Sandia under Investigation

 Sandia under investigation for violating COVID-19 restrictions:

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-mexico/articles/2020-10-20/lab-under-investigation-as-new-mexico-deals-with-virus-surge?fbclid=IwAR3Fxt0ZG_poeg350g1EFUIRXEs6ThswFvajD56O75GNEgmuY8aKaNkBWBY

The state’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau has opened an investigation of Sandia National Laboratories after receiving a complaint about alleged violations of the state public health order.

A letter sent Monday by the bureau and obtained by The Associated Press alleges that the national laboratory failed to comply with the health order by not limiting operations to remote work to the greatest extent practicable to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The state claims employees were ordered to cease telework and report to work in-person.

If the lab doesn't comply, the state says it's authorized to post a notice of imminent danger on lab property and assess civil penalties up to $134,904 per violation.

No violations?

 Has “Chief Ethics Officer” Paul T. Schafer been a stooge for LLNS since 2007? Has he ever found significant ethics violations with LLNS?

LLNL tackles COVID with big memory

 “The ability of large-memory systems to integrate genomic analysis with large-scale machine learning for predictive modeling of therapeutic response will be important for accelerating the development of effective new therapeutics,” said Jim Brase, the lab’s deputy associate director for computing...

https://www.independentnews.com/community/llnl-tackles-covid-19-research-with-big-memory-computing/article_2a319ee8-253d-11eb-85d5-633373ed497a.html

DOE choses INL to host the versatile test reactor

 The Department of Energy won’t publish its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) until mid-December...

https://www.ans.org/news/article-2401/doe-tags-inl-as-preferred-alternative-to-host-the-versatile-test-reactor/

Critical Race Theory is Coming Back to the Labs!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/08/donald-trump-diversity-executive-order-joe-biden/6180668002/

A Joe Biden administration would likely scrap an executive order from the Trump administration that restricts the federal government and its contractors from offering diversity training that President Donald Trump labeled "divisive" and "un-American."

“I think it’s highly probable that this executive order will be rescinded in fairly short order,” Franklin Turner, a partner with law firm McCarter & English who represents multinational contractors and small and medium-sized companies, told USA TODAY.


https://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/what-a-biden-presidency-will-mean-for-your-workplace.html

While Trump never mentioned the term "critical race theory" in his recent executive order regarding diversity training for federal employees and contractors, it was a clear removal of this controversial method of talking about diversity, in which existing institutions are racist and White people maintain power at the expense of people of color. This will probably be one of the first things undone by Biden when he takes office in January. But expect to see lawsuits as many people, including U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Peter Kirsanow, say that critical race theory training violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Code.


Get ready for this folks the ride is going to be good.

Next DOE Sec. Choices

 Candidates for DOE Secretary in a President Biden Administration may include Arun Majumdar, Ernest Moniz, and Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/07/joe-biden-cabinet-picks-possible-choices-433431

Lisa Gordon-Hagerty resigns

 https://thehill.com/policy/defense/524865-lisa-e-gordon-hagerty-resigns-as-nnsa-administrator

Well, she knew what she was getting into.

(Bob Harvard's decision in 2017 seems ever more prescient.)

Godspeed Bill Bookless.

Hope for a better blog

 I hope that after the election (or at least, after the election result is known), the craziness and vitriol here will subside and we can get back to the purpose of this blog. But right now the country is collectively losing its mind.

Little doubt about Biden plan

 https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-nuclear-weapons-elections-joe-biden-russia-1299ae16f3f21db12e4a41ce2392a0f7

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Joe Biden leaves little doubt that if elected he would try to scale back President Donald Trump’s buildup in nuclear weapons spending. And although the former vice president has not fully detailed his nuclear priorities, he says he would make the U.S. less reliant on the world’s deadliest weapons.

Biden's plan

 Does anyone know what Biden's plans might be for NNSA, or DOE in general? 

The only thing I can find is this

https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-nuclear-weapons-elections-joe-biden-russia-1299ae16f3f21db12e4a41ce2392a0f7

The Biden campaign has made few pronouncements on U.S. nuclear weapons policy or strategy and it declined to make an adviser available for an interview. The campaign website says Biden believes “the sole purpose of the U.S. nuclear arsenal should be deterring — and if necessary, retaliating against — a nuclear attack. As president, he will work to put that belief into practice, in consultation with our allies and military.”

He has said, for example, that he opposes the Trump administration’s decision to develop and deploy two types of missiles armed with less-powerful “low-yield” nuclear warheads. One is a sea-launched cruise missile that is some years from being fielded; the other is a long-range ballistic missile that the Navy began deploying aboard submarines nearly a year ago.

Does Biden have a plan for DOE/NNSA?

 Ok, so does Biden have any plan for NNSA or DOE?