LLNL - The True Story -

Weapons Complex Monitor February 28, 2013 Livermore Poised To Roll Out Salary Reduction/Closure Day Plan Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is poised to roll out a "salary reduction and closure day" plan to deal with the impact of across-the-board budget cuts that are set to go into effect Friday, lab Director Parney Albright told employees at an all-hands meeting yesterday. With the lab facing a potential $120 million shortfall, Albright detailed the potential plan in a recent memo to employees, outlining a plan that would temporarily reduce salaries for employees by 10 percent and bi-weekly closure days for full-time employees in which the lab would operate every other Friday similar to how it runs on a weekend. The plan could go into effect as soon as the week of March 10, but Albright said the lab might wait until after a Congress decides how it will fund the government after a Continuing Resolution expires March 27. “I realize any program involving a sal...

Bad News Letter on Friday ? I have been hearing that NNSA is about to issue the labs and plants official letters to start initiating furloughs and layoffs!! Anyone else hear or seen this yet?

All Hands: - 10% salary reduction for all - Likely Start: right after CR (3/27) - Eliminate Variable Compensation Program - Request to NNSA to delay jump from 5% to 7% pension contribution, no response yet. - LLNS will make no contribution to help with any of this. - Major impact is to pension. Even one day of this will disrupt the 36 continuous months for HAPC baking. If they do this once every 35 months going forward, no ones HAPC will ever rise again.

Director Parney Albright discussed the challenges the Laboratory faces in addressing the fiscal uncertainty in Washington D.C. during his quarterly update to employees Wednesday. Albright also highlighted recent Laboratory accomplishments and identified promising opportunities for broadening LLNL national security missions. The most immediate fiscal challenge the Lab and all federal government agencies face is the "sequestration" almost certain to go into effect Friday, March 1, triggering automatic, across-the board spending cuts, Albright said. This will result in a 7.7 percent cut to appropriations for the Laboratory, a reduction of $120 million if sequestration lasts until the end of FY13 (Sept. 30). In addition to sequestration, Congress also is under a March deadline to address the Continuing Resolution (March 27), under which federal agencies are currently funded, and a May deadline to extend the debt ceiling. Failure to address these budget issues could...

Hagel and Global Zero President Obama’s plan to carry out a new round of nuclear-warhead cuts will be announced soon, U.S. officials say. The coming round of warhead-reduction talks with Russia was put on hold partly as a result of the Senate delay in confirming Defense Secretary-designate Chuck Hagel, an outspoken proponent of the Global Zero anti-nuclear weapons group that called in a report last year for radical denuclearization steps. According to one defense official, the president will propose that the United States and Russia initiate talks aimed at reaching a further one-third cut from the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) target level of 1,150 deployed warheads. Asked about the coming cuts, a White House official told Inside the Ring: “Nothing to announce.” The official then referred to Mr. Obama’s statements in Seoul in March. The president said at the nuclear summit there he thinks the United States can maintain a strong deterrent and “still pursu...

Energy official in denial Wow, Podonsky must be suffering from memory loss. The good old days were not as good as he seems to recall. Study after study, panel after panel, report after report, all conclude that there is not much hope to fix NNSA under Energy. Unless Congress is willing to move it to Defense, where it has a legitimate home, the current broken situation will remain, even if it has a modified place on the org chart. http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/doe-official-security-breach-may-necessitate-nuclear-agencys-elimination/

See the DOE lab executive "Piggies" all in a row? This article below about the high salaries of NREL executives pales in comparison to what Directors, PADs, ADs, etc. at labs like SNL, LLNL and LANL make under the hilarious banner of "cost-savings" from privatization implemented by NNSA. Several years ago the ABQ news reported that SNL's Director was making over $2 million and those executive salaries have only gone up, up, up! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CO: Secret energy lab spawns million dollar govt employee ...Despite record federal debt, municipal bankruptcies and a nagging global recession, those executives enjoy pay packages that are out of reach of most Americans who pay their salaries. MRIGlobal and Alliance tax documents obtained by Watchdog show most earned well into six-figures: Dan Arvizu, Alliance president and NREL director 2010: $928,069 2009: $691,570 2008: $652,159 Bobi Garrett, NREL senior vice president of Outreach, Planning and Analysis...

I always new NREL was up to no good. http://watchdog.org/62420/co-secret-energy-lab-spawns-million-dollar-govt-employee/ Can you imagine that they pay there executives up to 900K? That just crazy huh. It also goes on about how it run by some company called Battelle. It seems very odd to have an outside contractor running a lab. Well at we at LLNL and LANL are certainly don't have any problems like this

When can I expect my VSIP? C'mon Parney sweeten the deal and you can solve your personnel problems for more than 1 year. Send us away with a little "kiss".

DoE IG finds LANL contractor assurance system to be immature This gem about LANL is inside the report, most of which is about Y 12. Since the report is addressed to Neile Miller, it might not get her attention. Remember that she is the one that over rulled the Los Alamos local NNSA site office and granted a contract extension, even after the radiation contamination spread, the TA 55 security fence debacle and the U Tube of girls gone wild on the proforce tank. Oh well, just one more item for some hearing in Washington. "Also, we found that Los Alamos National Laboratory had not developed its contractor assurance system to a level of maturity needed by NNSA to affirm its effectiveness." http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/IG-0881.pdf

I would like to know more about LDRD "Futures". What is the intention of allocating LDRD funds for this portfolio, and what projects have been or are slated to be funded under Futures? Anonymous said... NIF

Washington Times view of Chu http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/20/steven-chus-legacy-of-waste-and-failure/ As the article points out it is rare for a career academic to be successful as the secretary of a cabinet department. Find someone that has started a business (and not gone bankrupt with it) and you have a much better chance to be successful.

Another hearing on NNSA reform When will Congress decide that NNSA can not be reformed? Hearing: Nuclear Security: Actions, Accountability and Reform Subcommittee on Strategic Forces (Committee on Armed Services) Thursday, February 28, 2013 (10:30 AM) 2212 RHOB Washington, D.C. Witnesses Major General C. Donald Alston, USAF (Ret) Former Commander, 20th Air Force, Former Air Force Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration Brigadier General Sandra E. Finan, USAF Commander, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Former Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Military Applications National Nuclear Security Administration The Honorable Gregory H. Friedman Inspector General, U.S. Department of Energy The Honorable Neile L. Miller Acting Administrator and Principal Deputy Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration The Honorable Daniel B. Poneman Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy First Published: February 20, 2013 at 03:58 PM

Los Alamos offsite radioactive contamination accident not penalized by DoE http://hss.doe.gov/enforce/docs/els/LANS_Enforcement_Letter_(NEL-2013-02).pdf "25 employees had contaminated personal clothing" "at least nine homes were found with beta contamination" "five employees were identified with skin contamination" "contamination levels were found at the Lujan Center, with levels exceeding ... the maximum reading for the measurement device used" "the spread of contamination first began on August 20, 2012 ... LANS subsequently identified this contamination on August 25" The letter speaks for itself.

LANL Employee Awarded $1 million By Mark Oswald / Journal Staff Writer on Thu, Feb 21, 2013 SANTA FE – A Santa Fe jury has awarded $1 million plus $1 to a Los Alamos National Laboratory employee whose 2010 lawsuit alleged that a supervisor made comments about using a gun to settle office work issues. In one instance, the lawsuit alleged, the Los Alamos police and the lab’s own SWAT team responded after the supervisor got upset about a work plan, “went ballistic” and said he was going to “bring in a gun and take care of it himself.” Marlayne Mahar also contended in the suit that her problems at LANL started after she and her group leader reported nuclear materials inventory problems at the lab’s plutonium processing facility. The lab disputed her allegations and many of the specifics of her suit’s account of the incidents that led to the litigation. After a 3 1/2-day trial before District Judge Sarah Singleton, the jury early this week awarded Mahar $1 million in pun...

I Guess St. Pete Isn't So Saintly: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/former-nm-senator-pete-domenici-acknowledges-having-a-son-outside-marriage-3-decades-ago/2013/02/20/ff0ebe56-7b64-11e2-9c27-fdd594ea6286_story.html

Committee Leaders Launch Bipartisan Review of DOE’s Management of Nuclear Security Enterprise, Announce Oversight and Investigations Hearing on March 13 http://energycommerce.house.gov/press-release/committee-leaders-launch-bipartisan-review-doe%E2%80%99s-management-nuclear-security

We've just published an important piece by former ambassador Kenneth C. Brill and the FMWG on the dangers of loose nukes. I hope you find it of interest. How to safeguard loose nukes:   http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/columnists/fissile-materials-working-group/how-to-safeguard-loose-nukes -- Janice Sinclaire Internet Outreach Coordinator

The sequestration cuts of around 9% are coming on March 1st, so get ready. These cuts will not be avoided. Painful furloughs for staff at the NNSA labs and layoffs of subcontractors will likely result: ================== Automatic cuts are getting a big yawn from Washington ================== Washington Post, Feb 15 As deadlines go, the March 1 sequester lacks punch. Nobody’s taxes will go up; the U.S. Treasury won’t run out of cash. Government offices won’t immediately turn out the lights and lock the doors. No federal worker will be furloughed for at least 30 days. So Washington felt little need to cancel the Presidents’ Day break. On Friday, President Obama flew to Florida for a long weekend of golf. And Congress left town for nine days, with scant hope of averting deep cuts to the Pentagon and other agencies in the short time remaining when lawmakers return. Instead of negotiating, party leaders were busy issuing ultimatums and casting blame. Before they left, Senate ...

Another IG report on LANL cyber security After receiving lots of previous negative audits over cyber issues you might think that LANL could finally get it right. We should expect to see the entire complex endure NNSA response to the report. http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/IG-0880.pdf

March date set for documents from Chu http://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/files/letters/20130213DOENNSA.pdf Congress is having another hearing on Y 12

Meanwhile, over in the former Soviet Union: ~~ Bear Bombers Over Guam ~~ Russian nuclear bombers circle Guam Washington Free Beacon, Feb 15 2013 ...The bomber incident was considered highly unusual. Russian strategic bombers are not known to have conducted such operations in the past into the south Pacific from bomber bases in the Russian Far East, which is thousands of miles away and over water. John Bolton, former U.N. ambassador and former State Department international security undersecretary, said the Russian bomber flights appear to be part of an increasingly threatening strategic posture in response to Obama administration anti-nuclear policies. “Every day brings new evidence that Obama’s ideological obsession with dismantling our nuclear deterrent is dangerous,” Bolton said. “Our national security is in danger of slipping off the national agenda even as the threats grow.” Defense officials said the bombers tracked over Guam were likely equipped with six Kh-55 or Kh...

DOE/NNSA Sequestration Impacts from House Appropriations Committee Democrats: http://democrats.appropriations.house.gov/images/Sequestration%20full%20report.pdf National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) ...The report also noted concerns that “constrained Federal funding had negatively impacted security controls at Y-12.” Nonetheless, sequestration would require the Y-12 site to furlough 700-1,000 of 4,500 employees for a period of up to 6 months. Clearly, these layoffs will adversely impact efforts to improve security. Other NNSA facilities will also face furloughs. The Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas will furlough up to 2,500 employees for 3 weeks. Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico will furlough over 500 for about 2 weeks. And Sandia National Labs will lay off up to 100 positions and forgo hiring staff to support the B61 bomb life extension program. The NNSA plays a critical national security role in developing and maintaining the Nation's nuclear deterrent. In t...

Feb. 12, 2013 By Diane Barnes Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON -- Citing Tuesday's nuclear test by North Korea, a senior Defense Department official called U.S. nuclear weapons operations "a national priority" that the Obama administration would seek to shield from across-the-board federal spending cuts set to take effect on March 1. It appears that "a safe, secure nuclear deterrent" will remain necessary "far into the future," Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on sequestration's anticipated implications for Pentagon programs. "That does require that we have the scientists and engineering base, the facilities, and the life-extension programs and other things we do to keep the nuclear arsenal going." Congress failed to approve a defense appropriations bill for the current budget cycle, and instead enacted a short-term measure holding most federal spending at fiscal 2012...

Only a fool can't see that Obama is planning for big cuts to the NNSA weapons labs. His nominee for the DoD, Chuck Hagel, is a member of Goal Zero and has a dislike for all things nuclear. The New York Times article below confirms suspicions of what's to come. : Obama to Renew Drive for Cuts in Nuclear Arms By DAVID E. SANGER NY Times: February 10, 2013 WASHINGTON — President Obama will use his State of the Union speech on Tuesday to reinvigorate one of his signature national security objectives — drastically reducing nuclear arsenals around the world — after securing agreement in recent months with the United States military that the American nuclear force can be cut in size by roughly a third. ....But Mr. Obama is already moving quietly, officials acknowledge, to explore whether he can scale back a 10-year, $80 billion program to modernize the country’s weapons laboratories. The White House agreed to the spending on the weapons labs as the price of winning Repub...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Greetings, In light of DOE secretary Chu's recent resignation, we are urging that President Obama appoint a new Secretary of Energy who will closely examine the negative impact of privatization on Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos Labs. A copy of the letter can be viewed on our Web site:     http://www.upte.org/spse/ 201302SPSEUPTELtrObama10pgs. pdf Thanks, Riki Gay, President SPSE-UPTE Local 11 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kingston Reif has another excellent look at missile defense, this time analyzing the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system that Congress keeps even though several analyses (including that of the Pentagon's Operational Test and Evaluation Office) have called into question the potential for the system to ever work. I hope you find it of interest. Best, Janice Does missile defense work? http://www.thebulletin.org/ web-edition/columnists/ kingston-reif/does-missile- defense-work -- Janice Sinclaire Internet Outreach Coordinator

DOE having trouble finding copies of letters to Chu on Y-12 security investigation. NNSA makes top banner post on POGO again. 'In November 2012, the Project On Government Oversight learned that former Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu asked three former senior government officials to review physical security at all U.S. nuclear weapons facilities and individually write a letter with their findings and recommendations for security improvements. After learning of this latest security commission, POGO filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain the letters filled with security recommendations from these experts. POGO requested: "All reports, letters, or other correspondence between former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Richard Meserve, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Donald Alston, and retired Lockheed martin CEO Norm Augustine to or from Secretary Chu from January 2011 to the present. Specifically, anything related to the break-in a...

LANL exec quits after alleged sex assault The New Mexican Nico Roesler Thursday, February 07, 2013 A division director at Los Alamos National Laboratory has retired amid allegations of sexual assault and battery by one of his employees. Anthony “Tony” Stanford, 56, has been charged with two counts of assault and two counts of battery stemming from several physical interactions with one of his employees, dating to August 2012. Stanford is scheduled to be arraigned in Los Alamos Magistrate Court in March. Stanford was the Emergency Services Division director and in charge of briefing officials during the Las Conchas Fire in 2011. He lives in Santa Fe. According to police reports released this week, Stanford is accused of touching a 45-year-old female employee on her leg and, on separate occasions, pinning her against the wall of an elevator and an office. The woman’s attorney, John Day, said Thursday that Stanford requested sexual acts from her with promises to promote her. In...

No Layoffs, Furloughs Planned at Sandia By John Fleck Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer on Wed, Feb 6, 2013 Sandia National Laboratories’ managers believe they can weather this year’s federal budget uncertainty without any job cuts, Sandia president Paul Hommert said Tuesday. Congress is currently wrestling with a March 1 deadline for mandatory cuts if the House and Senate cannot come up with an alternative spending plan for the 2013 budget. In a meeting with the Journal’s editorial board, Hommert said major uncertainties remain about how much of a budget cut Sandia might take and what impact it might have on Albuquerque’s largest employer. But recognizing the inevitability of cuts of some kind, Sandia held current year spending down, anticipating reductions of 3 to 5 percent, Hommert said. If the cuts that result from current deliberations are deeper than anticipated, Sandia will deal with the shortfall by cutting back its hiring program. Reductions in force or furloughs a...

Diversify the weapons labs to keep the workforce The NM delegation sends a letter to the White House supporting their choice for the next NNSA Administrator. Will be interesting to see if the next Admininsrator is a product of the weapons program or if they have a broader experience. http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/02/09/politics/handson-leader-urged-for-nnsa.html "In the face of growing fiscal constraints we believe it will be essential that the labs continue to diversify their efforts, especially in the area of advanced energy and environmental technologies."

Hanford too! DOE weighs sequestration furloughs at Hanford Stay Connected Annette Cary | Tri-City Herald The Department of Energy is closely examining contracts as the threat looms for sequestration-driven spending cuts March 1, according to a new memo from Daniel Poneman, deputy energy secretary. It's also considering placing employees on furlough -- a temporary unpaid leave -- or taking other actions to slash personnel costs, the memo said. Unless Congress amends the law, President Obama is required to issue a sequestration order in three weeks to cut about $85 billion from fiscal 2013 spending. At Hanford, the cut could range from 7 percent to 10 percent of spending. The DOE Hanford Richland Operations Office has received no direction for formal action for sequestration, but that could come in the next few weeks, said Jonathan "J.D." Dowell, DOE assistant manager for river and plateau. His comments came Thursday at the Hanford Advisory Board meeting in Ric...

A little truth and humor for these tough times! Kinda reminds me of working at the labs! Can you name this strange old tool?!!! Thought you would enjoy this educational moment in American history. Can you name this strange old tool? Do you know what it is? Tobacco Smoke Enemas (1750s - 1810s) The tobacco enema was used to infuse tobacco smoke into a patient's rectum for various medical purposes, primarily the resuscitation of drowning victims. A rectal tube inserted into the anus was connected to a fumigator and bellows that forced the smoke towards the rectum. The warmth of the smoke was thought to promote respiration. Doubts about the credibility of tobacco enemas led to the popular phrase, blowing smoke up your anus. Amazingly, it is still in constant use in Washington D.C. , by the best senators and representatives money can

Reuters February 6, 2013 Exclusive - Obama considering MIT physicist Moniz for energy secretary: sources say President Barack Obama is considering naming nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz, one of his science and energy advisers, as the next energy secretary, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Moniz, who was undersecretary at the Energy Department during the Clinton administration, is a familiar figure on Capitol Hill, where he has often talked to lawmakers about how abundant supplies of U.S. natural gas will gradually replace coal as a source of electricity. Moniz is director of MIT's Energy Initiative, a research group that gets funding from industry heavyweights including BP, Chevron, and Saudi Aramco for academic work on projects aimed at reducing climate-changing greenhouse gases. He did not respond to an e-mail request for comment on Wednesday evening. Obama gave a speech at MIT early in his first term where he praised the Energy Initiative...

Shame on LLNS, LLNL, & Parney for not having the gumption to tell supervisors & bosses, in public forum (or in the Q&A), to leave the furloughed workers alone during their non scheduled work hours. It is absolutely inappropriate (and illegal)to cut peoples salary via furloughs, and then covet their time off for free. Don't do furloughs if you can't afford the work reductions too. Don't be ambiguous. If you want employee personal time off, then pay for the overtime. If you don't want to pay overtime - tough luck (that was why they were salaried to begin with). You should be ashamed. Nothing is wrong with profit, but nothing is wrong with being human and caring for others either. It's called employee relations - you're supposed to build on this as a company. This will without a doubt hurt your employees and their families. The least you can do is leave them alone once you've visited this harm upon them.

Interesting news article on the recent cyber event at headquarters. http://fcw.com/articles/2013/02/05/doe-data-breach.aspx?m=2

Anonymous is asking: I'm doing my taxes and wondering if the ERISA 5% retirement contributionsare  tax deductible?

from the AP: By Matthew Daly / The Associated Press on Fri, Feb 1, 2013 http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/02/01/abqnewsseeker/breaking-energy-secretary-chu-to-step-down.html comment:   Read the entire text of his overly long resignation letter to employees. Then you can understand just how little attention Dr. Chu paid to nuclear weapons.

More problems for DOE loans Looks like Solyndra was not the only loan that had political influence. http://m.prnewswire.com/news-releases/report--solyndra-style-problems-seen-in-833-billion-federal-loan-guarantee-for-vogtle-nuclear-reactor-project-189047751.html

From Target manager to NNSA "Clean up on aisle 4" now has a whole different meaning for this new government overseer. http://www.pogo.org/blog/2013/01/20130131-former-target-manager-now-in-charge-of-nuclear-security.html