Senators say DOE may have reimbursed contractor

Senators say DOE may have reimbursed contractor for fighting whistleblower claims

"DOE and the Lawrence Livermore partnership did not return requests for comment on the senators’ letter."

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/375886-senators-say-doe-may-have-reimbursed-contractor-for-fighting

Hello Charlie!

Trump Taps Livermore Hand to Lead NNSA Weapons Programs

"President Donald Trump plans to nominate current Lawrence Livermore hand Charles Verdon to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) roughly $9-billion-a-year nuclear weapons portfolio."

https://www.exchangemonitor.com/trump-taps-livermore-hand-lead-nnsa-weapons-programs-washington/

Regional Coalition of LANL Communities’ use of public funds flagged

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/regional-coalition-of-lanl-communities-use-of-public-funds-flagged/article_b4f59a44-9440-595f-87fa-c64187479eca.html

Purdue, Bechtel team bids to run LANL

https://www.abqjournal.com/1137074/purdue-bechtel-team-bids-to-run-lanl.html

NNSA releases draft assessment of LANL plutonium factory complex

http://www.lamonitor.com/content/nnsa-releases-draft-assessment-lanl-plutonium-factory-complex

LANL will be a pit production facility. Rocky Flats it is to be. Can we finally move the last bits of science to LLNL? New Mexico will be happy, LANL will be happy, the town of Los Alamos will be happy. Heck maybe even the scientists that have to move will end up being happier. Even Greg Mello will be happy since it will keep him working.

Feds say LANL Failed to Track Toxic Beryllium

Feds say LANL Failed to Track Toxic Beryllium

By Rebecca Moss | The New Mexican Feb 23, 2018 

Federal officials say Los Alamos National Laboratory failed to keep track of a toxic metal, potentially exposing an unknown number of workers to serious health consequences.

The failure to adequately track beryllium — a substance used in nuclear weapons production and of which small amounts can cause lung disease and cancer — violates federal regulations put in place to prevent worker overexposure, according to a report released this week by the Energy Department’s inspector general.


http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/feds-say-lanl-failed-to-track-toxic-beryllium/article_30900b79-4331-568a-a3dc-7d03ad5e25a6.html

First Omega, then NIF?

--------------------------------
Laser program at University of Rochester targeted for shutdown

"The US Department of Energy intends to close a premier facility that has long led one of the three principal approaches to initiating nuclear fusion through the use of powerful lasers. DOE plans to initiate a “three-year rampdown” of the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) in the fiscal year that begins in October, according to a summary of the agency’s 2019 budget proposal released on 12 February."

http://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.2.20180216b/full/

Scooby cannot take the heat!

Well, Scooby shut off yet another blog thread where the posters were less than enthralled with his methods of running the blog. He claims to want candid input, but can't take the heat that follows, which obviously he feels he doesn't deserve. Why ask for candor if you are not willing to accept it if it is negative? Shouldn't negative feedback on the part of one's customers incentivize one to change how one does business?

Why did you turn off comments on the more intelligent debate thread?

Scooby, I was February 21, 2018 at 4:52 AM on your self-congratulatory "More intelligent debate, less insults" post. You might want to take some time to reflect on your own comments in that thread. In particular, your response to my remark is pretty much a case study in what you said you want to remove.

And then you immediately turned off comments.

I don't expect to ever see this comment approved on the blog. Perhaps this blog has run its course.

LANL must change!

Now that LANS is coming to end can maybe we can make a list of things that could change. 

1 No more Fridays off. In principle the 9-80 schedule is good but the abuse is beyond rampant. The parking lots are 
are only between 1/3-1/4 filled every Friday. Nothing can get done on a Friday and Thursdays are filled with last minute mayhem. 
Essentially Fridays are now days off. Another odd thing people should be working till 6pm on the 9-80 but it starts emptying out at 4pm, which is odd. If the labs are driven by safety and security than reducing the work week by 20-25% reduces incidents by 20-25%?

2 No bonuses for managers. This creates corruption amongst the managers or enforces loyalty to LANS but not the lab or the United States. Also it encourages cheating. 

3 Get rid of the useless Divisions. LANL went from 20 Divs before that contract change to 120 after. What possible value was added to this other than extra overhead, slower response, and confusion. All one has to do is read the titles of some of these Divisions and it beyond obvious that these have little or no value. Even some of the people that work in these will tell you on honest moments that they have no purpose. How did we get to this point?

4 We need external reviews that are controlled by the outside rather than the inside. LANS does various reviews of different things throughout the year but if you see who sits on them it is beyond obvious the conflict of interest or the connections to LANS. From what I can tell LANS has alot of say on who sits on these panels. I think this leads to a very compromised review process but remember if bonuses are at stake the system encourages cheating any way possible. 

5 Tell the state of New Mexico to back off. LANL serves the nation not just the state of NM. LANL already does enough for NM providing job opportunities for the area. It does not need to give additional free money. 

6 We need to bring back the sense of excellence and national service. Right now the management of LANS views LANL has a money making operation only and not an entity that serves the nation.

LANL scientist pockets money

"Investigators: Top LANL scientist made up work trips to pocket the money"

http://krqe.com/2018/02/20/investigators-top-lanl-scientist-made-up-work-trips-to-pocket-the-money/

More intelligent debate, less insults

Personal opinion from blog moderator :
The comments on the blog are becoming increasingly derogatory.  Some commenters believe that ,as long  as  they avoid using certain words/ expressions ,somehow their comments are acceptable. No,  they are not!
I always assumed that Labs employees have a certain level of logical and emotional intelligence that help them in debating others in a civil manner.
I stick to the rules posted in this blog but ,recently,  I am convinced I need to filter the comments based on more than common bad words !
A while back,  I did a poll to see if you want to end anonymous posting.  There was an uproar !
A resounding NO.

I have a choice : doing away with anonymous posting or using my judgement to decide what comments to filter out .
I want constructive feedback. Your thoughts?

Gordon-Hagerty confirmed as NNSA administrator

Gordon-Hagerty confirmed as NNSA administrator
FEBRUARY 16, 2018
Oak Ridge Today

Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday as the U.S. Department of Energy’s under secretary for nuclear security and administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

“We are excited to welcome Lisa to the DOE team following her confirmation,” Perry said in the press release. “Her knowledge in the national security space, including her history with the department in running the emergency preparedness operation, will be an asset to the National Nuclear Security Administration. I look forward to working with her as she takes the helm in NNSA and thank the Senate for their attention to her nomination.”

Gordon-Hagerty replaces Frank Klotz, a retired Air Force general who had been in the job since 2014 and retired January 19.

Gordon-Hagerty’s nomination was announced in December. The Thursday press release from the NNSA said she has more than 30 years of national security experience, including in nuclear security. Before joining the Trump administration, she was president of Tier Tech International Inc., as well as president and CEO of LEG Inc.

Her previous government service includes stints at the National Security Council, DOE, and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. She began her career as a health physicist at DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Gordon-Hagerty is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in health physics.

http://oakridgetoday.com/2018/02/16/gordon-hagerty-confirmed-nnsa-administrator/

Tax on non-profit

Legislature sends governor bill imposing tax on nonprofit lab contractor
By Steve Terrell, Santa Fe New Mexican

http://nmpoliticalreport.com/805455/legislature-sends-governor-bill-imposing-tax-on-nonprofit-lab-contractor/

Gov. Susana Martinez will have to decide whether to sign a bill designed to prevent the state government, as well as local governments in Northern New Mexico, from losing tax revenue if a nonprofit university takes over management of Los Alamos National Laboratory later this year.

Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, who has pushed for a comprehensive overhaul of the state’s tax structure, argued against the bill saying, “Tax policy should be uniform, broad and neutral. … It shouldn’t pick winners and losers.”

Harper said he recently received a call from a member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee who was concerned about the bill. The congressman told him, “It looks like the state is telling the labs how to run the labs,” Harper said, adding, “I’m worried this sends a message to some folks that we’re ungrateful.”

UC Regent Praises ‘Clever’ Bid for LANL

  

The University of California and its mystery teammates have submitted a “clever” bid to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for the next 10 years, the regent in charge of the institution’s national lab activities said in a public meeting late Wednesday.

“We do have the most excellent bid,” Ellen Tauscher, the incoming chair of the University of California Board of Regents’ national laboratories subcommittee, said in a regents meeting Wednesday in San Francisco. “It is significant in its creativity, in its innovation. It’s clever. You’ll find out what ‘clever’ means later on.”


https://www.exchangemonitor.com/188732-2/

trump intends to nominate Oak Ridger as new Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation deputy

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2018/02/08/trump-oak-ridge-ornl-brent-park-nuclear-nonproliferation/319053002/

UC official promises better management at LANL

University of California official promises better management at LANL

A top University of California official acknowledged Friday that there have been shortcomings at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the past but said the school remains “deeply committed” to the future of the lab as UC bids for LANL’s next management and operations contract.

Kim Budil, the university’s vice president for national labs, said UC, which has been involved in running LANL since 1943, had adapted and improved since an accident caused by LANL shut down the nation’s nuclear waste storage facility near Carlsbad in 2014.


https://www.abqjournal.com/1119078/university-of-california-official-promises-better-management-at-lanl.html

Wannabe historians

Will you long-winded wannabe historians knock it off? It doesn't matter who has been or has not been in charge of LANL since privatization. The only thing that really matters is who is going to be in charge a year from now.

No clearance, no problem

At the white house,  several uncleared people handle classified info daily. Why haven't they been cleared?
If any lab employee is found to have even  had a bad credit score,  they cannot get a Q clearance .
Ironic isn't?
The white house image has been so degraded and so has democracy and justice.

Another story about how corrupt Bechtel is

https://www.publicintegrity.org/2018/02/05/21507/trump-administration-s-planned-nuclear-upgrade-being-undermined-cost-overruns

Pentagon unveils new nuclear weapons strategy

Big events are in store for the nuclear weapon research labs over the next few years. Advanced low-yield weapons and other Trump desired weapons are being planned to modernize the US nuclear arsenal. After decades of neglect, you are going to see a lot of growth at these labs to support this dramatic buildup in strategic policy. This is far more concrete than Obama's pathetic RRW non-starter. Start working out your equipment wish lists and prepare your hiring needs:

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Pentagon unveils new nuclear weapons strategy, ending Obama-era push to reduce U.S. arsenal

Washington Post - Feb 2, 2018

The Pentagon released a new nuclear arms policy Friday that calls for the introduction of two new types of weapons, effectively ending Obama-era efforts to reduce the size and scope of the U.S. arsenal and minimize the role of nuclear weapons in defense planning. 

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in an introductory note to the new policy — the first update to the military’s nuclear strategy since 2010 — that the changes reflect a need to “look reality in the eye” and “see the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.”

The previous administration’s policy hinged on what President Barack Obama called a moral obligation for the United States to lead by example in ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Officials in the Trump administration and the U.S. military argue that Obama’s approach proved overly idealistic, particularly as relations with Moscow soured. Russia, China and North Korea, they say, all advanced their nuclear weapons capabilities instead of following suit.

“Over the past decade, while the United States has led the world in these reductions, every one of our potential nuclear adversaries has been pursuing the exact opposite strategy,” Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said at a Pentagon news conference, explaining why the United States is changing course. “These powers are increasing the numbers and types of nuclear weapons in their arsenal.”

The new nuclear weapons policy follows on Donald Trump’s promise before taking office to expand and strengthen U.S. nuclear capabilities. President Trump also vowed during his State of the Union address Tuesday to build a nuclear arsenal “so strong and powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression.” 

The threats have changed dramatically since the last time the Pentagon updated its nuclear weapons policy, with Russia reemerging as a geopolitical foe. North Korea, meanwhile, has edged closer to possessing a missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland with a nuclear warhead, bringing the prospect of nuclear war back to the forefront of the American psyche for the first time since the Cold War ... (article continues) 

www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-unveils-new-nuclear-weapons-strategy-ending-obama-era-push-to-reduce-us-arsenal/2018/02/02/

Gibbs, Wallace & McMillan

Is there anything to the story that Gibbs is keeping Wallace on a very short leash? One story making its way around the Lab is that UC brought Gibbs back before McMillan left and gave him marching orders to hold Wallace in check, then named Wallace as a figurehead without much support. So it goes, this was to have Gibbs making the decisions and just let Wallace be the pretty face on the news.