LLNL - The True Story -

I wish all the visitors and contributors of this BLOG a happy new year. 2013 will be the 6th year of this BLOG! I hope 2013 will bring a more positive outlook, a fresh attitude of tolerance and optimism to everyone. Together, let us uses this BLOG more constructively! Scooby

The real push back on moving nuclear weapons research and production work out of DOE to DOD has always come from the House and Senate congressional committees over the DOE (and its predecessor agencies). No one wants to give up such a large part of their territory to another committee. Also the committee prestige derived from overseeing the "crown jewels" national labs (LANL, LLNL, and SNL) and their combined Billion Dollar annual budgets. I still think there's a change that some change may come out of this latest congressional mandated review of NNSA. Everyone from the White House to Congress to the Lab Directors to the DOD customers recognizes that NNSA is broken. And as we've all read, even ex-NNSA leadership is saying its broken and not working the way Congress had intended. The only ones that remotely seem happy are the "for profit" contractor entities running the NNSA production sites, since they just have to follow NNSA orders without que...

This article will carry a lot of weight in the on-going debate, since the WWII era concept to create a separate agency just for nuclear issues was a creation of the Manhattan project scientists. Look for special interest groups to oppose the move, then look at what they stand to loose when it happens. The salary, perks and unchecked controls are relics of bygone times. http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/features/who-should-manage-the-nuclear-weapons-complex

Looks like more and more we will go over the cliff. What does that mean for LLNL, Sandia, and LANL

Happy Holidays everyone. I am certainly having a great time. Now that I have a bit of rest I have been thinking about what has changed over the last 25 yrs. I would say the big changes have been in the last 12 to 20 yrs. There have been many but the clearest to me has been in management and managers attitudes. This has been not just in change of managers (which I have seen a lot of) but also people I knew very well who changed over time in management. Years ago managers had varied styles and views but today it is pretty much the same view. Let me explain the current views. First there is this universal belief that management is very different from the workforce in that they are privy to the realities of the world and that the workforce is sheltered and simply does not understand the ways of the world. To be specific I am told consistently by managers that the non-managers have a naive view of the work world and believe that there is some inherent quantity called excellence, value, tr...

Does LANL get another chance? After the several well publicized failures this past year, will LANL get a contract extension from NNSA? Was one of Tom D's final acts to fix this? Anyone know the answer here? coment: Comment: LANS is doing a good job. Just look at their reward fee and compare it to what UC used to make.

10MJ to 2MJ: NIF and the background behind the justifications and margin for the current design. Many formerly at the lab have described a series of events that ultimately led to the current 2MJ design. From what was known at the time, 10MJ was the energy needed. That kind of energy is easy to deliver using high explosives, for example. But I'm confused as to how a much lower energy delivered by a method (laser) untested could be justified as having sufficient margins. Does 10MJ provide overly massive margins for ignition? Does anyone have open literature references for better explaining the decisions and events leading to the current design?

By Douglas P. Guarino Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON – The Senate on Friday approved a defense authorization bill for fiscal 2013 that would mandate construction of a new nuclear weapons laboratory and storage facility in New Mexico but that lacks many other controversial nuclear security provisions lawmakers considered earlier this year. The 81-14 Senate vote on the of legislation followed House approval of the latest version of the same bill on Thursday by a vote of 315-107. The bill authorizes – but does not appropriate -- $527.5 billion in base Defense Department spending, $88.5 billion for overseas operations, and $17.4 billion for defense-related nuclear programs managed by the Energy Department. The bill now goes to the White House for the president’s signature. Both chambers approved the measure without additional amendments to the conference committee version that resolved differences between the House and Senate defense bills.The legislation lacks many contr...

D'Agostino to resign in January Let the games begin! Who will be the new Administrator of NNSA? And, perhaps more importantly, will it matter one way or the other to LLNL? Comment: Steve Younger will be the one.

4 1/2 months after unprecedented break-in, there's still a hole in Y-12's fence This should be the end for the whole show. Chu, D'Agostino, Cook all should depart before the week is over and Congress should add a last minute rider to the defense bill to move the nuclear weapons complex to DoD. Representative Turner, where are you when the country is in need of quick and decisive action? http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2012/12/still-a-hole-in-y-12s-fence.html

Sequestration's fiscal cliff or not, LLNL employees report to work NEWSLINE 12/19/2012 The Laboratory will be open for normal business on Jan. 2, 2013, no matter what happens in the last days of 2012 in Washington with the FY13 budget between now and the deadline for sequestration (Jan. 1). Sequestration refers to a series of automatic, across-the-board spending cuts and tax hikes that will take place should the Congress and the Administration reach an impasse on its debt reduction plan. Every line item of the budget is impacted with no exceptions at present. All employees should plan to report to work as scheduled on Jan. 2. Any information on the impact of budget cuts or changes going forward as a result of reaching this "fiscal cliff" will be provided at a later date as soon as the Lab receives more guidance from the federal government reaction, stakeholders and other customers.

Weapons Complex Monitor December 19, 2012 Tauscher Favors More Autonomous NNSA Former Congresswoman and Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher weighed in on NNSA governance during a speech at the American Security Project yesterday, suggesting that she supported much of the reform language in the House and ultimately said she’d favor making NNSA an autonomous agency that reports to the Energy Secretary without the baggage of DOE bureaucracy. As a California Congresswoman [her district included LLNL], Tauscher was instrumental in creating the NNSA in 1999, and she said NNSA could be structured like NASA or the Securities Exchange Commission, with a link to the Energy Secretary and “understanding that this is so important that the President has to be involved at times, and maybe with a director that is somebody with a real pedigree that gets appointed, like the FBI director, for 10 years so that there’s not a question of in and out and up and down.”

Weapons Complex Monitor December 18, 2012 The House is expected to unveil the conference version of the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Authorization Act this evening, and it is likely to include language creating an advisory panel to review governance options for the National Nuclear Security Administration, NW&M Monitor has learned. During Senate consideration of the bill, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Tom Udall introduced an amendment to create the 12-member panel, largely to provide a compromise between Senate Democrats and House Republicans at odds over language targeted at reforming the NNSA in the House version of the bill. While it’s unclear how much of the House reform language survived conference negotiations, the panel would provide a means of pushing the debate into work on the Fiscal Year 2014 Defense Authorization Act. The House language would increase the autonomy of the NNSA in an effort to improve efficiency and productivity while also streamlining directives ...

I wonder if the lab could try to put pressure on scooby because these threads are probably making lab management uncomfortable, especially all of the posts that air out the lab's dirty laundry. Heavy handed methods are used to silence their own employees, but I don't know of an example where they actually had any power to silence people on the outside. But I wouldn't put it past the lab to try. Comment:    Anonymous said... Get a lawyer AND a publicist if it happens. This is the kind of stuff that should hit the news, if the lab is going to try to beat up on private citizens on top of all the lies and deception.

Good stuff here http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/fiscal-cliff-talks-prompt-new-call-curb-us-nuke-spending/ Fiscal Cliff" Prompts Fresh Push for U.S. Nuke Spending Cut WASHINGTON -- Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have revived a call for $100 billion in U.S. nuclear weapons spending reductions over 10 years as Congress pushes to enact $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions by the beginning of January. "Unchecked spending on nuclear weapons threatens to push us over the fiscal cliff," Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and 44 other House Democrats stated in a Dec. 4 letter to the top Democratic and Republican lawmakers in both chambers, citing the term popularly used to refer to the anticipated funding moves. "We know there is plenty of waste in the nuclear weapons budget." The lawmakers singled out plans to refurbish approximately 400 B-61 nuclear gravity bombs, a project expected to cost roughly $10 billion. They also cited the scheduled constructi...

Laser fusion put on slow burn The US National Ignition Facility rethinks its strategy on achieving thermonuclear fusion in the lab, but fails to silence critics. Geoff Brumfiel Nature 11 December 2012 The government's new plan, revealed to Nature, calls for a slower, more deliberate approach to achieving ignition: the point at which more energy is produced by a fusion reaction than is consumed. Many physicists believe that this would be an important proof of concept for controlled fusion. The plan sets a new course for the laser at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. It also promotes the exploration of several alternative ways to reach ignition, including one not involving the laser. And it is more tentative than the previous strategy: it sets a three-year deadline for finding out whether ignition is possible at all, whereas the last one aimed to demonstrate actual fusion... The US$3.5-billion NIF uses lasers to ...

Weapons Complex Monitor December 10, 2012 NAPA Study Of Nat’l Labs Recommend More Strategic Approach A forthcoming National Academy of Public Administration report concludes that the Department of Energy needs to be more strategic in how it manages its laboratories, DOE Office of Management Director Ingrid Kolb said last week at the Energy Facility Contractors Group semiannual meeting. NAPA is expected to release its Congressionally mandated study in January, but Kolb outlined the initial findings last week, noting that one of the group’s main recommendations will be to establish an external commission that would examine how the Department is strategically planning work done at the laboratories. The study was mandated by Fiscal Year 2012 omnibus appropriations legislation. “They particularly wanted to emphasize that the labs should be focused on work that supports national needs,” Kolb said. “They thought we were a little too focused on just the science world, just the NNS...

The Energy Department’s internal watchdog has identified more than $470 million in unresolved and unaudited spending at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, with much of the total dating to 2003. Deputy Inspector General Rickey R. Hass did not allege misuse of funds in the report Monday. Still, he said resolution of the reviews “ensures that costs charged to the government are allowable, makes certain that taxpayer’s money is spent wisely, and has the potential to free significant funds that would be better spent on Los Alamos' mission critical program activities.” The department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the laboratory, did not challenge the findings and pledged to resolve the outstanding cost questions by next year. A department spokesman offered no additional comment. Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/27/nearly-a-decade-later-los-alamos-still-hasnt-accou/#ixzz2Eja2xJgA

Greetings, Far-reaching changes in LLNL personnel policy go into effect this January 1, and Lab management has undergone an extensive campaign to “spin” these changes. In our December 2012 monthly memo ( http://www.upte.org/spse/ Dec2012MonthlyMemo1.pdf ) we discuss the changes and how they will affect you and the future of our Laboratory. We are also hosting one of our Noontime Talks on this subject this coming Wednesday, December 12, in building 453 Armadillo Room 1001. We invite you to attend, and bring your questions and comments. If you cannot attend our talk, please feel free to contact us directly: spse@spse.org 925-449-4846 Thanks, Riki Gay President-elect SPSE-UPTE Local 11

=== LANL Firm To Pay $10M === By John Fleck / Journal Staff - Wed, Dec 5, 2012 The contractor that runs Los Alamos National Laboratory is on the hook for $10 million as a result of construction management problems that mean the new security system at the lab’s primary plutonium site does not work, the lab and the National Nuclear Security Administration said in a joint statement issued late Tuesday. The $10 million will cover “potentially unallowable costs” incurred in construction of the $213 million security system built around the lab’s Technical Area 55 plutonium complex, where the dangerously radioactive metal is used in the manufacture of nuclear weapon parts. The money will come from Los Alamos National Security LLC, also known as LANS, a private company that is a partnership of Bechtel Corp., the University of California and a number of other firms. The company manages Los Alamos, a nuclear weapons research and manufacturing center, for the federal government. Th...

LANL Contractor To Pay $10 Million LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — The contractor that runs Los Alamos National Laboratory says it will pay $10 million to cover some of the costs for fixing a faulty $213 million security system. The Albuquerque Journal reports the money will cover “potentially unallowable costs” incurred in construction of the system, which was built around the only place in the country where nuclear weapon triggers can be made. Citing a joint statement from the lab and the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Journal says the money will come from Los Alamos National Security, the private contractor that runs the lab. Officials have estimated it will take an additional $41 million and another six months to fix the system, which was supposed to be up and running this summer.

National Ignition Facility seeks new cash David Perlman San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday, December 4, 2012 The elusive effort to mimic the explosive violence of hydrogen bombs inside Livermore's giant National Ignition Facility, long delayed, now faces intense scrutiny by a dollar-conscious Congress. The National Nuclear Security Agency in charge of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory says in a draft report to Congress that the lab's scientists should conduct at least three more years of experiments. An estimated $5 billion or more has been spent over the past 10 years to build and run the project called NIF, and current experiments are running at least $450 million a year. Congress had set the end of this year as the deadline for "ignition," as the goal is termed. Now the nuclear agency's report says the extension is needed for NIF scientists to consider two very different and untried technical approaches to the extraordinarily complex physics ...

Senate OKs Study of Nuclear Agency By Michael Coleman Albuquerque Journal Wed, Dec 5, 2012 WASHINGTON – Sen. Tom Udall’s push for a congressional study of the National Nuclear Security Administration gained steam Tuesday when the Senate included his proposal in a bill authorizing defense programs. The New Mexico Democrat’s amendment would create an advisory panel to suggest ways to reform NNSA, the federal agency that oversees New Mexico’s nuclear laboratories. Udall’s amendment was incorporated in the Senate defense authorization bill, which unanimously passed the Senate on Tuesday. The House version of the defense legislation, approved in May, does not include Udall’s amendment, but it could be added in House-Senate negotiations on a final bill. The House version does include a separate amendment sponsored by Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., that calls for an independent study of how best to broaden the labs’ national security missions. “Multiple reports have called attenti...

Could we perhaps break the usual rules on this blog and have somebody post the actual facts related to the "deuterium EOS" issue? What actually happened, or didn't happen that was supposed to? It would be acceptable to accompany the facts with the usual diatribe, but maybe put that in a separate paragraph? Scooby's note: what the heck is  "deuterium EOS:?

There have been reports of Mikey sightings several times lately at the NSSB. Any news on if he has been called back to help Charlie? By this point even the blind can see that Charlie was not up to the job, but it is hard to imagine what could be offered to entice Mikey to return.

Art Wong's Q&A today on changes in LLNL's Workforce Mgmt Policies --anything of note asked? answered? not answered/ducked?

Does anyone know what transpired during the congress hearing for Secretary Chu on the NIF?

Anonymous  said... How are the furloughs going to affect the retaining of the talent at LLNS?   Anonymous  said... In todays world where there are no jobs and foreign nationals are coming into America to take your jobs my bet is no one will leave. They'll just take their 20% cut in pay, buy less, cut services and hang on until the next RIF.