LLNL - The True Story -

LANL may be asked to double plutonium pit production, per federal memo. Up to 60 pits per year. The comment section in the news article devolves in the usual fight between the two anti-nuke groups "The Los Alamos Study Group" vs The nuclear watch group. These groups are like two age old enemies forever locked in the battle to the death. You almost get the feeling that Los Alamos is really just playing a minor role in what really motivates these guys which is their hatred for each other. If there is ever WW3 and the earth every last nuke is used and the only two people left alive are Greg Mello and Jay Coughlan, they would still be fighting. It will be like "Let this be your last battlefield from the old Start Trek show" in which each is half black and half white (though on opposite sides from each other), and committed to destroying the other. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/lanl-may-be-asked-to-double-plutonium-pit-production-per-federal-memo/arti...

 Anonymous said .... How in the hell, did HEAF in the early 90s, go from a PhD level Facility Manager leadership requirement, devolve into a Faculty Manager that early in his LLNL career, just qualify him for a security guard position? Is this a follow the Bechtel money situation?

 Source: CNN Trump admin is pulling supercomputers out of key weather and climate research center.  The move is part of the trump administration's  effort to disassemble the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, one of the world’s top weather and climate research centers, which the admin views as a source of climate change alarmism. https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/weather/trump-colorado-lab-ncar-supercomputer-climate

  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15564563/Poland-nuclear-weapons-NATO-member-Ukraine-defend-Russia.html Poland is considering developing nuclear weapons, with President Karol Nawrocki arguing that the NATO member must strengthen its defences amid the war in Ukraine. Poland? This is a joke right?

 Anonymous contribution : (NIF Based) “Nuclear Startup Inertia Raises $450M Series A” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj9KKzdklrE&pp=ygUZYmxvb21iZXJnIHN0YXJ0dXAgaW5lcnRpYQ%3D%3D (NIF Based) “Laser Fusion Startup Inertia Raises Additional $450M” https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Laser-Fusion-Startup-Inertia-Raises-Additional/a71954

Anonymous contribution : Another DOE contractor at INL reduces staff by about 50 employees https://www.eastidahonews.com/2026/02/another-doe-contractor-at-inl-reduces-staff-by-about-50-employees/

 Anonymous contribution: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/new-mexico-los-alamos-nuclear-waste-fines.html New Mexico Rebukes Federal Agency Over Nuclear Waste at Los Alamos State environmental regulators will also fine the Energy Department up to $16 million for exceeding safe groundwater standards near the nuclear lab.

  I never take it seriously when people say the young generation is worse or dumber than newer generations, since that is has been said for every generation, so it really cannot be true. I figured it is just some psychological thing that if some group does something different you think it is bad. However I do get the sense with younger tech people. I have just brushed it off thinking it is just me, but maybe not. If the report below is correct does it have implications for the future workforce at the labs? Maybe AI will compensate for all this so there is no real issue. The generation born between 1997 and 2010 is the very first generation who did worse in school than the generation before them, according to a top neuroscientist. And shockingly, they are proud of it. “They’re the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardized academic tests than the one before it,” Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, 43, told The Post. “And to make matters worse, most of these young people...

  https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-has-been-clear-wanting-new-nuclear-arms-control-treaty-says-us-official-2026-02-06/ US accuses China of secret nuclear testing "I can reveal that the U.S. government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons," U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno told a Disarmament Conference in Geneva.

 “A laser-beam dream team has been assembled to advance nuclear fusion” https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/team-heavyweights-launches-effort-unlock-170000213.html

  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/05/russia-us-nuclear-new-start-treaty-expires-un-warning Grave moment’: end of US-Russia nuclear pact comes at worst possible time, UN chief warns. “For the first time in more than half a century, we face a world without any binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals of … the two states that possess the overwhelming majority of the global stockpile of nuclear weapons,” Guterres said in a statement on Wednesday. So does this mean LANL can go back to being Cowboys?

 Have you heard about the new social media for AI chatbots? https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/01/ai-agents-now-have-their-own-reddit-style-social-network-and-its-getting-weird-fast/ This builds upon the recent trend of letting AI chatbots run 24/7 as personal assistants with access to personal information: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/01/viral-ai-assistant-moltbot-rapidly-gains-popularity-but-poses-security-risks/

  W80-5 “just came up,” will go on SLCM-N, weapons directors say By Sarah Salem Exchange Monitor January 28, 2026 ARLINGTON, VA – The W80-5, a new variant of the W80 warhead family, is on a “more aggressive schedule” to go on the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N), weapons directors said on the final day of Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Rita Gonzales, Deputy Laboratories Director for Nuclear Deterrence at Sandia National Laboratories, and Bradley Wallin, Deputy Director of Strategic Deterrence at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, both spoke on a panel about the new warhead the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is developing. “This one just came up and we’ve been working on it for less than a year at this point, but really looking at accelerating that program as well and looking at some creative ways where we might be able to deliver that capability to the Department of War earlier than antici...

 From an anonymous contributor: Is NIF falling behind more promising fusion technologies? In 2012, NIF failed to reach ignition and the “LIFE” program was mothballed. In 2026, NIF “still consumes significantly more energy than it produces, indicating that practical, commercial fusion power is still a long way”. TAE Technologies is doing aneutronic fusion research that may cost 10x LESS per GW than a post NIF fusion power plant, and do so with significantly reduced neutron radiation damage lowering reactor maintenance. If the NNSA brings back underground nuclear testing at NTS in 2026, will funding for NIF increase, decrease, or be unaffected?