LLNL - The True Story -

It started December 10th 2007 and has been going since. It was inspired by the defunct "LANL the real story" blog. Best wishes to all the visitors (including those from DOE). It is you who kept it alive! After 4 full years, we all learned that privatization of the National Labs has been a fiasco and hope congress fixes the problem as eagerly as they voted for privatization. May 2012 be a prosperous and healthy year for all of us! Scooby

Anonymously contributed: Has anyone heard the numbers of employees who retired by the end of December at Sandia? As their retirement program was changing effective Jan 1 2012, I heard they expected about 1,000 employees to retire in 2011 before the new formula took effect. I'm wondering if any of the Sandia employees will be applying at LLNL.

In the past year, there has been so much commentary on Knapp and McMillan. Nothing but negative, sometimes hateful comments. I feel the Blog has been taken over by LANL Knapp and McMillan haters. This is repelling LLNL readers and probably a good percentage of LANLs readers as well. To those who rejoice in hating those 2 dudes, I have a message: I don't know Knapp and McMillan,I don't know you and I dont know how bad the situation is but it seems to me that using the BLOG in such an nonconstructive manner is a poor use of the BLOG. I am posting a poll asking whether this is true. If the poll says so, I will no longer post anything having to do with Knapp and McMillan and will delete anything mentioning them. Scooby

Anonymously contributed: I am sorry for the delay, contributor; your suggestion somehow went to the BLOG's SPAM box and I noticed just today. Lab earns excellent marks for FY11 performance LLNL Newsline 12/16/2011 On Dec. 6, the Livermore Site Office (LSO) released its Performance Evaluation Report with its assessment of our Laboratory's performance for fiscal year 2011. I am pleased to report that the Laboratory earned ratings of "outstanding" in Mission and "very good" in both Operations and Institutional Management. In addition, for the third consecutive year, the Laboratory earned the award term incentive for contract extension. The "excellent" rating for Mission reflected LLNL's numerous achievements in applying science and technology to meet critical national security needs. LSO noted that the Laboratory "met or exceeded nearly all of the performance targets, evaluation criteria, and milestones" associated with prog...

DANBURY, Conn. (AP) — For more than a decade they toiled in the strange, boxy-looking building on the hill above the municipal airport, the building with no windows (except in the cafeteria), the building filled with secrets... Read more

With the holiday season upon us, I hope you will be able to spend time with the people that make your life happier and more meaningful. Whether it's an office get-together or family gathering, this is a special time for being with loved ones, family and friends. This is also a time of year that inspires us to look back on what we have accomplished together. Each day I'm impressed and humbled by the work you do for our country. The dedication you show to implementing the President's nuclear security agenda and keeping the American people safe is unmatched, and you have my deepest gratitude for the professionalism and thoughtfulness with which you do it. This year brought some of the most complex issues we have ever faced. From our response in Japan to the dismantlement of the last B53, you rose to the challenges that came our way and proved once again that NNSA has one of the most talented and diligent workforces in the Federal government. I know that 2012 will bring mor...

Anonymously contributed: Charlie "MIT" McMillan Holiday Message Not to be outdone by "Livermore" the following is our Holiday message from our "fearless" leader none other than Charlie "MIT" McMillan, a REAL leader (which he constantly reminds us), MIT PhD physics graduate (which he constantly reminds us), former LLNL employee and manager (which he constantly reminds us), weapon designer extraordinaire (which he constantly reminds us), the man responsible for bringing us Bret Knapp, our next LANS Director (which he ALWAYS reminds us) and our Savior from the recent Los Conchas Fire (which he constantly reminds us). He's the MAN! The first thing I’d like to say in this holiday message is "Thank you." What we have accomplished this year as a Laboratory—thanks to your creativity, innovation, and unwavering dedication to delivering on our commitments—is nothing short of amazing. We will gather with our families this holiday se...

Anonymously contributed: From Frank Munger's Column at the Knoxville News-Sentinel on Y-12: Y-12 squeezes benefits to save money B&W Y-12 so far as been able to avoid layoffs at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant or having to reduce payrolls through voluntary plans, but the federal contractor has taken a number of measures to trim costs and, like its counterpart (UT-Battelle) did recently at ORNL, B&W has changed some employee benefits to ease budget pressures. Y-12 employees were notified of the changes last week. In a statement, Y-12 General Manager Darrel Kohlhorst said, "In these uncertain budget times, we're continuously examining how we manage our business. We will continue to offer excellent benefits to employees, but managing benefits and absences differently will allow us to save money and save jobs." According to B&W Y-12 spokesman David Keim, salaried employees hired after the first of the year will now be eligible for "an enhanced ...

Anonymously contributed: Budget Deal Whacks LANL Nuke Lab Updated: Friday, 16 Dec 2011, 3:43 PM MST Published : Friday, 16 Dec 2011, 3:43 PM MST ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - The compromise budget bill approved by the U.S. House Friday slashes funding for and prohibits any site preparation work on a controversial new $6 billion nuclear facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The spending bill appropriates $200 million for the project this fiscal year, $100 million less than the administration had requested. It also notes that "no construction activities are funded for the project this year," and calls for a new report on the country's capability for manufacturing so-called pits, or the cores that power nuclear weapons. Watchdogs hailed the budget action as a sign Congress was backing it's calls for the National Nuclear Security Administration to slow down on plans to build the facility.

Anonymously contributed: Weapons Complex Monitor December 13, 2011 Final Version of Defense Auth. Bill Emerges From Conference The funding picture for the National Nuclear Security Administration became a lot clearer yesterday as House and Senate lawmakers unveiled the conference version of the Fiscal Year 2012 Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes $7.27 billion for the agency’s weapons program and allows the Department of Defense to transfer an additional $125 million. The bill also authorizes $2.33 billion for the NNSA’s nonproliferation account, $216.8 million less than the Obama administration’s $2.55 billion budget request. In setting the $7.27 billion funding level for the NNSA’s weapons program—$355 million less than the $7.6 billion that the House and Senate Armed Services Committee provided for the program, matching President Obama’s $7.6 billion request—lawmakers said they reflected the funding levels in the conference agreement on the FY2012 Energy and Water App...

Holiday wishes "Even as we prepare for the holidays, the New Year is just around the corner and directs our thoughts to the future. Daunting challenges are facing the nation, and our Laboratory's ability to anticipate, innovate, and deliver is more important than ever. LLNL's work really does make a difference to the nation's security and the well-being of its citizens. Our efforts are critical to maintaining the U.S. nuclear deterrent and reducing the threats of proliferation and terrorism. Experiments at NIF are blazing new territory in fundamental physics and leading the way toward a clean, carbon-free, virtually unlimited energy resource. Advances in high-performance computing are making it possible to tackle the "too hard" problems, like designing a smart energy grid or deciphering the myriad factors that affect global climate. Our unique capabilities are called upon not only to respond to urgent crises, such as the Fukushima reactor disaster, bu...

Anonymously contributed: Here's a man that's delusional self center to the max and obviously living in the world of OZ George Miller It has been a great privilege to have been a part of this extraordinary institution for nearly 40 years and to have had the opportunity to witness and be associated with the tremendous scientific and technical accomplishments that have helped to secure the future of our nation. These accomplishments are the direct result of your passion and creativity, your dedication and perseverance, your commitment to excellence and integrity, and your unwavering service to our nation. This Laboratory has always embraced big ideas and big challenges, and I believe that, right now, the country needs big ideas. The challenges facing our nation are significant, and I am convinced that the talents you bring to solving these challenges will result in the same kind of remarkable success that has marked the history of this Laboratory. I believe this is so beca...

anonymously contributed: Weapons Complex Monitor December 8, 2011 DOE Looks To Reduce Workforce By 1/3 Through Attrition, Buyouts The Department of Energy is looking to reduce its number of full time federal employees by up to a third from the current level of around 15,000, DOE Chief Human Capital Officer Mike Kane said at the Energy Facility Contractors Group semi-annual meeting yesterday. He said that the Department will have to tighten its belt as it anticipates major budget cuts. “Are you at a point where you can tell me that federal [Full Time Employees] are going to be preserved? The answer to that is no. There are going to be changes in employment in a number of programs,” Kane said, adding that at this point he does not anticipate involuntary layoffs, and that the reduction is instead taking place through buyouts, attrition and early retirement. Kane expects the Department to go down to about 12,000 employees by the end of the Fiscal Year, and to further reduce its work...

Anonymously contributed: Weapons Complex Monitor December 5, 2011 LANL Director Forms Panel To Oversee Spending Cuts With his lab facing a potential budget shortfall of $200 million, Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan has established a senior executive panel to oversee the lab’s belt tightening. McMillan said in a memo to employees last week that he was forming a Laboratory Integrated Stewardship Council that will be headed up by lab Executive Director Rich Marquez that will make staffing and spending decisions and approvals “in order to keep Laboratory spending in line with the budget realities we face.” The panel will include leaders from the lab’s five principal directorates: Alan Bishop (Science, Technology and Engineering), Bret Knapp (Weapons), Terry Wallace (Global Security), Carl Beard (Operations and Business), and Paul Henry (Capital Projects). McMillan said the panel would operate through the end of Fiscal Year 2012 and would make decisions for a...

Anonymously contributed: Two Elements Named: Livermorium and Flerovium Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience Staff Writer http://www.livescience.com/17287-element-names-flerovium-livermorium.html

Analyst Sees Lasting Damage To Los Alamos, Livermore Labs http://www.independentnews.com/news/article_dcc64e10-1c8b-11e1-b5c0-001871e3ce6c.html

Anonymously contributed: New Livermore Lab director Albright starts job San Francisco Business Times by Steven E.F. Brown Date: Friday, December 2, 2011, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory welcomed a new director, Penrose “Parney” Albright, on Thursday. Albright started work as the 11th director of the Department of Energy laboratory, taking over from the retiring George Miller. Besides being the lab’s director, Albright, a physicist, is president of Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC, the group that manages the lab. LLNS is a team of businesses, including San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., URS Corp., and the University of California. In the past, Albright oversaw global security at Livermore Lab, which hired him in 2009. He also was president of Civitas Group LLC, which studies the United States’ defenses against terrorism. He was Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in the past. Albright also designed an experiment that was carried int...

Anonymously contributed: Heard that Lab Benefits office is hinting that voluntary separations may be happening this spring. Anyone else hear this?