LLNL - The True Story -

Anonymoulsy contributed: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapons Complex Monitor September 27, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DOE IG Finds no Problems with Livermore Strategy to Maintain Guard Force ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Retention bonuses paid to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory guards to keep them at the site as it downsized its security posture were reasonable, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said in a report released yesterday. The IG said it investigated claims that the lab experienced “excessive” security costs while it maintained security to protect Category I/II special nuclear material, but it found no problem with $15.2 million in retention bonuses distributed from Fiscal Year 2010 to FY 2012 that helped the site maintain its guard force. The NNSA said Friday that it had completely removed spe...

Anonymously contributed: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Livermore Lab downsizing its security Modesto Bee Staff Reports Tuesday, Sep. 25, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LIVERMORE -- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is downsizing its security staff now that the last of the highest-level special nuclear material has been removed from the research center. The lab filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act reduction in force notice this month, which reported that 126 employees were being let go as a result of the changes. The layoffs will only affect members of the lab's security work force who are no longer needed or funded because of the center's nuclear status changes. Those include police officers, police sergeants and health-safety technologists. The first voluntary separations will take place this month and the final involuntary separa...

Anonymously contributed: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A picture is worth a thousand words... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- see GRAPH

Anonymously contributed: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABQ Journal update on CMRR funding ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A budget bill approved by the Senate on Saturday and headed to President Barack Obama’s desk contains no money for a multi-billion plutonium project at Los Alamos National Laboratory, prompting cheers from nuclear weapons activists. But the yearlong congressional debate over the future of the Chemistry Metallurgy Research Replacement Facility isn’t over. http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2012/09/25/news/no-funds-for-lanl-project-in-senate-bill.html

Anonymously contributed: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Interesting, this may have legs, lucky for LLNL that Cat I/II SNM is now gone... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pentagon should take over nuclear plant security: lawmaker September 21, 2012 - Roberta Rampton - Reuters ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Defense Department should take over security for U.S. nuclear weapons sites after a nuclear complex was broken into with ease in July by an 82-year-old nun and two other peace activists, a top lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Friday. Mike Turner, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services panel that oversees the Energy Department's nuclear weapons complex, has drafted legislation to put the U.S. military in charge of protecting facilities like the Y-12 complex in Oak Ridge, Te...

Anonymously contributed: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Superblock can now save on guard costs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Was this really from today's internal posting? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Friday announced that the last of the Security Category I/II special nuclear material items that required the highest level of security at the Laboratory have been removed. LLNL's primary mission will continue to be to ensure the safety, security and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile, but this mission will now be performed with a small quantity of special nuclear material, resulting in annual cost savings for taxpayers of approximately $40 million. "We're always looking for ways to improve the way we do business," said NNSA Administrator Thomas D...

Anonymously contributed: ====================================================================================== Article About NIF Woes in Science Magazine: Ignition Facility Misses Goal, Ponders New Course Science, Vol 337, 21 September 2012 Issue, Published by AAAS ======================================================================= It includes some very well done photos of the facility. ======================================================================= Excerpts: The National Ignition Facility (NIF), a $3.5 billion laser fusion lab in California, looks certain to miss its deadline at the end of this month for achieving ignition... By law, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), part of the U.S. Department of Energy, has until 60 days after the deadline to produce a report explaining what barriers to ignition remain, how they can be overcome, and what implications there are for the stockpile... Managers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the home...

Anonymously contributed: Parney - Part II... As I said, 'neither I nor the Lab can respond to every rumor, nor can we predict when things will go viral. Neither can I nor anyone from the Lab lend credibility to these sites. There is an old political saying: "Those who know ain't talking, and those who are talking don't know." In most cases, the source of a rumor - particularly a blatant falsehood - has an agenda. If you go on these sites - and I won't discourage you if you do (since, as I said, they can sometimes be absurdly funny) - you should see them for what they are. The posts are not reliable sources of information. The posters are in no position to know the facts. The "facts" are almost never factual, whether they are about personnel, management, or whatever. Of course, this raises the question about whether I should be completely transparent. I fully understand that when information is absent, it creates a vacuum where any story can get t...

From Newsline from an anonymous contributor: ========================================================================= Parney - Part I =================================================================================== Caveat emptor: blog posts, rumors, and misinformation LLNL Newsline - 09/19/2012 ==================================================================================== I'd like to take a little time to discuss a subject that is a bit different from the usual fare, and I think important. The Lab has many attributes. It is the place where some of the most talented people on the planet work in service to the nation. It is the home to many unique, best-in-the-world capabilities. It is a place with a long history of accomplishment, and of advances yet to come. It is also a collection of diverse people, a dynamic social web of interactions - with each other and with the world in which we are embedded. Hence, all the trappings of being human are part of t...

Anonymously contributed: ======================================================================= I have seen people leave LLNL, some of them talented, some mediocre (not a judgment but the truth!). Recently, the best software developer in our department announced his departure. No incentives to keep him. He is essentially getting the same treatment as the mediocre people. Difference between excellence and mediocrity is 0. Question to upper management: is talent retention achievable? Hint: look in the mirror when you answer!

Anonymously contributed: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stimson report on NWC costs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is 70 pages of report, but they have a method that makes more sense than the ouija board that NNSA appears to pull out at budget time. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.stimson.org/images/uploads/research-pdfs/RESOLVING_FP_4_no_crop_marks.pdf

Anonymously contributed: ------------------------------------------------ 'Extensive' Oversight of Nuclear Weapons Facilities Not Such a Bad Idea, After All, Official Says ------------------------------------------------ POGO's take on last week's hearings: ------------------------------------------------------------- 'The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has considered DOE, and later NNSA, a “high risk of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement” since 1990. The NNSA has not resolved its “long-standing management problems,” according to the prepared testimony of GAO’s Mark Gaffigan. A pending House defense bill would weaken the government’s ability to oversee nuclear facilities. “In our view, the problems we continue to identify in the nuclear security enterprise are not caused by excessive oversight, but instead result from ineffective oversight,” Gaffigan said.' http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2012/09/oversight_of_nuclear_weapons_facilities_not_a...

Anonymously contributed: ---------------------------------------------------------- B 61 cost looms large in overall budget crunch. ------------------------------------------------------- Washington Post is on a roll recently, must be an election year. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/the-b61-bomb-a-case-study-in-needs-and-costs/2012/09/16/494aff00-f831-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_story.html

Anonymously contributed: ======================================================================================== Interesting comments in the Nuclear Weapons & Material Monitor (Todd Jacobson - 9/14/12) on last week’s Congressional Y-12 hearings… ======================================================================================== The Department of Energy has not gone far enough in its response to the July security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle argued this week, with some suggesting at a pair of hearings that more accountability is needed within the top ranks of DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration. The impacts on the NNSA could be felt in both the short and long-term, with several lawmakers pushing—albeit indirectly—for the removal of key DOE and NNSA officials and House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Michael Turner (R-Ohio) suggesting more drastic changes may be needed to the struct...

Anonymously contributed: ============================================================================================ From the Weapons Complex Monitor September 17, 2012 ============================================================================================ White House Issues Report Detailing Sequestration Impacts ==================================================================================== The White House late last week issued a Congressionally required report outlining just how much of an impact the looming funding cuts set to occur in early 2013 known as sequestration will have on federal programs, including those overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. According to the report, the NNSA’s weapons activities would be cut by 9.4 percent, or $678 million based largely on current funding levels. The NNSA’s nonproliferation activities would also be cut by 9.4 percent, or $216 million. F...

Anonymously contributed ======================================================================================= This is a long story, containing some insight as well as inaccuracies. Worth the time to read for those of you that are immersed in living it every day. ======================================================================================== http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-nuclear-arsenal-is-ready-for-overhaul/2012/09/15/428237de-f830-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_story.html

Anonymously contributed: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ So as a taxpayer, would someone please tell me what the value of NNSA oversight and bureaucratic rules are really worth!? Keeping in mind that at the time of the review cited in this report, NNSA was directing managing and overseeing the WSI security contract at Y-12... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Knox News NNSA touted Y-12's security -- until the breach Posted by Frank Munger on September 13, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The government's most recent performance evaluation of its security contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant gave no hint of the broad security failures that were to be revealed a short time later by the July 28 break-in and subsequent investigations. In the report for the six-month period ending March 31, 2012, WSI-Oak Ridge -- also known as Wack...

Anonymously contributed: ========================================================================================= Unbelievable. Just unbelievable that anyone in Congress, from either political party, is so tone deaf that they would even remotely consider a NWC budget increase in light of the recent Y-12 and LANL safety and security debacles. ======================================================================================== "WASHINGTON (AP) - As its last major act before leaving Washington for the fall campaign, the House is voting to put the government on autopilot for six months. ================================================================================== The temporary spending bill is needed to avert a government shutdown when the current budget year expires Sept. 30. At issue are the day-to-day operating budgets of Cabinet agencies that are funded annually by Congress through 12 appropriations bills." ========================================================...

Anonymously contributed: ================================================================================== I hate to admit it, but as a 20 year employee at the Lab I have to agree with this group’s conclusion… ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frank Munger’s Atomic Cite Underground September 12, 2012 ===================================================================================== Peace group says kill the NNSA ==================================================================================== The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance today said the time has come to get rid of the National Nuclear Security Administration, saying it's an unnecessary and expensive layer of management and rife with problems. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "In light of persistent management failures, documented by the General Accounting Office, the (Defense) Nuclear Facilities Safety Boar...

Anonymously contributed: ============================================================================== GAO gives failing marks to NNSA at House Oversight Committee hearing ============================================================================== http://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/files/Hearings/OI/20120912/HHRG-112-IF02-WState-GaffiganM-20120912.pdf

Anonymously contributed: ============================================================================================ DOE was warned - twice - in 2010 about Y-12 security issues. How many other safety and security warnings have been ignored by DOE in the past four years? ============================================================================================ http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/security-lapses-at-nuclear-complex-identified-two-years-before-break-in/2012/09/11/7cd3d5fa-fc5e-11e1-a31e-804fccb658f9_story.html?hpid=z4

Anonymously contributed: ========================================================================================= Federal travel restrictions will hamper innovation, stunt economic growth By B.Z. Shakhashiri, American Chemical Society and R.Byer, American Physical Society - 09/10/12 ========================================================================================= Scientific and medical research conducted in our nation’s laboratories and agencies that sustains national defense, addresses health challenges and develops energy security could be severely hampered under new rules imposed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Legislation pending on Capitol Hill, such as H.R. 4631, the Government Spending Act, could go even further with new requirements. OMB has ordered federal agencies to reduce travel and meeting expenses by 30 percent in fiscal year 2013. Its directive also requires senior-level administrative staff to review the costs of participating in meetings tha...

Anonymously contributed: ============================================================================================ ‘Dirty bomb’ threat at hospitals remains, GAO report says By Anne Gearan, Published: September 10 The Washington Post =========================================================================================== Nearly four out of five high-risk hospitals nationwide have failed to implement safeguards to secure radiological material that could be used in a “dirty bomb,” according to a draft report by congressional investigators. Eleven years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks focused attention on the possibility that terrorists could use crude nuclear devices, the analysis by the Government Accountability Office described numerous instances of failure to secure highly radioactive material at hospitals. “Medical facilities currently are not required to take any specific actions to make sure these materials are safe, and many have very sloppy practices, which is remarka...

Anonymously contributed: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NNSA stalls again on PF-4 safety ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Honorable Peter S. Winokur Chairman Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board 625 Indiana Avenue NW, Suite 700 Washington, D.C. 20004 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 6, 2012 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mr. Chairman: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This letter is in reference to your June 18, 2012, letter concerning the Documented Safety Analysis for the Plutonium Facility. The Board requested a report and briefingwithin30daysaddressingtheirconcerns. OnJuly13,2012,Iresponded that an additional 45 days was needed to develop a response to address the B...

Anonymously contributed: ================================================================================ The following link is internal: =================================================================================== https://pao-int.llnl.gov/news/peoplegrouphighlights/2012/Sep/NR-12-09-03.html ====================================================================================== This posting is about the use of science and “expertise” to carry out agendas. I believe the subject article, which probably is only accessible from within LLNL, is an example of intellectual honesty. The thesis is that wind power from the ground can hardly dent the energy needs of the country or the modern worlds energy needs. That’s fine, even though politically incorrect, it is somewhat verifiable, and serves as an example of what I believe has been the largest “con game” in history. Predicting the weather reliably has eluded meteorologist for years. Perhaps the most reliable predictions came...

Anonymous said... Hey Scooby, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Why are the "not a robot" things getting so ridiculous lately? My old eyes are not up to them anymore. What problem are they solving? Besides making your readers more pissed off at you than usual, I mean? If Blogger offers you no choice than to use them, who do we complain to? (I mean a real person). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 6, 2012 9:19 PM ======================================================================================= scooby said... can you be more specific. I dont know what you are talking about. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 7, 2012 4:04 PM ====================================================================================== Anonymous Anonymous said... When people want to submit a comment...

Anonymously contributed: Interested in hearing about this "Old Rad Lab" moonshine I've heard about from multiple sources now. Really a more lighthearted topic from the old old days of the Lab. So long ago that I am sure it is beyond any statute of limitation so people should feel open to tell us about it. Was it any good? What kind of setup was involved? Any photos of stills, old jugs or labels? Did Feynman or Teller get a taste of it?

Anonymously contributed: ==================================================================== Y-12 guards given answer sheets for inspection security tests! =================================================================== The debacle is going from bad to worse as the days go by. When will it hit bottom? The following is from Frank Munger's news site on Oak Ridge: 'The U.S. Department of Energy tonight confirmed that inspectors from DOE's Office of Health, Safety and Security -- at Y-12 last week to conduct a major top-to-bottom security review -- found copies of security quizzes and answers and other inspection-related materials in one of the plant's patrol cars. There were indications that the sensitive papers, which had been sent to Oak Ridge in advance by encrypted email to make sure they were valid for testing, had been copied and apparently were being distributed to help guards pass the critical reviews that involve basic security knowledge, pro...

Anonymously contributed: ===================================================== Hey this is the way of the world now. It is not called cheating it is called a learning collaboration. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/01/education/students-of-harvard-cheating-scandal-say-group-work-was-accepted.html Harvard students suspected in a major cheating scandal said on Friday that many of the accusations are based on innocent — or at least tolerated — collaboration among students, and with help from graduate-student teachers who sometimes gave them answers to test questions.

Anonymously contributed: Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board no longer to meet with Cook There must be more to this than a mere shuffling of the organization chart. =========================================================================== --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "September 5, 2012 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board 625 Indiana Avenue NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20004 ============================================================================= Dear Dr. Winokur: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since I was confirmed by the Senate as the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs in June 2010, I have been meeting with you and other members of the Board on a regular basis. A series of organizational changes within NNSA has been made over the past year. In September 2011, the position of Associate Administrator for Acquisitio...

Savannah River asks employees to retire --------------------------------------------------------------- The downsizing continues across DOE. As the budgets follow downward projections and the FTE costs continue trending upward, the crossing point is being reached site by site across the entire NWC. ------------------------------------------------------------- http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/business/local-business/2012-08-31/savannah-river-site-contractor-asks-more-voluntary-layoffs?v=1346445892

Anonymously contributed: ------------------- During the past 18 months the prime construction contract supporting LLNS, commonly known as Labor Only, was re-competed. In fairness, that process was kept extremely close to the vest which reflects kudos to the leadership managing the process as this was a contentious topic. The standard lab factoid leakage did not occur; if this is a business example of Bechtel Management, it reflects high integrity on communication control. A small business leader participation was required for the bid. Lots of contract details, more then I or any non-participant truly know; what is known is that hundreds of millions of dollars of government construction work was on the line. In the end, no surprise, a Team comprised of Akima and Jacobs won the competitive bid. Why no surprise? Who is Akima? From the web I quote ....."Akima, LLC is a $1.2 billion holding company with 5,600 employees worldwide. Akima, LLC is uniting the strengths of t...

Anonymously contributed: ------------------------------------------ Grasping the Secrity Problems at Y12 ------------------------------------------ There were so many problems that contributed to the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant that the Inspector General had to lump them into categories just to keep them organized. Some things in the investigation report released Friday were almost incredible. For instance: In the predawn morning, after three Plowshares protesters had cut through security fences and entered the Protected Area without resistance, the activists hung banners, spray-painted messages, and used a hammer to bang against a wall of the plant's uranium storage facility. Inside the fortress-like facility, security guards just assumed the noise was coming from maintenance workers. Guards later told investigators they often weren't told about scheduled maintenance. They said it wasn't unusual for workers to just show up -- even in the ...

Anonymously contributed: ----------------------- What do you think of Tomas' replacement?