Contributed by thief:
Since this strikes me as a wagering crowd...or at least one favorably disposed to making wildly exaggerated statements about matters where there is little legitimate information....are we making bets about who the new director will be?
Since this strikes me as a wagering crowd...or at least one favorably disposed to making wildly exaggerated statements about matters where there is little legitimate information....are we making bets about who the new director will be?
Comments
1. Bruce Goodwin (if he isn’t given the LANL Director job, which is where the future of nuclear weapons will be and where his interests/skills are a better match... not sure how he and Ed Mosses get along, and Ed ain't going anywhere)
2. Tomas Diaz De La Rubia (LLNL Dep Dir Science & Technology... only other senior LLNL type that could do the job other than Ed Mosses - who won't take a "step down" from NIF Director to head Lab)
3. Steven Koonin (DOE Under Sec for Science... before DOE he was on the UC board overseeing LLNL and knows a lot about the Lab and weapons program... was a JASON too)
4. Steve Younger (President of NSTec, Nevada Test Site operator... lead the NSTec team that bidded against LLNS for the LLNL contract and was the designated LLNL Director if NSTec had won the bid, not sure if the LLNS selection committee will hold this against him, and not sure UC would approve the choice of a former rival)
If the former, bet Goodwin or Verdon. If the latter, the field could get provocatively broader.
May 22, 2011 11:10 AM
I completely agree. Not only will Younger bring some "real leadership" to LANL but he's the only one who has the "stones" to run off Knapp and MacMillan the same way they ran me off. In their arrogance, the one thing that MacMillan and Knapp forgot to recognize is that no one survives leading the U.S. nuclear weapon program. No one! No one has and no one ever will survive this ruthless and vicious program!
If what you say is true, then McMillian has a lock on LLNL. He can NOT be in a meeting without saying "at Livermore". The best hope LANL had was for an outsider, but Younger is NO outsider.
May 22, 2011 6:46 PM
Not sure of your meaning, but Younger is both a LLNL and a LANL insider. He ran the weapons program at LANL, and while he made some enemies with his direct and demanding style, he also had many admirers, and a lot of loyalty from his employees. LANL has tried three "outsiders" (Nanos, Kuckuck, and Anastasio), with uniformly awful results. Even the dunderheads at NNSA should start to get the message.
Proven innovator and performer, strong enough to stand up to Congress, good a getting a lot done with a little.
Lucky.
After building and deploying 1000 new modern warheads surreptiously in New Mexico, he will snooker Congress into declaring war on France, while he invades Napa in search of the perfect wine press.
Things could be worse. D'Agostino or Przyzbylek could be waiting in line. Or the dreaded Lowell.
May 24, 2011 4:18 PM
Don't worry he's not. 5 more years of "at Livermore, at Livermore, at Livermore, at Livermore, at Livermore, at Livermore, at Livermore, at Livermore...." What is fitting will be to see this MIT graduate, weapon designer extraordinaire kissing the feet of the local Pueblo Governors. You couldn't pay me $10M per year to do that. Go for it MacMillan, earn your pay!
May 24, 2011 9:23 PM
Sheer bias toward Livermore would be the likely explanation. These guys are not ignorant. That's what Livermore has brought to Los Alamos, bias toward Livermore. For example, Knapp and MacMillan just gave the W78 Life Extension Program (LEP) to Livermore. Not only is this bias, but sheer stupidity as well.
May 25, 2011 4:19 PM
Stupidity is right. If problems turn up with the primary, Livermore can no longer address them. Back to LANL!
But not to worry, if Obama gets reelected, he will be retiring the W78 completely. The land leg of the triad is going away.
Sure they can. After doing the technical investigations, call up 'the factory' on The Mesa and place the change order.
May 25, 2011 4:19 PM
There is more to this story than meets the eye. Actually, Knapp and MacMillan were not even aware that NNSA gave this LEP to Livermore. One thing is for sure, is that they (Knapp and MacMillan) didn't even blink eye nor did the current X-Division or W-Division Leader. No one at the Labs has any courage or compassion to speak out against these poor decisions as they did in the past.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is living in denial of what is happening before their own eyes. It's sad to watch this play out.
LANS EMPLOYEES
It is our pleasure to announce the appointment of Charles F.
(Charlie) McMillan as Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory
(LANL) and President and Chief Executive Officer of Los Alamos
National Security, LLC (LANS), effective June 1, 2011. Charlie
replaces Mike Anastasio, who is retiring at the end of the month
after an extraordinary 31-year career serving the nation in
leadership roles at both LANL and Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory (LLNL).
Charlie is no stranger to LANL, LLNL and the nuclear weapons
complex. He is an accomplished leader, manager, and scientist in
the NNSA national security laboratory community. He has been a
senior leader in the Los Alamos Weapons Program since 2006, most
recently as Principal Associate Director. Prior to joining LANL,
he had a long and successful career at the Livermore Lab, where he
assumed roles of increasing management responsibility in the LLNL
Weapons Program. Charlie has a Ph.D. in Physics from MIT and a
Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Physics from Columbia Union
College.
We strongly believe that Charlie is the most qualified candidate
to lead the Laboratory at this critical time.
Charlie’s appointment comes after a rigorous, competitive,
national search led by the University of California that resulted
in the receipt of approximately 150 nominations and applications,
representing a broad and diverse array of candidates. The search
committee included participation of senior UC, LANL, and LLNL
scientists and administrators; senior leaders from government,
academia and industry; former national laboratory directors; and
members of the LANS Board of Governors. The search committee was
supported by a screening task force composed of prominent
academic, LANL, and LLNL scientists and engineers, knowledgeable
former Department of Defense officials, and JASONs, all with
knowledge of the Laboratory and the relevant scientific
communities.
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and NNSA Administrator Tom
D’Agostino have both concurred with Charlie’s appointment.
Please join us in welcoming Charlie McMillan as LANL Director and
LANS President and Chief Executive Officer.
Sincerely,
Norman J. Pattiz
Chairman
J. Scott Ogilvie
Vice Chairman
May 26, 2011 2:25 PM
That will not come out. Several were younger and had far more experience in national security.
Ha, Right now he gets a stipend (UC speak for, here is more $$$$) of 30K to fly between LANL and Livermore to visit his family. His family is still on the LLNL health care plan. Perhaps now that he will be making close to 1 million a year his family will move to Los Alamos. What a toad.
May 26, 2011 4:20 PM
I would not bet on it. He despises all that is Los Alamos, and his family has sworn to never live here. He is the puppet of a hoax of a search and now we are stuck with him. At least we can sleep well knowing that it was a 'rigorous and competitive search' in the eyes of some UC lawyer.
What a bunch of $^%&#!!! It demonstrates just how little they think of the staff at LANL by making this choice. It's so typical of the total rot that infects the LANS upper management team.
May 26, 2011 4:16 PM
I caught that also. What was so wrong with the process that they had to get legal to clear the words? Is there some truth that the deal was set before the show interviews were held? I predict a future POGO defense.
May 27, 2011 5:37 PM
This is at the feet of UC, bending over for Bechtel. This travesty cannot go unanswered by the LANL employees, who should be staging a work slowdown, stoppage, malicious compliance with safety and security rules, sickout, whatever it takes to show disgust and rejection of this new "leader." This cannot be allowed to stand! Enough with the cronyism garbage! Are you listening, Pattiz, you jerk?
Didn't that start about 15 years ago?
Didn't that start about 15 years ago?
May 27, 2011 9:26 PM
18 years ago, when "stewardship" replaced testing.
May 31, 2011 10:46 PM
... after an "exhaustive search" of all the more highly qualified applicants for the job by the LANS Board, of course.