LLNL - The True Story -

Anonymously contributed: -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.lamonitor.com/content/workers-exposed-radiation

Anonymously contributed: ------------------------ The debate about whether or not NIF is an engineering wonder or a physics failure is interesting, but unimportant. No matter how elegant the engineering, if the physics can't be done, the end result is failure and the engineering but a sterile accomplishment. There is a stunningly accurate historical precedent for NIF, the Spruce Goose. Conceived as an essential wartime tool, built by an exceptional engineer, wildly over cost, delivered late, and wholly irrelevant to the mission by the time it was completed. Moreover, technology passed it by and it was a complete dead end, despite its true elegance. Interestingly, the characteristics of their leaders are quite similar as well. The Wikipedia summary on the Spruce Goose is recommended as a management case history.

Anonymously contributed: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ELLEN O. TAUSCHER NAMED TO LAWRENCE LIVERMORE, LOS ALAMOS BOARDS OF GOVERNORS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 27, 2012 – Norman J. Pattiz, chairman of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) and Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS), today announced that the Honorable Ellen O. Tauscher has been named as an independent governor on the LLNS and LANS Boards of Governors. The LLCs manage Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., and Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, NM, respectively, for the U.S. Department of Energy. The appointments take effect September 17. Tauscher also has been appointed as a member of the LANS/LLNS Boards’ Mission Committee. The Mission Committee serves in an advisory role to review current and future national security issues and Laboratory initiatives, capabi...

Anonymously contributed: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Moses will tender his resignation Oct 1. He has been caught funneling contracts to family members.

Anonymously contributed: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Seems like the ProForce officers at Y-12 in fact responded correctly. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Fired Y-12 guard claims he's a scapegoat for embarrassing security breach; says there was no need to rough up peace protesters -- A security police officer said he was fired because he apparently wasn't rough enough with protesters during the July 28 predawn break-in at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge. Fifty-two-year-old Kirk Garland, who has decades of experience at high-security U.S. Department of Energy installations, said he's being used as a scapegoat for an embarrassing breach that was not of his doing...He said he did not pull his gun or take other physical actions immediately because that wasn't necessary. He said he quickly established they were pacifist protesters, in part because of the messages spray-painted ...

Anonymously contributed: ================================================================= Stephen Young, Washington representative and senior analyst Union of Concerned Scientists August 20, 2012 ================================================================= http://allthingsnuclear.org/dod-doe-agreement/

Excerpt from Article in SF Chronicle Anonymously contributed: ================================================================= Livermore Lab Ignition Facility's woes David Perlman Updated 11:02 p.m., Friday, August 17, 2012 ============================================================ Panel sees progress The technical review committee for the National Ignition Facility, headed by physicist Alvin Trivelpiece, retired director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, said the Livermore scientists had indeed made progress since the panel's most recent review in February 2011. "The NIF is operating in a stable, reliable, predictable and controllable manner," the committee said, and has made "extraordinary progress toward challenging goals." But the Livermore scientists won't reach the "milestone" of achieving ignition this fiscal year, the experts said, and added: "The committee is concerned that this milestone ... may not be t...

Can the leaders help? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Anonymously contributed: Can the LLNS and LANS LLCs with majority partner UC modify their practices to be more efficient for employees? Right now, LANS and LLNS employees suffer from higher insurance rates and less choices because they are part of small, older employee pools. Can UC leaders tweek the relationships with the LLCs so that the employees can join the larger pools without risk to other pool members to gain better economies of scale? Signficant savings might result to employees as the economies of scale are distributed. Is this possible? Is there a leader out there who can make this happen? Drell? Garamendi? Mara? Chu? Schultz? Blum?

Anonymously contributed: ================================================================================== Is there any truth to the rumor that UC is in the process of dropping its membership in either or both LLCs as its financial hardships worsen.

Scooby's note: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This was comment elsewhere in the BLOG that deserves to be seen as a new post. Awful what LLNS is doing! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anonymously contributed: Kaiser is a hero in this mess. Hewitt/BofA/LLNS etc. failed to process my application for several months after my Kaiser coverage expired, despite my requests months in advance, and REPEATED requests to all parties for help. Hewitt's (aka AON Hewitt) favorite response is that they will "Research" the issue, which is their code for GAK: "Go Away, Kid." They almost never get back to you, much less "within 10 business days." Kaiser, after several calls over months, said that they had seen this many times from LLNS, and had faith that LLNL would eventually make this right, even months late, so they provided me temporary coverage while ...

Anonymously contributed: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Another stunner: B&W Y-12 slapped with 'show cause notice' that could bring down Oak Ridge contractor" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the wake of last month's stunning security breach at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, the federal government issued a "show cause notice" to managing contractor B&W Y-12. The stern order, which was issued Aug. 10, requires the plant's contractor to explain why its contract should not be terminated. It underscores why drastic personnel changes -- including the removal of three top executives at B&W -- have taken place in recent days to address the security concerns. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2012/08/another-stunner-bw-y-12-slappe.html

POGO wants Chu on the chopping block over NNSA security lapses ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2012/08/by-peter-stockon-and-lydia-dennett-as-the-saying-goes-the-fish-rots-from-the-head-down-this-is-certainly-the-case-at.html

Anonymously contributed: ================================================================================ Donald J. Kintzer named to the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos Boards of Governors LOS ALAMOS, NM, August 9, 2012—Norman J. Pattiz, chairman of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) and Los AlamosNational Security, LLC (LANS), has named Donald J. Kintzer as an Independent Governor on the LLNS and LANS Boards of Governors. The LLCs manage Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., and Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, NM, respectively, for the U.S. Department of Energy. The appointments take effect September 1. Mr. Kintzer assumes the positions previously held by Nicholas G. Moore who is stepping down effective August 31, 2012. Mr. Kintzer also has been appointed chair of the LANS/LLNS Boards of Governors’ Ethics and Audit Committee effective September 1. The Ethics and Audit Committee serves in an advisoryrole to the boards on the integr...

Rectel does not discriminate and hate the Retirees Group. They hate EVERYONE equally, (except maybe for their mgmt.) For years LLNL provided information about medical and other benefits to the LLNL Retirees, then Rectel established the most complicated system imaginable: You had to get Hewitt to tell B of A to request the funds from LLNS, then to be sent to Kaiser or whatever medical program you had. They changed companies often and for no reason. Each company had different and conflicting rules, deadlines, bureaucracy, with employees who did not know the systems, and no incentive to perform. It appears the idea is that some people will get lost in the paperwork, and LLNS will pocket their medical costs. When the LLNL Retirees requested a speaker or several speakers, Rectel just stonewalled. Then they told the LLNL Retirees that they could not help retirees.

Lab Retirees Form New Group Independent Newspaper August 10, 2012 12:00 am | By Janet Armantrout +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Concerns over the ability to speak out on issues, particularly health care, has led the Lab Retirees Association to separate from Livermore Laboratory Employees Service Association (LLESA). Livermore Laboratory Retirees Association (LLRA) declared its independence on July 24. In a letter sent to the Lab , the new association wrote that they believe the Lab had redefined the group’s role. A letter from Goodman sent last October stated that the primary purpose of the retirees association as “social in nature.” He continued, “Members of the Retiree Group should not give advice on health benefit coverage or any other benefits to other retirees.” Carole Hilton, chairman of LLRA, pointed out that the by-laws ratified in 2001 have been on file with LLESA. She said that the purpose of the retirees assoc...

Anonymoulsy contributed: ================================================================================= http://nnsa.energy.gov/aboutus/ouroperations/apm/majcontrsolicitation/snlkcpcomp

Anonymously contributed: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- House Lawmakers Appeal To Chu To Protect National Ignition Facility ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A bipartisan group of 100 House lawmakers is appealing to Energy Secretary Steven Chu to preserve funding for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility. The facility has been beset by complications in its quest to achieve fusion ignition and after the facility missed a key milestone at the end of June, the National Nuclear Security Administration acknowledged that it was unlikely that the lab would achieve fusion ignition by the promised target of the end of the fiscal year. A potential $30 million funding cut in Fiscal Year 2013 and a change in the way overhead rates are charged for the facility that would further cut into its budget has the lawmakers—led by California Democrats Pete Stark and Zoe Lofgren and Ohio R...

Huge security shake-up at Y-12; Secretary Chu announces suspension of guards, relocation of key security managers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Energy Secretary Steven Chu released a statement this evening outlining a series of stiff personnel actions -- including suspension of guards and reassignment of key federal and contractor managers -- taken by the federal agency to deal with the unprecedented security breach by antiwar activists and other problems at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. The statement also says that Glenn Podonsky, the department's chief of Health, Safety and Security, will conduct a separate investigation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2012/08/huge-security-shake-up-at-y-12.html

By Jay Davis, ========================================================================================== I noticed an August 2nd entry that needs correction on the record. I did many things for the Lab in my 31 years there: RTNS-II, CAMS, heading the Woodruff Grievance Panel, and service in Iraq and at DTRA. However, I had nothing to do with the departure of Moses and his coterie fifteen years go. If that was done by a Davis, it must have been Jim Davis, who had been their supervisor for over a decade and who presumably had the information and leverage to make that possible. I did work with that group for 17 months on AVLIS in the 82'-84' period and found it a searing and shattering experience, both personally and professionally -- and I am not a delicate flower. I fortunately have never experienced such personalities or behaviors since. Unlike many, I was able to rehabilitate myself within the Laboratory, for which I am eternally grateful to John Nuckolls. As CAMS was t...

Anonymously contributed: ============================================================================ Making up LLNL shortfalls on the employees backs. LLNS-SOP Ed's Moses making up his operational shortfalls on the backs of the workers once again as he views each slave worth $300K. The shortage of $162M in taxes, $82M - $100M LLNS slush fund fees, $80M to be contributed to TCP-1 pension plan to assure it's funded at 100% as those who make the big bucks retire early to assure they get "theirs". There's also the possibility of another $30M cut in operational funding of which has to come from somewhere and guess who’s going to suffer the brunt. It won’t be managers I’ll assure you. They're God’s gift to creation aka The Untouchables. Sum of problem = $225M +#30M / $300K, 750 + bodies in the streets before Dec 31st 2012, quietly please, say sheeee .

Anonymously contributed: ============================================================================= Pentagon Official Casts Doubt On Possible Move Of Major NNSA Projects To DOD Weapons Complex Monitor August 2, 2012 ============================================================================ House authorizers went too far in drafting language that would move the National Nuclear Security Administration’s two biggest projects, the Uranium Processing Facility and the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility, to the Pentagon, according to a senior Department of Defense official. Speaking at a Capitol Hill Club breakfast event yesterday, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters Steve Henry said the Pentagon sees the value in treating the facilities as military construction projects, but did not favor completely absorbing the projects. Language in the House-passed version of the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Authorization Act would move management of ...

Anonymously contributed: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Escalating cost estimates for the B61 Life- Extension Program threaten to make the new B61-12 bomb the most expensive ever. . By Hans M. Kristensen The disclosure during yesterday’s Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing that the cost of the B61 Life Extension Program (LEP) is significantly greater that even the most recent cost overruns calls into question the ability of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to manage the program and should call into question the B61 LEP itself. If these cost overruns were in the private sector, heads would roll and the program would probably be canceled. At the hearing yesterday, Senator Dianne Feinstein revealed that NNSA recently told her that the $4 billion cost estimate they provided in the FY2011 Stockpile Stewardship Management Plan was too low and that they would need $4 billion more to complete the program. Two month...

Anonymously contributed: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oak Ridge uranium plant shut after protesters breach 4 fences and reach building he said the three, identified as Megan Rice, 82, Michael Walli, 63 and Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, were being held in custody and appeared for a hearing before a U.S. magistrate judge in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Thursday. Barfield forwarded a statement from the group in which it said the activists had passed through four fences and walked for "over two hours" before reaching the uranium storage building, on which they hung banners and strung crime-scene tape. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/02/13092159-oak-ridge-uranium-plant-shut-after-protesters-breach-4-fences-reach-building?lite

Anonymously contributed: From The Mercury News: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21222452/livermore-lab-loses-two-key-leaders

ANonymously contributed: from LLNL Newsline... Diaz de la Rubia stepping down as S&T deputy director 08/02/2012 Following a successful 23-year career as a scientist, senior manager and leader at the Laboratory, Dr. Tomas Diaz de la Rubia is stepping down from his post as Deputy Director for Science and Technology to pursue other opportunities. He has agreed to remain with the Laboratory for a period of time to assist in the transfer of his duties and responsibilities. "We wish to thank him for his years of dedicated service in the national interest," Lab Director Parney Albright said.

Anonymously contributed: NNSA budget not credible A sample of the findings from the opening page: "NNSA does not thoroughly review budget estimates before it incorporates them into its proposed annual budget. Instead, NNSA relies on informal, undocumented reviews of such estimates" "Additionally, according to NNSA officials, the agency’s trust in its contractors minimizes the need for formal review of its budget estimates." "this process is not sufficiently thorough to ensure the credibility and reliability of NNSA’s budget" Full report for your reading (or burning) pleasure: ---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/593152.pdf