No. 96-7624/7625

Stephen A. Saltzburg, Esq. (Argued) Howrey Professor of Trial Advocacy, Litigation and Professional Responsibility George Washington Law School 720 20th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20052 Of Counsel for Appellants in No. 96-7623/7624/7625

Daniel J. Capra, Esq. Reed Professor of Law Fordham University School of Law Lincoln Center 140 West 62nd Street New York, NY 10023 Of Counsel for Certain Appellants Identified in the Entry of Appearance in Appeal No. 96-7625

A.H. Wilcox, Esq. (Argued) Ellen K. Scott, Esq. (Argued) Eric J. Rothschild, Esq. (Argued) Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz, Llp 3000 Two Logan Square 18th and Arch Streets Philadelphia, PA 19103 Lewis S. Kunkel, Jr., Esq. Thomas B. Schmidt, III, Esq. Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz Llp 200 One Keystone Plaza North Front & Market Streets P.O. Box 1181 Harrisburg, PA 17108 Attorneys for Appellees in Nos. 96-7623/7624/7625

Reuben A. Guttman, Esq. Provost & Umphrey 1350 New York Avenue, N.W. Suite 1040 Washington, D.C. 20005 Ned Miltenberg, Esq. Associate General Counsel Association of Trial Lawyers of America ("atla") 1050 31st Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20007 Amicus Curiae, Association of Trial Lawyers of America ("atla"), in Support of Appellants

Before: Greenberg and McKEE, Circuit Judges, and Greenaway, District Judge*

                                           TABLE OF CONTENTS
                I. INTRODUCTION                                                         622
                II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY                                                  623
                III. SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND                                              629
                 A. Overview of Relevant Principles of Nuclear Physics                  629
                    1. Atomic and Nuclear Structure                                     629
                    2. Radioactivity                                                    632
                    3. Ionizing Radiation                                               634
                    4. Radiation Quantities and Units                                   636
                    5. Health Effects of Ionizing Radiation                             638
                       i. Deterministic Effects                                         640
                      ii. Stochastic Effects                                            642
                    6. Radiation in the Environment                                     644
                       i. Natural Radiation                                             644
                      ii. Man-made Radiation                                            647
                IV. NUCLEAR ENGINEERING                                                 648
                 A. Nuclear Reaction                                                    648
                 B. The Operation of Nuclear Power Plant                                651
                 C. Barriers to Release of Radioactive Materials into the Environment   655
                V. THE ACCIDENT AND ITS AFTERMATH                                       655
                 A. The Accident at TMI-2                                               655
                 B. Radioactive Materials Released to the Environment                   657
                 C. Pathways of Exposure to Radioactive Materials                       658
                VI. LEGAL DISCUSSION                                                    659
                 A. The Trial Plaintiffs' Appeal                                        659
                    1. Background                                                       659
                    2. Standards Governing the Admissibility of Scientific Evidence     662
                    3. Trial Plaintiffs' Dose Exposure Expert Witnesses                 666
                       i. Ignaz Vergeiner                                               666
                          a. Qualifications                                             666
                          b. Vergeiner's Opinion.                                       667
                          c. Discussion and Conclusions                                 667
                       ii. Charles Armentrout and Victor Neuwirth                       672
                          a. Qualifications                                             672
                          b. Armentrout's Observations and Experiences                  672
                          c. Discussion and Conclusion                                  673
                          d. Neuwirth's Soil Sample Analyses and Armentrout's Dose
                               Estimates.                                               674
                          e. Discussion and Conclusion                                  675
                       iii. James Gunckel                                               677
                          a. Qualifications                                             677
                          b. Gunckel's Opinion                                          678
                          c. Discussion and Conclusions                                 680
                       iv. Vladimir Shevchenko                                          683
                          a. Qualifications                                             683
                          b. Shevchenko's Tree Study                                    684
                          c. Discussion and Conclusions                                 686
                          d. The Cytogenetic Analysis                                   688
                          e. Discussion and Conclusions                                 690
                       v. Gennady Kozubov                                               693
                
                          a. Qualifications                                             693
                          b. Kozubov's Opinion                                          693
                          c. Discussion and Conclusions                                 694
                       vi. Olga Tarasenko                                               695
                          a. Qualifications                                             695
                          b. Tarasenko's Opinion                                        695
                          c. Discussion and Conclusions                                 697
                       vii. Bruce Molholt                                               698
                          a. Qualifications                                             698
                          b. Molholt's Opinions                                         699
                          c. Discussion and Conclusions                                 701
                       viii. Sigmund Zakrzewski                                         704
                          a. Qualifications                                             704
                          b. Zakrzewski's Opinion                                       704
                          c. Discussion and Conclusions                                 705
                       ix. Theodor Sterling                                             706
                          a. Qualifications                                             706
                          b. Sterling's Opinion                                         706
                          c. Discussion and Conclusions                                 707
                       x. Steven Wing                                                   708
                          a. Qualifications                                             708
                          b. Wing's Mortality Study                                     709
                          c. Discussion and Conclusions                                 710
                          d. Wing's Cancer Incidence Study                              711
                          e. Discussion and Conclusions                                 712
                       xi. Douglas Crawford-Brown                                       713
                          a. Qualifications                                             713
                          b. Crawford-Brown's Opinion                                   714
                          c. Discussion and Conclusions                                 714
                    4. Effect of the Exclusion of Wing's Lung Cancer Testimony          716
                    5. Exclusion of Experts' Submissions as Untimely                    717
                    6. Conclusion                                                       722
                 B. The Non-Trial Plaintiffs' Appeal                                    723
                 C. The Monetary Sanctions Appeal                                       728
                 D. Reassignment Upon Remand                                            728
                VII. CONCLUSION                                                         729
                
OPINION OF THE COURT
I. INTRODUCTION

These three appeals arise out of the nuclear reactor accident which occurred on March 28, 1979, at Three Mile Island in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.1 Two of the appeals concern the personal injury claims of more than 2,000 Three Mile Island area residents who allege that they have developed neoplasms2 as a result of the radiation released into the environment as a result of the reactor accident. The first appeal is that of a group of ten trial plaintiffs who were selected by the parties after the District Court adopted the plaintiffs' case management order, which called for...

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    ...that summary judgment is appropriate as to plaintiffs' punitive damages claim, then a trial will be unnecessary. In re TMI Litig., 193 F.3d 613, 725 (3d Cir. 1999); see Tull v. United States, 481 U.S. 412, 419, 107 S.Ct. 1831, 95 L.Ed.2d 365 (1987). However, if the District Court determines......
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    ...must be based on reasonable probabilities rather than mere speculation or conjecture if they are to be admissible. In re TMI Litigation , 193 F.3d 613 (3rd Cir. Pa. 1999). For expert testimony to be reliable, and thus admissible, it must be based on methods and procedures of science rather ......
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