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ELLEN O. TAUSCHER NAMED TO LAWRENCE LIVERMORE, LOS ALAMOS BOARDS OF GOVERNORS
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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, capabilities and strategic plans to address these issues. “We are very pleased to welcome Ellen Tauscher to the Boards of Governors of LANS and LLNS,” Pattiz said. “Ms. Tauscher has a distinguished record as a seven-term member of Congress with expertise in national security matters, a former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, and as an investment banker. She is respected by the national and international arms control communities, by members of Congress, and by the business community. She will add greatly to our Boards and the national laboratories.” “I am honored to serve on the LLNS and LANS Boards of Governors and use the expertise gained over 35 years serving in the Congress, the State Department and the private sector to support the national security mission and critical science initiatives at both laboratories,” said Tauscher.
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Asked about her views of the nuclear stockpile and the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program, Tauscher reiterated her support for the RRW.
“What I want to have is the smallest, most capable weapons stockpile that we can have without testing and that’s congruent with the nuclear test ban treaty, but that also creates the opportunity for us to retain and recruit the best scientists, that’s much more environmentally friendly and that meets our strategic goals,” she said. “What RRW could be is the chance to transfer the complex, get us a dramatic decrease in the number of weapons we need to maintain.”
Tauscher went on to detail how politics and the context of the discussion about RRW have led to misperceptions. In the eyes of many people in Washington, she said, “RRW quickly became a new weapon.”
Drawing an analogy of an automobile, Tauscher said refurbishing a car with new exhaust system, brakes, locks and safety features does not make a new car. “It’s still the same car.”
“The fences I put around RRW a few years ago were no new mission and no change in yield. We’re not creating a new weapon,” Tauscher said.
No, she's saying it leaves you with the same chopping ability.
Sigh. When Congress goes on about 'new weapon', they mean 'weapon with a new military capability'. Freshly created hardware is more palatable if it essentially replicates existing, but currently aging, capability.
Remember that most politicians have ethics in that they know right from wrong, it is just that morals are often absent in that they do wrong when doing right is an available option. Not at all suggesting that this is the case here, but there are lots of examples to demonstrate the behaviour.
Okay that makes sense. She just poorly articulated what she meant in support of RRW, and the ineffective and confusing examples and analogies she used doesn't help. These politicians really need better science advisors and staffers.
It can, but Allis Chalmers will do the job more reliably.