Monday, October 29, 2012
Security Failure at Los Alamos National Laboratory Puts Nuclear Materials at Risk
Anonymously contributed:
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Security Failure at Los Alamos National Laboratory Puts Nuclear Materials at Risk
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"The Nuclear Weapons and Materials Monitor and the Albuquerque Journal are reporting that a new and expensive security system at the Los Alamos National Laboratory simply does not work. In response, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is demanding that the contractor at the New Mexico lab fully disclose all of the project’s problems and show that the nuclear materials stored at the facility are safe.
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We commend the NNSA for holding its contractor accountable. Apparently, the NNSA had warned the contractor, Los Alamos National Security, as early as 2010 that the security project was likely to be completed late and over budget. The apparent incompetence of the contractors is appalling. Still, we’re concerned that the NNSA didn’t exercise enough oversight along the way. How did the project get this far and this over-budget when the NNSA has an office on site at Los Alamos that is supposed to be overseeing the contractor?
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Security issues in the nuclear weapons complex are getting out of hand. First you have an 82-year-old nun breaching security at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oakridge, Tenn. Now, a security upgrade at Los Alamos is so botched that it may require Congress to rescue it with up to $25 million in emergency funding."
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http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/alerts/nuclear-security-safety/20121026-security-failure-at-lanl.html
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12 comments:
In looking back over the POGO files on LANL, it has been surprisingly quiet for the past half dozen years or so. They were in the headlines on a regular basis when UC had the operating contract outright, but had done better under the new management. Except for the Quintana scandal when classified nuclear weapons information was found in a drug raid, it was looking up.
In the past year, they have made the POGO masthead banner several times. What happened?
312 Million project, seven years in progress. This is a fence around TA 55 with several cameras, and sensors. The rats abandoned a sinking ship, spent the money and ran away, NNSA was asleep and didnt find a problem until someone informed them.duh! LANS at work! Is anyone surprised?
I smell Congressional investagation, wonder who will fry for this one?
"The rats abandoned a sinking ship, spent the money and ran away..."
So true. I've seen this little scheme played out time and time again at the NNSA national labs. The project's mess is always left for others to clean up and take the subsequent "beatings" administered by NNSA.
Even worse, the managers who create the mess and "run away" sometimes decide to come back to the labs several years later and again resume their destructive little games. With the rapid flipping of managers at the labs these days the past deeds of these destructive managers are largely forgotten.
What were people thinking? The NNSA reports that the contractor has known for some time that the sensors, cameras, etc didn't work right. Somehow, this was supposed to 'self repair' before the end of the fiscal year?
Captain of the ship calls the ship owner and reports that the ship is headed for the rocky shore.
Captain goes full speed ahead, hits the shore, and destroys the ship in the wreck.
Captain has no shame in claiming that he 'self informed' the owner, so it can not possibly reflect poorly on the Captain's annual evaluation.
Sounds like a poor excuse for failure at the highest levels.
The whole operation at LANS and at NNSA is a wreck, it has become obvious even to the "die hards" in Congress, that their Nuclear weapons Complex is totally out of control. Now lets see if they do something to fix it, or just kick the can down the road. Problem is that the spending spree for Nukes is going away.
To top it off, LLNL makes the security system for LANL.
Probably for Y-12 as well.
Twisted.
I see the possibility of big changes at LLNL and LANL after this next election. More downsizing, less funding and finally.... a move to consider shutting at least one of the Bechtel-run weapon design labs down in these times of budget crisis.
To top it off, LLNL makes the security system for LANL.
Probably for Y-12 as well.
Twisted.
October 31, 2012 5:56 PM
Absolutely not true. Please state your sources.
Based on the response at Y-12 you might expect that both the top contractor manager and the top fed manager would be replaced.
Based on the response at Y-12 you might expect that both the top contractor manager and the top fed manager would be replaced.
November 7, 2012 5:56 PM
Nope. NNSA Site Office knew about this for at least two years and played along with LANL about testing and certification plans that both knew were never going to certify the system. Headquarters NNSA is so clueless and powerless against the major site offices that nothing will happen. DOE watches and chuckles, and waits for Congress to figure out that they made a HUGE mistake in creating NNSA.
McMillan just released a memo on 11/7 outlining his solution to this problem: He's adding three new high-level Managers to solve the problem. Not 1, not 2, but 3. Yeah that's it McMillan, add more Managers at LANL.
Maybe someone can make a new post with that memo.
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