LLNL - The True Story -

Today, 2/28, Jeff Colvin, on behalf of UTPE and SPSE presented the same presentation he did in January in front of the National Academy of Science. He provided guidelines the commissions, newly formed to audit LLNL and LANL management by the LLCs, should be looking for. More on this later. I asked SPSE/UTPE to make the presentation available to this BLOG. As of 3/2/2011 8:12PM: no reply. Scooby

Anonymously contributed: At least someone wants LLNL... Livermore moves forward in bid to annex national labs By Jeanine Benca Contra Costa Times 02/26/2011 LIVERMORE -- Livermore hopes to annex the Lawrence Livermore and Sandia California/National laboratories -- one of many steps in a long-range mission to transform the city into a booming technology hub and create thousands of jobs. The planning commission on Tuesday will consider a proposal to annex 1,022 acres east of Vasco Road, south of Patterson Pass Road and west of Greenville Road. Included is the 1,017-acre area occupied by the two labs; two privately-owned parcels totaling five acres plus a stretch of Greenville Road adjacent to the labs. The labs lie east of Livermore in unincorporated Alameda County. Annexation would not give the city any more power over the facilities, which are on federal land and therefore not subject to property taxes or local development regulations. But having the labs within city limits would bette...

E-LINE: A message from the (LLNL) director on implementation of the Variable Compensation Program I am pleased to announce the Department of Energy has authorized implementation of the Laboratory's proposed Variable Compensation Program (VCP) in recognition of the Lab's calendar year 2010 performance. The VCP provides a one-time, lump-sum, non-base payment to eligible employees (see eligibility chart at https://pao-int.llnl.gov/news/2011/vcp.pdf ). The VCP includes two award components: 1) Strategic Performance Bonus (SPB), which pays up to 1.5 percent of annual base pay to all eligible employees. The actual amount paid is based on overall Laboratory performance, as determined by the Director. 2) Individual Performance Bonus (IPB), which may be awarded based on individual performance. I have determined that employees' contributions to overall Lab performance in calendar year 2010 warrants an award of the full 1.5 percent SPB to all eligible Lab employees. While some detail...

Anonymously asked: can anybody explain why Mcgraw rd off of southfront has been changed halfway down the road and changed to los positas rd. and why the 2 houses that used to be there which is 5165 mcgraw rd. and now is 4647 los positas the building directly across los positas has same address is it possible to have same address on opposite sides of the road?

Anonymously contributed: I would like to see site maps of confirmed groundwater contamination pathways that exceed arroyo los positas and patterson pass in between los positas rd., first st. bennet dr. and southfront. I would like to see maps that are legible and clear that the everyday human can read and explain it in laymens terms.

Anonymously contributed: NNSA chief: Obama committed to nuclear security Special to the Oak Ridger Posted Feb 21, 2011 @ 07:57 PM OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — In his first public remarks since the release of the fiscal year 2012 budget request, National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Thomas D'Agostino on Wednesday highlighted the Obama administration's commitment to nuclear security in a keynote address to the third annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Calling it an "unprecedented investment in ensuring the nuclear security of our country and our allies," D'Agostino said the FY 2012 budget request provides the resources to invest in NNSA's future, implement the president's nuclear security agenda and improve the way NNSA does business and manages its resources. The budget request includes $11.78 billion for NNSA, an increase of 5.1 percent from the $11.2 billion requested for FY 2011. It includes $7.6 billion for the Weapons Activities appropriation, $2....

Anonymously contributed: From Global Security Newswire GOP Bill Eliminates $1B in Nuclear Agency Funds Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration stands to lose $1.1 billion under a Republican-led budget proposal slated for passage this week in the House of Representatives, potentially affecting the agency's efforts to maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal and prevent acquisition of nuclear weapons by extremists, Foreign Policy magazine reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 17). The fiscal 2011 budget has not been passed, and federal spending has been largely frozen at fiscal 2010 levels under a continuing resolution approved by Congress in December. Another GOP-backed continuing resolution, intended to cover the remainder of this budget year once the current measure expires on March 4, would strike 10 percent from the $11.2 billion NNSA budget sought by President Obama. The cuts would eliminate $647 million in funding for NNSA nuclear nonproliferation operatio...

Anonymously contributed: Everyone read and tell me how this is going to affect all the other DOE labs. Does anyone think there may be a 3 and 3 coming soon? http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/feb/15/ornl-does-well-in-obama-budget/ http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/feb/12/ornl-facility-may-be-slashed/

Anonymously contributed: US energy lab missing cocaine, amphetamine samples Associated Press, 02.17.11 WASHINGTON -- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California failed to keep track of samples of dangerous drugs, including cocaine, amphetamines, opium and black tar heroin, the Energy Department's inspector general said in a report Thursday. Some drugs were missing. But in one case the lab found more opium and black tar heroin than records showed had been purchased legally. The report said the accounting lapses created "an opportunity for improper or illegal use." Employees at Livermore, one of the federal government's top science labs, handle as many as 42 different kinds of dangerous drugs, including black tar heroin, cocaine, phencyclidine and steroids. The drugs are used for bio-medical research and forensic science, and in the lab's health clinic for the treatment of workers there. Workers are required under federal law to track their use closely with...

SPSE-UPTE Invites You to a reprise of UPTE’s presentation to the National Academy of Sciences Committee to review the quality of the Management and of the Science and Engineering Research at the Department of Energy’s National Security Laboratories: “Effects of Privatization on the DOE/NNSA Labs’ Science and National Security Missions” Date: Monday, February 28 Place: Building 123 - Auditorium Time: Noon to 1pm For additional information contact the SPSE-UPTE office at 449-4846

Fluor and Boeing Team to Pursue Sandia National Laboratories Two Renowned Companies Bring Significant Engineering and Project Management Expertise to the DOE Marketplace IRVING, Texas, Feb 15, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced today that the company has reached a teaming agreement with Boeing (NYSE: BA) to pursue work from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) at its Sandia National Laboratories. Sandia is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility that is managed on behalf of the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Sandia has major facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., and an annual operating budget of approximately $2.5 billion. The current contract expires in September 2012. "We believe that the complimentary resources and skill sets of two world-class companies like Fluor and Boeing offer the NNSA an extremely compelling value proposition," said Greg Meyer, senior vice president of Fluor G...

Anonymously contributed: The President's budget for 2012 includes a request for at least $71.4M for the UC pension fund for LLNL and LANL retirees, before the LLC's. It is in the Nonproliferation part of the NNSA budget request - a strange place to put it, but I have not found any more elsewhere yet. Has anyone heard about this request from the UC side?

Anonymously contributed: U.S. to Replace Nuke Delivery Platforms Monday, Feb. 14, 2011 - Global Security Newswire The Obama administration's fiscal 2012 budget request calls for the United States to replace the land-, air-, and sea-based components of its nuclear deterrent, potentially setting the nation on a course that could cost hundreds of billions of dollars over five decades, Time magazine reported (see GSN, Jan. 7). The administration today is rolling out its budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The move toward replacing all three components of the nation's nuclear "triad" stems from the conclusions of the administration's Nuclear Posture Review, which asserts that "retaining all three triad legs will best maintain strategic stability at reasonable cost, while hedging against potential technical problems or vulnerabilities." "Strategic nuclear submarines ... represent the most survivable leg of the U.S. nuclear triad," says the...

Anonymous asked: Has anyone found out anything specific on how the proposed continuing resolution language will affect LANL or LLNL?

Anonymously contributed: I remember SPSE pleading with everyone with the slogan "The next job you save may be your own". They tried to get the minimum number of signatures required to acquire union status back in 2007.Remember that? Even if they became our Union, you were under no obligation to join it. So, what were people afraid of? Many of us, white collars, thought we were too good to have union representation. We thought we were smug and sacred. NNSA/LLNS have been feeding us a steady line of bull. All we have been good at is whine. Someone, somewhere else in this BLOG, said LLNS respects unions, not whiners! For those who shunned SPSE: enjoy the salary freeze, soon the tcp1 required contributions and rising cost of benefits! unless we can unionize. Is it too late to unionize?

CK asked: I've been reading the LLNL blog, and despite the many comments about working at the company being negative in nature I still have a few a questions that I'm hoping you can answer. I am about to graduate with a BS in physics, and I have wanted to work for a national lab for some time. ORNL, LLNL, and LANL are the ones that I most want to work for. Is it possible to work at these places with just a BS? And also, would you happen to know of a number in HR I can call for potential hires? I found various other lines, but none for someone who is hoping to get a job at LLNL. If these are not questions I should be asking you, then I'm really sorry... Thanks for blogging! It's been very informative.

Anonymously contributed: And Sometimes, There is Good News! While most of the time we moan and groan about the decline of the lab, every once in a while, something really good happens: "Combatting antibiotic resistant bacteria: it's all in the genes Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have discovered a new way to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria by using the bacteria's own genes." Somehow in spite of Bechtel's oversight and NNSA's oppressive rules, someone (a fellow named Paul Jackson & his co-workers) makes what might be a significant discovery that may make a huge positive change to the landscape. I can only hope that this would be the rule rather than the exception.