Have LLNL employees benefited from subsidized college education?

 Have LLNL employees benefited from subsidized college education?

For decades, the University of California and California state colleges were free. Some of you may not have known this. I'm sure some of the students of that era were or are working at LLNL. Since ~1980, college tuition has grown faster than inflation. Many years ago, Peter Schiff said the spiraling cost of college in the USA was largely due to easily acquired federal loans, since that allowed colleges to continue to raise their tuitions and fees. Then colleges could raise costs, the federal loans increased, and the cycle repeated. Something to consider before criticizing the $10K student loan forgiveness.

LLNL names deputy director

 Worth a topic of discussion?

https://www.llnl.gov/news/carolyn-zerkle-named-lawrence-livermores-deputy-director

What cities are next?

 Are the California “sanctuary cities” of Berkeley, LA, Napa, San Francisco, San Jose, and others next?

“Operation Lone Star Ramps Up Busing Of Migrants To NYC, D.C. To Provide Relief To Border Communities”

"In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,”

https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/operation-lone-star-ramps-up-busing-of-migrants-to-nyc-d.c-to-provide-relief-to-border-communities

Will the labs join in the fight against domestic threats?

Dangerous GOP. 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-hayden-cia-director-republicans_n_62fe52e4e4b077bb77a966d8

Ex-CIA Director Says Today’s GOP Is Most Dangerous Political Force He’s Ever Seen
“I agree,” said Michael Hayden, in response to a journalist who covers extremism describing Republicans as "nihilistic" and "contemptible."

Contract versus permanent

 In 2022, is LLNS still pitching to prospective “career indefinite” employees, that sub-contractor employees, are a funding and employment buffer? If so, is it really true?

Fusion confirmed but...

 "If we could harness this reaction to generate electricity, it would be one of the most efficient and least polluting sources of energy possible." Newsweek 8/12/22

https://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-fusion-energy-milestone-ignition-confirmed-california-1733238?amp=1

Trump is a Butthead Cowboy!

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11103507/Justice-Department-asks-judge-UNSEAL-search-warrant-Trumps-raid.html

FBI agents were searching for classified documents about NUCLEAR WEAPONS when they raided Mar-a-Lago, according to report, as Merrick Garland says HE approved search warrant on Trump's Florida home

Did Trump ever visit LANL and their cowboy culture rub off on him?

8/11/2022 6:35 PM

LLNL draft vision statement

 Proposal for LLNL Vision statement draft:

We aspire to become an anti-racist and health-promoting research institution where:

Diversity, equity, shared governance, and expansive notions of excellence are core institutional values.

Wellness and an ethic of care are embedded throughout our campus culture and all policies and practices.

We invest in a resource-rich learning environment to support the development and success of citizens of plural identities and from diverse socio-economic, racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.

Climate, environmental, and racial justice align with sustainable economic and planning decisions with local and global effects.

Community engaged scholarship, service, and reciprocity are embedded in University practices that promote the economic, social, and cultural well-being of the communities we serve

We hold ourselves and each other accountable to ensure these values drive all decision-making in research, pedagogical innovations, resource allocation, and the development of policies and practices.

Are NSF grant decisions racist?

 From LLNL scientists

https://www.science.org/content/article/nsf-grant-decisions-reflect-systemic-racism-study-argues

The analysis supports earlier studies finding similar racial disparities in the funding of scientists by other federal agencies, notably the National Institutes of Health (NIH). And its authors—a team led by geochemist Christine Yifeng Chen, a postdoc at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory—attribute the gap in NSF funding rates, with white scientists at the top and Asian researchers at the bottom, to “systemic racism.”

The NSF funding disparities “have cascading impacts that perpetuate a cumulative advantage to White [principal investigators] across all of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” they write in their study, posted earlier this month on the Center for Open Science preprint site.

Zero emissions

 Is the projected CA Electric Grid Capacity in line with the growth of "Zero Emission" EV goals in CA, or are we getting over our skis?

There is CA proposal to ban new gas engine vehicle sales in CA by 2035 in favor of zero emissions vehicles, like EVs, which will require more capacity from our CA electrical grid. Increasingly, CA cities are no longer installing natural gas furnaces, natural gas stovetops, and natural gas water heaters. Again, this will require more CA electrical grid capacity. And let's not forget about those ~200 natural gas fired electrical generating "peaker" plants in CA. Are those slated to be shut down to reduce pollution too? There is also talk of removing some hydroelectric dams in NE California for environmental reasons.

Some assumptions (please modify as needed)

1. The average work commute of a CA driver is 47 miles/day.
2. The average EV can travel 4 miles/kWh, so 11.75kWh/day is needed to allow for the average daily commute distance. If one recharges overnight that's 1.47kW grid load for 8 hours.
3. If one recharges the full 58.75kWh needed for a weekly commute using a "Level 2" charger, that's 7.34kW grid load for 8 hours. (Assumes 100% charging efficiency which is more like ~88%). As shown in assumption 4 below, this level of power is comparable to the power demand of 2 air conditioners each having a 3.5 ton rating.
4. In the hotter parts of CA, a typical 2,200 square foot home will have a 3.5 ton air conditioner. Assuming an average (older + newer) SEER rating of 12, a 3.5 ton air conditioner which has a 42,000 btu rating, will draw 3,500W. However, air conditioners cycle on and off over a 24 hour period, so the average power draw will be much less.

This leads me to believe the electric power demand for a material increase in CA EV drivers, may be high enough to repeatedly reach a CA electric power demand tipping point. Will charging EVs at night prevent such a tippi

ng point Will charging EVs at night prevent such a tipping point? Hmm. Remember, home air conditioners are the item we are encouraged to raise the thermostat on during high grid demand periods and we are also encouraged to reduce all electrical consumption from 4pm to 9pm.

Are fission plants a CA option and if so, don't they each take 5-10 years to bring on line? If new CA fission plants are not on line by 2035, or if CA wind and solar can't meet the higher electrical demand by 2035, then what? We purchase out of state power that emit green house gases? I would like to see the bones of a plan that has projected EV power demand in alignment with the projected ability to meet this demand. The cost to add such grid capacity and the cost for CA residents to purchase EVs will be of value as well. Lastly, will the raw materials needed to built EVs in mass be largely imported, putting the USA in a dependent and vulnerable position?

WIPP bid protest

 Carlsbad Operations Alliance LLC has filed the 2nd bid protest for the WIPP Contract awarded to Bechtel

https://www.gao.gov/docket/b-420913.2

Nuclear fusion research news

 From the University of Osaka:

https://www.inverse.com/science/lasers-artificial-magnetosphere/amp

Future of UCRS

 In the latest LLNL retirees newsletter, UCRS declared they had finished divesting from all companies with ties to fossil fuels. That sounds like a big hit to the bottom line of the fund. How are they going to replace the cash-flow coming from oil, gas, and coal? Or is UCRS about to take a huge dive into the red in order to please a bunch of eco-alarmists?

GreggS