Anonymously contributed:
Rather than blame and point fingers, let's focus on who can help- the only possibility in your list is DOE. We need to get out of NNSA and LLNS- the missions they span are certainly not our future- and move on to DOE Office of Science and broaden our programs.
"By decree of DOE, LLNL is no longer an NNSA laboratory" and "DOE has decided to re-bid the contract to manage LLNL" and "LLNS has decide to end its term as laboratory manager"
Rather than blame and point fingers, let's focus on who can help- the only possibility in your list is DOE. We need to get out of NNSA and LLNS- the missions they span are certainly not our future- and move on to DOE Office of Science and broaden our programs.
"By decree of DOE, LLNL is no longer an NNSA laboratory" and "DOE has decided to re-bid the contract to manage LLNL" and "LLNS has decide to end its term as laboratory manager"
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One should also remember that DOE has not been that popular with congress since it's hodgepodge creation.
NNSA has an ever shrinking mission and the NPR will make this very clear when its released later this year.
If LLNL is to survive it needs to become a national science lab with a national security mission in its portfolio, and work under the auspices of the DOE Office of Science not NNSA.
However, all the DOE energy labs are thriving and will have lots of extra funding thrown at them over the next decade. For example, ORNL is looking to hire over 1000 new staffers and got hundreds of millions of dollars in stimulus money to help them build what will soon be the world's faster super computer.
The future is bleak for the NNSA labs. SNL has diversified over the last 15 years, so they'll make out much better than either LLNL or LANL.
If you're still years away from retirement then there is really only one one good solution -- get out and find a lab that will be thriving and awash in new federal science funding. Whether you like it or not, this nation is changing course and entering a bright new era of federally funded science for all but the nuclear weapon labs. The fact that the NNSA labs got nothing in terms of science funding from the recent stimulus bill is telling you something important. Don't fight the trend. The trend can be your friend.
6:49PM has hit it right on the head. LANL will be around far longer then LLNL cause they hold the last good cards in the deck. When their capabilities are gone, and the US is disarmed whereby they lost all their talent and capabilities, America is gone too. It's really not that far away.
You are right on. NNSA has been nothing but a group of losers from the beginning. Nuclear weapons and nuclear material are becoming more of a liability than an asset.
Get out while you can. NNSA is not your future.
Admittedly the Office of Science labs are in tall clover. If the administration is successful in tripling federal research dollars, some share of that will end up at the NNSA labs, too.
I hope you're not talking about the Obamantor. LLNL and LANL are two labs this guy needs to die to assure we can't retain or make new weapons. For him and his followers that's " mission accomplished" without firing a shot. The world will be ready to pounce.
You got the wrong guy in the whitehouse and the wrong congress and senate if you want to be world power
"Trickle down" funding economics for the NNSA labs. Geeze, the future sure looks bright for LLNL and LANL!
That's cause there's no place to go but just wait until Obama makes it all good in about ten years and then you'll see many leave, very fast. However, in 18-24 months when NIF is really complete there will be a lot leaving involuntarily. I did hear today we'll have some contact and term people moving on since terms are not being extended.