LLNL - The True Story -

Not only are pensions quickly going bankrupt. The government agency that backs up these pensions is, likewise, quickly going bankrupt! Be sure you have a solid backup plan if you're in TCP1 and don't count on the PBGC to be there to help! ............................................................... Financial Times - January 30, 2013 US pension insurer warns of rising deficit By Norma Cohen, Demography Correspondent The finances of the US’s multi-employer pension schemes have deteriorated so quickly over the past year that the body that insures them will almost certainly run out of cash in 20 years, according to a new report. The chances of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation – the publicly created but privately funded body that insures the nation’s occupational pension schemes – going bust went from 1 in 3 at the end of 2011 to more than 9 in 10 by the end of 2012, a report prepared for the PBGC and released on Tuesday said. The woes of the PBGC are common ...

Kind of unusual for a SECDEF nominee: http://www.pressherald.com/news/nationworld/defense-pick-an-advocate-for-nuclear-disarmament_2013-01-30.html Wonder if he can be confirmed with this background? Wonder what it means for the stockpile and for the labs?

Anonymous said... Excerpts from Parney’s update to LLNL employees on fiscal uncertainty 01/28/2013 ”In coming weeks the White House and Congress must hash out three deals - one to address the debt ceiling, one to avoid sequestration, and one to get past the fiscal year 2013 continuing resolution expiration - to prevent a government shutdown, or risk serious damage to government programs... All of these have the potential to negatively impact our Lab's current and future budgets, and the rumors related to how we will respond are ramping up. I can tell you that while we are discussing multiple options and scenarios pending the federal decisions, nothing has been decided and no action has been taken... ...While it is difficult to predict which actions Congress eventually will take and the magnitude of their impact to our Laboratory and sponsors, I instructed my senior managers to be prepared. We are looking at a number of options to address any potential budget shor...

From:  Internet Outreach Coordinator Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists USA We have a wonderful interview with former Secretary of State George P. Shultz in which he discusses two missions: reducing nuclear weapons and reducing carbon emissions. It's a free article on the subscription side of the Journal. I hope you enjoy it! Best, Janice http://bos.sagepub.com/content/69/1/1.full

Why is it possible to google the database of LBNL and LANL salaries from the good ol' UC days but not the LLNL salaries? They must've been public record just the same, right? Where are they hiding?            comment:   Why is it possible to google the database of LBNL and LANL salaries from the good ol' UC days but not the LLNL salaries? They must've been public record just the same, right? Where are they hiding? comment: Wrong. Private companies (LLNS, LANS) are not required to post such salaries, even though they are government contractors. Would you expect to find the salaries of Boeing employees on the web? In fact, the posting of salaries by UC was a UC decision, not a government requirement. Comment:   . Read carefully, I said --back in the UC days--. They have clearly changed quite a bit in the past 5 years but it's nevertheless an extremely useful dataset for salary negotiations. LANL s...

Are retired flag officers effective leaders of high government positions outside of their field of expertise or are they simply "window dressing" filling the retired military affirmative-action billet? comment:   "they simply "window dressing" filling the retired military affirmative-action billet?" I guess you have not been paying attention since WWII or you would not be asking this question.

How would you rate the Secretary of Energy – Who was Best and Who was Worst, and why. Spencer Abraham January 20, 2001 - January 31, 2005 Samuel Bodman February 1, 2005 - January 20, 2009 Steven Chu January 21, 2009 - Present Charles Duncan, Jr. August 24, 1979 January 20, 1981 James Edwards January 23, 1981 - November 5, 1982 John Herrington February 7, 1985 - January 20, 1989 Donald Hodel November 5, 1982 - February 7, 1985 Hazel O'Leary January 22, 1993 - January 20, 1997 Federico Peña March 12, 1997 - June 30, 1998 Bill Richardson August 18, 1998 - January 20, 2001 James Schlesinger August 6, 1977 - August 23, 1979 James Watkins March 1, 1989 - January 20, 1993

Anonymous contribution: We were informed this week after our manager attended a meeting for Leadership that LLNL will indeed layoff 5% of all employees by March and then will proceed if necessary Furloughs should Congress again be unable to reach an a agreement. With 7000 employees would this even make an  impact in the overall budget for LLNL? Or are they once again eliminating staff for overall reduction once again?.Our department alone which has eliminated several service employees in the past week the average salary of Managers in this department is 80-150K+ I am somewhat confused why Furloughs not be implemented first and then layoffs? Confused could anyone expand on this topic?

LANL actually conducted an employee survey to assess employee satisfaction. Here are the results: The leadership team is working together to advance the Laboratory mission: 37.75 % Career opportunities at the Laboratory are good: 33.73 % Laboratory managers set good examples: 27.58% I have confidence in the leadership of the Laboratory: 28.69 % The morale of my co-workers is good: 27.75 % Laboratory managers consult employees about decisions that affect them: 25.42 % The Laboratory rewards those who contribute most: 23.57 % I believe that action will be taken on the results of this survey: 17.30 % Other than revealing an abysmal relationship between management and staff, does this survey help us figure out whether the main culprit is inept and vindictive management or a scientific staff that feels it’s not being given a free enough hand?

Contributor said: this is so funny:   http://nuclear-news.net/2013/01/18/1000-000-curies-of-radiation-released-from-the-lawrence-livermore-since-it-began/

Carter Said to Be Leading Contender for Energy Secretary By Hans Nichols - Jan 22, 2013 Bloomberg.com Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is the leading candidate to head the Energy Department in President Barack Obama’s second term, according to two people familiar with the matter. Carter, 58, a physicist, would replace Energy Secretary Steven Chu and be part of the core administration team overseeing energy and environmental policy, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Chu, 64, a Nobel Prize winning physicist, may announce his departure from the administration this week, according to two other people.

New Mexico Business Weekly January 17, 2013 Los Alamos management gets contract extension despite low score - Gary Gerew Federal officials gave the Bechtel-University of California group that runs Los Alamos National Laboratory $59.7 million for managing the lab in 2012 and also gave Los Alamos National Security LLC a one-year contract extension through a “one-time waiver” that was granted by the National Nuclear Security Administration, despite LANS’ failure to meet all the criteria for the extension. LANS could have earned as much $74.5 million for the fiscal year and got 80 percent of that, according to the Albuquerque Journal. It was awarded $27.9 million in fixed fees and work for other entities and another $31.6 million as a so-called “at risk” fee based on performance. The at-risk fee could have been as much as $46.5 million, but LANS got only 68 percent of the maximum. That was its lowest score since taking over the lab in 2006, according to the Nuclear Weapons and...

An interesting item in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013 signed this month by President Obama into law. This legislation provides policy/budget guidance for the DOD and NNSA. No actual funding, which is contained in the yet to be enacted FY 2013 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill. Looks there’s congressional desire to turn the Labs in to actual “national” labs. SEC. 3148. STUDY ON A MULTIAGENCY GOVERNANCE MODEL FOR NATIONAL SECURITY LABORATORIES. (a) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator for Nuclear Security shall commission an independent assessment regarding the transition of the national security laboratories to multiagency federally funded research and development centers with direct sustainment and sponsorship by multiple national security agencies. The organization selected to conduct the independent assessment shall have recognized credentials and expertise in national security science and engineering laboratories. (2) BAC...

Weapons Complex Monitor January 16, 2013 OMB Directs Agencies To Intensify Planning For Possible Sequestration Cuts The Department of Energy and other federal agencies have been directed to “intensify efforts” to prepare for the looming funding cuts known as sequestration. In a Jan. 14 memorandum, the White House Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies to continue their planning efforts in the event sequestration is implemented this spring, including taking such steps as identifying “the most appropriate means to reduce civilian workforce costs where necessary— this may include imposing hiring freezes, releasing temporary employees or not renewing term or contract hires, authorizing voluntary separation incentives and voluntary early retirements, or implementing administrative furloughs”; and reviewing “grants and contracts to determine where cost savings may be achieved In a manner that is consistent with the applicable terms and conditions.” The OMB memo st...

KnoxNews.com Frank Munger January 15, 2013 The U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration did a bunch of stuff in response to the July 28 break-in at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. Among the changes was the security contracting arrangement. Initially following the security breach by Plowshares protesters, the security contractor (WSI-Oak Ridge) was subordinated to subcontractor status under the managing contractor B&W Y-12. Later, WSI's contract was terminated, and the security work at Y-12 was folded into the M&O contract. The latter strategy, incorporating security into the management contract, was kept the same when the NNSA revised its plans for the combined Y-12/Pantex contract and last week awarded the new contract to Consolidated Nuclear Security -- a team headed by Bechtel National and Lockheed Martin. This situation was referenced in Norm Augustine's Dec. 6 letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The letter was made p...

Contributed by the the Internet Outreach Coordinator, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists IAEA's re-categorization of the operational status for 47 of Japan's nuclear reactors: In an unprecedented move, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today retroactively re-categorized 47 Japanese nuclear reactors from "in operation" to "long-term shutdown." http://thebulletin.org/web-edition/features/second-thought-iaea-re-categorizes-the-operational-status-47-of-japans-nuclear-

Hey Congress. THIS TIME, PLEASE DON'T PUNISH LLL FOR LASL's TRANSGRESSIONS! Domenici's dead. You need one well functioning lab while the other is repaired. Patty Murkowski protected Washington State's PPNL from the severe employee punishments during last NNSA lab palace purges in 2007-2008 when the progressively managed UC regents were replaced with new highly restrictive operations contracts with restrictive that punished each employee 15-20% of compensation without saving the taxpayer a dime. And if the spinmeister Tyler Putzbylek offers to return to NNSA fix things again, SHOOT HIM and then put a wooden stake in the corpse. PLEASE CONGRESS, THIS TIME, AIM BEFORE YOU PULL THE TRIGGER

Los Alamos paper breaks story on LANL contract extension "There is more to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s 2012 performance evaluation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory than meets the eye. According to documents obtained by the Los Alamos Monitor, the lab received a one-time waiver from the NNSA fee determining official — principal deputy administrator Neile Miller. In a letter from former Los Alamos Site Office head Kevin Smith to Miller, the award term (one-year contract extension) originally was not granted. But at the bottom of the letter, the no is scratched out with a notation, “Yes. Contingent on LANS letter attached.” That LANS letter was written by DOE Senior Procurement Executive Joseph Waddell to lab director Charlie McMillan, dated on Dec. 7. The letter stated that Los Alamos National Security had been granted a waiver for the FY-12 NNSA fee by the Fee Determining Official (Miller). According to the letter, LANS met two of the three crit...

LANL issue on tritium gas containment The DoE Office of Safety report just adds to the pile of recent blunders. With the budget cuts looming in the next few weeks, it will be tough for Congress to resist having hearings on such matters. http://www.hss.doe.gov/IndepOversight/docs/reports/semevals/Jan_2013_LANL_WETF_Tritium_Gas_Containment_Vital_System.pdf

National labs compliance maze stymies foreign visitor Elmar Träbert  Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany An item by David Kramer in the May 2012 issue of Physics Today (page 26) discusses problems between the National Nuclear Security Administration and the weapons laboratories. Compliance with federal management directives is among the central issues. I offer here a pedestrian view to some of the points raised. I am a visiting faculty member from Germany to the unclassified part of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where I have accumulated several years of work experience over the past 15 years. A new contractor took over the administration of Livermore a few years ago. As with any new contract, compliance is the goal, even though the value of some details turned out to be questionable. As an example, the new contract curtailed travel support for students, stranding those on assignments away from the lab. They had not been thought of beforehand, but the cont...

FURLOUGHS? WCI AND COMPS rolled out thier furlough plans this week. aws work week will be canceled and all employees will be on 5day 8hr schedule with furlough days on friday Note: This is  being contributed anonymously.  Scooby has no way of confirming this.

The DOE used to pay for all of the expenses of any lawsuit against the LLNL before the transition to "private" LLNS in 2008. Does anyone knows who pays the LLNL's legal bills now when the it faces a lawsuit from its employees  ?

Air Force Eyes Return of Mobile Nuclear Missiles By Bob Brewin of Nextgov.com WASHINGTON -- The Air Force has dusted off plans more than two decades old to place fixed nuclear missiles on rail cars or massive road vehicles to protect them from a surprise attack. The service also wants to explore alternatives to traditional missiles to carry nuclear warheads, which could include hypersonic aircraft capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in an hour, said Phillip Coyle of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, a former associate director for national security and international affairs in the Obama administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. On Monday, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., kicked off a study on modernizing or replacing its current fleet of Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles housed in underground silos in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. The work includes potential upgrades to the command and control system...

A message from the LLNL Director on security restructuring 01/09/2013 Several years ago, NNSA began the process of removing Category I and II special nuclear materials (SNM) from the Lab as part of a larger effort to consolidate SNM stockpiles across the NNSA complex. The de-inventory process at Livermore was completed late last year and, as a result, the Laboratory's security requirements have changed. In the coming weeks, the Laboratory will begin downsizing its protective force by conducting a measured reduction in force (RIF) of up to 126 security police officers and support personnel (This RIF will not affect other organizations at the Lab). The RIF is being conducted in a couple of stages beginning as early as next week. For the last three years, these security officers and support personnel have safeguarded our Lab in a very professional and safe manner, knowing this RIF was in their future. That they continued to serve in the face of this difficult transition ...

Some of NNSA's accomplishments in 2012. http://orepa.org/the-year-in-review-for-nnsa-not-so-good/

The President nominating former Sen.Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) as Defense Secretary, could be interesting for NNSA. Hagel is a board member of Global Zero (international movement for the elimination of all nuclear weapons). He coauthored last year a report that called for the US (through negotiations with Russia) to reduce over a ten year period the US arsenal to a maximum of 900 total nuclear weapons. This included going from the delivery system triad to a dyad (10 Trident subs and 18 US based B-2 bombers). Eliminating tactical nukes deployed overseas and converting US nuclear ICBMs to non-nuclear prompt global strike ICBMs (with conventional warheads). Also a downsized NWC; no PF-4,CMRR, or UPF. Only 4 types of nuclear weapons would be kept; W-76 and W-88 on Trident SSBNs, and the B61 (mods 7 and 11) and B83 on B-2 bombers. I wonder what would now happen if NNSA got moved into DOD.Don't really think this will happen, but it looks like there will be a customer (SecDef) that ...

From Knoxnews.com A team headed by Bechtel and Lockheed Martin has been selected to manage two of the nation's key nuclear weapons facilities -- Y-12 in Oak Ridge and Pantex near Amarillo, Texas, according to multiple sources familiar with the pending announcement. The new contractor will be called Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC. The National Nuclear Security Administration, a part of the U.S. Department of Energy, is expected to make the official announcement today and tout the potential savings to the government by consolidating management of the two production plants, even though they are in different states and 1,000 miles apart. The team selected for the job has a ton of experience in the DOE contracting world, and both Bechtel and Lockheed Martin have deep roots in Oak Ridge. ATK, a defense and aerospace company with headquarters in Virginia, is also part of the winning team. Bechtel currently shares the management role at Y-12 in a partnership with Babcock ...

Looks like LANL is in for some more Congressional hearings. Posted by The Congressional China Caucus | January 07, 2013 U.S. NUCLEAR LAB REMOVES CHINESE TECH OVER SECURITY FEARS. Reuters reports that a leading U.S. nuclear weapons laboratory recently discovered its computer systems contained some Chinese-made network switches and replaced at least two components because of national security concerns. From the piece: “A letter from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, dated November 5, 2012, states that the research facility had installed devices made by H3C Technologies Co, based in Hangzhou, China, according to a copy seen by Reuters. H3C began as a joint venture between China's Huawei Technologies Co and 3Com Corp, a U.S. tech firm, and was once called Huawei-3Com. Hewlett Packard Co acquired the firm in 2010. The discovery raises questions about procurement practices by U.S. departments responsible for national security. The U.S. government and Co...

Today is the first day (1/7/13) that "excluded" workers at LANS were eligible to apply for other jobs. We had been prohibited for doing so for 1-year since the last VRIP. Note also that LANS did a great job during the past year to ensure that we will remain in these "crappy" jobs (e.g. Facility Engineers) into the future, since there are virtually no open job advertisements for Regular Employees at LANL. I'm also posting this to give folks at LLNL and SNL a heads-up on what is coming your way. Hecka of job LANS leading the way, hecka of job!

I there a way that you can separate LASL and LLL topics into separate sections? Each has limited interest in the others instumentalities. Kinda like your spouse leaving open the bathroom door.

After Upset Win, House Freshman Looks To Make A Name For Himself by Aarti Shahani NPR January 03, 2013 A 32-year-old Bay Area prosecutor will be sworn in to Congress on Thursday after ousting a 40-year incumbent. California Democrat Eric Swalwell — who will be the second-youngest member of Congress — capitalized on his opponent's gaffes and used old-fashioned door-knocking and high-tech mobile phone outreach to win votes. His first challenge in Washington might be getting people to pronounce his name correctly. Even senior members of California's congressional delegation have gotten it wrong, saying "Stallwell" instead of "Swalwell." "It takes everyone time," he says. Swalwell has lived in Washington, D.C., once before, as a summer intern. The job was unpaid, so he worked mornings at a gym and evenings at a Tex-Mex restaurant. "Many times members of Congress would come in and, you know, I would give them their meals," Swalwell ...

CMRR Lives... Obama Inks Defense Spending Legislation Jan. 3, 2013 By Diane Barnes Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Wednesday signed off on a 14-year deadline for completing a controversial nuclear arms laboratory and storage site, despite a previous push by his administration to postpone the project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The structure -- a planned component of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project -- is required to become fully operational by the end of 2026 under the newly inked fiscal 2013 defense authorization law. The legislation permits up to $70 million in new funds for the building's construction in the budget year that runs through Sept. 30, and it makes available $120 million in money previously appropriated for the project. The bill establishes a $3.7 billion spending cap for the structure, which is intended to assume the responsibilities of a decades-old plutonium facility at Los Al...

Fom the San Francisco Chronicle Bob Egelko Wednesday, January 2, 2013 A state appeals court has revived a lawsuit by retired employees of the University of California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory over UC's decision in 2008 to switch their health insurance to a private plan that covered less and cost more. The four retirees presented evidence that the university had promised them lifetime health coverage and can try to prove that the shift to a lesser plan was a breach of contract, the First District Court of San Francisco ruled Monday. The court reversed an Alameda County judge's decision to dismiss the suit. Although they have not filed a class-action suit on behalf of all retired lab employees, Dov Grunschlag, a lawyer for the four retirees, predicted that their case would lead to reinstatement of all Livermore retirees' UC health coverage. The ruling "reaffirms that California law will protect the right of people who worked for public e...

A deal has been reached in the Fiscal cliff.  Sequester delayed by two months. "It would also temporarily delay the sequester -- i.e., billions of dollars in across-the-board spending cuts -- for another two months. The cost of continuing current spending levels will be paid for through an even mix of tax revenue increases and later spending cuts. Half of those cuts will come from defense spending; half will come from nondefense spending." So the pain continues however it looks like 5% cuts for the labs at least. RIF's who knows. However we pay LLNLs and LANS 5% of our lab budget so maybe we have an idea of where to cut?