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Sunday, April 14, 2013
Savin money at DOE labs: any suggestions?
Suggestions on Saving Money at DOE Labs
Might be a good thread before summer budget difficulties arise.
24 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Get rid of some scientists? Less money to be paid, less chance of safety and security incidents, less bitching and "I am so smart attitude". What would be the down side? The only thing might be some deliverables will not be meet but way this against all the savings and I think we would still come out ahead. The way the contract is written this is actually a series proposal.
I'm hearing LLNL will be get $80M less for FY-14 in FY-13. If NIF still owes $40M in taxes after robbing everyone else of $138M and now having to face an additional $80M cut next years how's this dilemma to be resolved? Can anyone point to the text showing this $80M cut in funding for NIF in FY-14? Please sight URL or post .pdf for al to read.
I second the first post. By eliminating all technical staff and scientists, a huge cost savings could be realized, in addition to a dramatic decrease in safety and security incidents. It is the executive management's view that the mission can be fulfilled without the hinderance of technical people.
Well it's a pipe dream but how about UC running them again by itself for the cheap prices they were charging before the change over. Get the employees back under the larger group insurance plan of the total UC population which provided a cheaper medical plan. Well, it is a pipe dream.
Putting DOE/NNSA and saving money in the same sentence is just not a good idea.
certainly going back to UC would immediately save somewhere around 120 M$ at LANL alone. But I agree it is a pipe dream. Another way to save money is to reduce the number of managers and their huge office staff. But another pipe dream
I think it's just someone with a brian who knows what it will take to get rid of 50% of the lab in the first week and resolve a problme that will benifit all. I will assure you 2 weeks pay for every year of service would get it done in a micro-second. I'd be first in line.
On the subject of Brian, I liked Monty Pyton's biography of him. On saving money, give everyone a 10% pay cut. Oh, wait, Parney already thought of that.
To save money they should cut the LIFE program, eliminate B Division, consolidate useful parts of PLS into NIF and get rid of all else holding NIF back. Not everyone is entitled to a seat on Noah's Ark.
"Scientists, scientist we don't need no stinking scientists!" The smart ones are already leaving. Please oh please don't lay off those folks who really make the lab go, e.g., the office for strategic outcomes. Is failure a strategic outcome?
To save money they should cut the LIFE program, eliminate B Division, consolidate useful parts of PLS into NIF and get rid of all else holding NIF back. Not everyone is entitled to a seat on Noah's Ark.
April 18, 2013 at 3:54 AM
Yeah, let's get rid of B-Division. That gives no "driver" for A-Division. Hell, let's get rid of the entire nuclear weapons program, Bechtel's goal.
How many people work in B-Division? About half. Oh wait, that's the answer to the joke question. The actual answer is 25%. Ivory tower types who play the game of posturing and one-upsmanship between a bunch of people none of whom have never seen or helped design an underground test. Are they good at what they do? Sure. Do they do anything that is actually important to the stockpile? no. Are they marketable based on the ability to add value in the private sector? No. B-division is the epitome of white collar social welfare. Having a MIT, Princeton and cal tech PhDs must mean that they are at the top of the pecking order and don't have to produce, since it is self evident from the degrees that they are smart. The abulity to get something done "in theory" is all that is needed. No need to actually get it done.
LANL can cover for all primaries and secondaries work. A-Division can be broken up so that the plasma guys and the code jockeys can just work for NIF full time for the rest of their god forsaken mortal lives. The rest can be sloughed off and encouraged to leave the lab and get a job as a taco stand operator or a taxi cab driver. The cost savings will be significant, and secondary effects of increased street food commerce and improved local taxi transportation capacity will benefit the community.
The idea is not to scrap B-Division (and A-division), but rather to just integrate useful parts into NIF, which is the single lab platform for supporting NNSA work. If B-Division is matrix to NIF (a sad reality), then you might as well get efficiency gains by eliminating the matrix and integrating personnel within the NIF program. So much of A- and B-Division is supporting NIF already.
24 comments:
Get rid of some scientists? Less money to be paid, less chance of safety and security incidents, less bitching and "I am so smart attitude". What would be the down side? The only thing might be some deliverables will not be meet but way this against all the savings and I think we would still come out ahead. The way the contract is written this is actually a series proposal.
I'm hearing LLNL will be get $80M less for FY-14 in FY-13. If NIF still owes $40M in taxes after robbing everyone else of $138M and now having to face an additional $80M cut next years how's this dilemma to be resolved? Can anyone point to the text showing this $80M cut in funding for NIF in FY-14? Please sight URL or post .pdf for al to read.
Save Money ? I thought the name of the game was to spend more money, so as to increase next years funding?
The "Game" continues, we will never balance our budget, Never!
I second the first post. By eliminating all technical staff and scientists, a huge cost savings could be realized, in addition to a dramatic decrease in safety and security incidents. It is the executive management's view that the mission can be fulfilled without the hinderance of technical people.
April 15, 2013 at 10:27 AM
Get-R-Done , come on VSIP !
Well it's a pipe dream but how about UC running them again by itself for the cheap prices they were charging before the change over. Get the employees back under the larger group insurance plan of the total UC population which provided a cheaper medical plan. Well, it is a pipe dream.
Putting DOE/NNSA and saving money in the same sentence is just not a good idea.
Get-R-Done , come on VSIP !
April 15, 2013 at 11:46 AM
Who are you talking to?? You are delusional.
certainly going back to UC would immediately save somewhere around 120 M$ at LANL alone.
But I agree it is a pipe dream. Another way to save money is to reduce the number of managers and their huge office staff. But another pipe dream
If the lab (whichever one) RIF's April 15, 2013 at 1:47 PM, they'll easily save at least $20k...
Correction, 11:46 AM
Correction, 11:46 AM
April 15, 2013 at 7:46 PM
Thank you fir the correction.
How about terminating the gross, expensive, bonus-laden, politically connected, corrupt LLC contracts to run the Labs?
Nah! That wouldn't buy any votes.
Nah! That wouldn't buy any votes.
April 16, 2013 at 5:46 PM
It might, if Congress were interested in saving money.
April 15, 2013 at 1:47 PM
I think it's just someone with a brian who knows what it will take to get rid of 50% of the lab in the first week and resolve a problme that will benifit all. I will assure you 2 weeks pay for every year of service would get it done in a micro-second. I'd be first in line.
You must have a really good brian
On the subject of Brian, I liked Monty Pyton's biography of him. On saving money, give everyone a 10% pay cut. Oh, wait, Parney already thought of that.
To save money they should cut the LIFE program, eliminate B Division, consolidate useful parts of PLS into NIF and get rid of all else holding NIF back. Not everyone is entitled to a seat on Noah's Ark.
"Scientists, scientist we don't need no stinking scientists!" The smart ones are already leaving. Please oh please don't lay off those folks who really make the lab go, e.g., the office for strategic outcomes. Is failure a strategic outcome?
The problem of success is that it sets high expectations with the customer/sponsor for future work. We can't have any of that going on.
What is the rationale for eliminating B division? It is Livermore's strongest organization.
To save money they should cut the LIFE program, eliminate B Division, consolidate useful parts of PLS into NIF and get rid of all else holding NIF back. Not everyone is entitled to a seat on Noah's Ark.
April 18, 2013 at 3:54 AM
Yeah, let's get rid of B-Division. That gives no "driver" for A-Division. Hell, let's get rid of the entire nuclear weapons program, Bechtel's goal.
How many people work in B-Division? About half. Oh wait, that's the answer to the joke question. The actual answer is 25%. Ivory tower types who play the game of posturing and one-upsmanship between a bunch of people none of whom have never seen or helped design an underground test. Are they good at what they do? Sure. Do they do anything that is actually important to the stockpile? no. Are they marketable based on the ability to add value in the private sector? No. B-division is the epitome of white collar social welfare. Having a MIT, Princeton and cal tech PhDs must mean that they are at the top of the pecking order and don't have to produce, since it is self evident from the degrees that they are smart. The abulity to get something done "in theory" is all that is needed. No need to actually get it done.
LANL can cover for all primaries and secondaries work. A-Division can be broken up so that the plasma guys and the code jockeys can just work for NIF full time for the rest of their god forsaken mortal lives. The rest can be sloughed off and encouraged to leave the lab and get a job as a taco stand operator or a taxi cab driver. The cost savings will be significant, and secondary effects of increased street food commerce and improved local taxi transportation capacity will benefit the community.
The idea is not to scrap B-Division (and A-division), but rather to just integrate useful parts into NIF, which is the single lab platform for supporting NNSA work. If B-Division is matrix to NIF (a sad reality), then you might as well get efficiency gains by eliminating the matrix and integrating personnel within the NIF program. So much of A- and B-Division is supporting NIF already.
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