LLNL - The True Story -

Pensioners Didn't LLNS know when they bid on the contract they were taking on pensioners? We're not DOE employees, we're LLNS employees. UC puts in their money. LLNS, not DOE, needs to put in theirs. Sorry you miscalculated your profits. When you take post tax contributions from your employees, you have no place to hide. By the way, you don't need permission to do the right thing.

Laser fusion experiment yields record energy at NIF http://nnsa.energy.gov/blog/laser-fusion-experiment-yields-record-energy-nif

From the Los Alamos Monitor By The Staff Saturday, August 24, 2013 at 4:20 pm (Updated: August 24, 7:26 pm) Los Alamos National Laboratory director Charlie McMillan reportedly sent a letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz in July warning of dire consequences for the plutonium mission if sufficient funding is not secured. According to a letter obtained by the Nuclear Weapons and Materials Monitor, McMillan cited the lack of action on a $120 million reprogramming request from the NNSA to begin work on an alternative plutonium strategy and the funding cuts included in both versions of the FY 2014 Energy and Water Appropriations bills. Congress has not signed off on the reprogramming request, which came about when the decision was made to defer the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Nuclear Facility. There have been reports the lab is considering an alternative strategy based on a modular approach to maintain the nation’s plutonium capabilities. “Los Alamos will c...

A typical potpourri of NIF hype about improving neutron yields by a factor of 1.5x and tales of visits to the Czech Republic with a Bechtelian to get a $50M contract for LLNL to build a laser for the Czechs. Does anyone know how LLNL could even be considered for that? Why wouldn't they just hire a private laser engineering firm? Does LLNL have a QA/QC department or a pricelist?

Did Parney have an all hands meeting last Wed. to discuss FY14 and if so, what was said?

Great story on the founding of LLNL. "Study Recounts Early, Difficult Years Of Lawrence Livermore National Lab" - The Independent. Friday, August 23, 2013. By Jeff Garberson http://www.independentnews.com/news/article_44e876e2-0aad-11e3-a35f-001a4bcf887a.html I am struck by this, and how its compares today to life at the Lab.... "Guided by Lawrence’s legacy from the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory, Livermore staff were young experimentalists who shifted fluidly between groups as jobs required. They lacked job titles for the most part – even York, who led the Livermore site, did not receive the title of Director until Lawrence suggested it offhandedly in 1954. Most important, perhaps, Lawrence was always upbeat and looking to the future. He would not allow gloom or despondency. Even after the third failed nuclear test, he showed up at the Livermore site and told the young scientists not to despair but to ask what they could learn from the failures."

My name is Kevin Moore and I recently left the Lab after 10.5 years. My new job has shown  me just how dysfunctional LLNL is, and revealed the lab's greatest problem: it's inability to fire those who should be. Repeatedly, I watched failed scientists/engineers not be terminated, but"coaxed" into  management. These folks, typically with no managementexperience beyond some two-day LLNL coarse, made horrible managers. Theymoved their way through middle management, arriving to a place where theywere seen as a person who guides science/engineering at the lab. We then had a failed science/engineering with poor management skills trying to build programs and direct the lab. The result is what we have today: a rudderless monolith with ghastly overhead.LLNL was a truly sad place to be, and the day I got out was one of the most happy periods I had in years. If I can suggest anything to our government, come into the weapons labs with a team of competent strategists and sta...

http://heartmindcode.com/2013/08/16/loyalty-and-layoffs

Two questions for LLNL-the-true-story readers and bloggers: One, what do you know about any imminent plutonium experiments at the NIF? And, two, do you think the plutonium experiments already being carried out at Z and other facilities is sufficient to accomplish the task at hand? Here is the latest news article on plutonium experiments at Z... U.S. Tests Plutonium to Gauge Nuclear Arms Readiness Global Security Newswire (GSN) on Aug. 20, 2013 Sandia National Laboratories carried out a plutonium experiment this past spring to assess the working order of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday. Such a test previously occurred at the New Mexico facility late last year. The United States periodically undertakes these experiments using a "Z machine" that produces X-rays powerful enough to mimic the fusion reactions of nuclear weapons, allowing for the study of plutonium behavior without the detonation of an atomic device. - See more at: http://...

This is a terrific article; it's an interview with Siegfried Hecker about the former Soviet test site at Semipalatinsk and the secret cleanup that went on for decades. I hope you enjoy it! Best, Janice Into thin air: the story of Plutonium Mountain: http://thebulletin.org/thin- air-story-plutonium-mountain -- Janice Sinclaire Internet Outreach Coordinator

If the rumors of a FY14 RIF are true, What about a no excuse - no exclusion (from bottom to AD level) "last hired first fired" policy? Might be tough but if we didn't need you last month, you can't be that critical this month. Not being a hater, but what's the fair way. Current criteria are too vague and open to manipulation.

Is Klotz at fault for the failed inspections? Root causes of failed inspections do not happen overnight. The new commander has now shown that something is not working for these forces. If it emerges that the culture under Klotz was a contributor to the failures, it could get interesting for NNSA. U.S. nuclear missile unit fails key security inspection By Robert Burns-Associated Press Tuesday, August 13, 2013 An Air Force unit that operates one-third of the nation’s land-based nuclear missile force has failed a safety and security inspection, marking the second major setback this year for a force charged with the military’s most sensitive mission, the general in charge of the Air Force’s nuclear force told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The failure was recorded by the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., which is responsible for 150 Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles that stand on 24/7 alert for potential launch against targets around the globe. Lt. Gen. Jame...

What ratio of managers and or support worker to programmatic workers would be appropriate?

NNSA report concludes Sandia to blame for cost overruns to refurbish B61 arsenal http://www.abqjournal.com/140696/news/nm-news/bombing-the-budget-with-the-b61.html

In light of the news about behavior of contract guards at Y-12 and Los Alamos, the time could be right for a change. http://www.pogo.org/blog/2013/08/y-12-security-time-to-give-federalized-guard-force-a-shot.html

NW Monitor Aug 2 Senate appropriators have again dealt a significant blow to the B61 refurbishment program, this time slashing funding in the Fiscal Year 2014 Defense Appropriations Act for Air Force work on a new tailkit for the refurbished bomb. The Senate Appropriations Committee this week cleared its version of the bill, providing only $6.2 million for the Air Force portion of work on the B61, $61.7 million less than the Obama Administration’s $67.9 million request. The committee also zeroed out a $10 million request to study outfitting the F-35A joint strike fighter to drop the B61 bomb because the Pentagon’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council hasn’t approved the capability content of the F-35A Block 4. The committee did not provide any rationale for its drastic cut to the B61 program and did not respond to a request for comment, but this is not the first time Senate appropriators have taken a shot at the controversial refurbishment effort. In their version of the FY 2014 Energy...

Klotz nominated for NNSA helm Knox News August 2, 2013 The White House today announced President Obama’s intent to nominate retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz as the Department of Energy’s under secretary for nuclear security and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration. In that position, he will oversee the nation’s nuclear weapons complex, which also supplies fuel for the U.S. Navy’s fleet of nuclear-powered sea vessels. Klotz currently serves as senior fellow for strategic studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. His background information provided by the White House: Lieutenant General Frank G. Klotz, USAF (Ret) is the Senior Fellow for Strategic Studies and Arms Control at the Council on Foreign Relations, a role he has held since 2011. Lieutenant General Klotz has also worked as an independent consultant since 2011. He is the former Commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, a position he held from 2009 to 2011. From 2007 to 200...

Do you really want to know who you work for? A little history to remind you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjOict8jBcQ

http://about.bloomberglaw.com/law-reports/doe-warns-governors-layoffs-possible-for-more-than-28000-contract-employees/

http://www.independentnews.com/news/article_afecf7a4-fae2-11e2-b429-0019bb2963f4.html

http://www.contracostatimes.com/contra-costa-times/ci_23651706/lawrency-livermore-laboratory-names-new-head-technology-transfer

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/03/business/economy/us-cuts-take-increasing-toll-on-job-growth.html?hp&_r=0

The management is so bad. Whenever I have a bad day I type into google something about bad management and LLNL managers, who are effectively EBA, fit all the criteria. I usually apply for 10-15 jobs a week and I still out perform everyone around me. They never put their buddies on the EBA list. I just pray I get out of this place. WARNING: DO NOT GO INTO SCIENCE.

From ehow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2317517_be-bad-boss.html

So, about 60 days to the end of the fiscal year, when can we expect the first RIF rumors?

More rumors on next NNSA Administrator Retired USAF general seen as likely nominee to run NNSA Jane's Defence Weekly 28 July 2013 Key Points • Former USAF official Frank Klotz is poised to head the NNSA • Klotz's close ties to the Pentagon may make him a strong candidate Frank Klotz, former commander of the US Air Force's (USAF's) Global Strike Command and currently a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), is expected to be nominated by US President Barack Obama to be administrator of the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), sources said on 26 July. Officials at the US Department of Energy (DoE) and NNSA, the department's semi-autonomous nuclear weapons agency, declined to comment on whether Klotz was the choice to take over NNSA, which has been in a holding pattern under two interim administrators over the last six months.

More on Ash Carter's nuclear weapons comments at Aspen A somewhat long article by Madelyn Creedon expands on Carter's comments. Rather than argue about the specific numbers in the talk, her take is that for now the DoD part of the nuclear weapons budget is protected from the on-going budget cuts. http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2013/07/ash-carter-got-it-right-aspen-top-dod-nuclear-weapons-official-responds/67721/?oref=d-river