LLNL - The True Story -

Lab, Energy Department Revamp Waste Cleanup http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/lab-energy-department-revamp-waste-cleanup/article_0b2c32bf-cca3-57cc-8c51-11bc74ef818b.html “The Laboratory today is implementing a number of measures aimed at supporting the Department of Energy’s objectives to reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) repository near Carlsbad,” LANL Director Charlie McMillan said in an email notifying lab workers of the changes. “Among the actions are changes in our leadership responsible for managing our environmental cleanup and transuranic waste operations. I have asked Deputy Associate Director Enrique (Kiki) Torres to serve as acting lead for our Environmental Programs while the Lab works with DOE to develop a path forward.”

Oak Ridge news: http://knoxblogs.com/atomiccity/2014/09/26/los-alamos-director-give-lecture-baker-center/ Los Alamos director to give lecture at Baker Center Charles McMillan, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, will deliver the annual Distinguished Global Security Lecture on Oct. 1 at the University of Tennessee. The event will take place in the Toyota Auditorium at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. The lecture begins at 5:30 p.m. According to information distributed by UT’s Institute for Nuclear Security, the title of McMillan’s lecture is, “The Timeline of Technology.” He will discuss the power behind policy-making that is informed by technology.

From the ABQ Journal: A respected publication that reports on the nation’s nuclear labs says there’s been a shake-up at Los Alamos National Laboratory in connection with the lab’s role in a radioaction leak at the country’s nuclear waste dump near Carlsbad. Weapons Complex Monitor is reporting that LANL Director Charlie McMillan on Thursday “relieved several managers of their duties in relation to the site’s transuranic waste processing problems that have been linked to the radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.” The Monitor’s bulletin adds that the affected managers include Dan Cox, LANL deputy associate director of environmental programs; Jeff Mousseau, associate director of environmental programs; Kathy Johns-Hughes, Director of the LANL TRU (transuranic waste) Program; and Tori George, program director for regulatory management. The four apparently have been reassigned.

DOE News (from the Los Alamos Daily Post): Today, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz directed the Office of Environmental Management (EM) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to develop a plan for the transition of legacy environmental cleanup work at the Department's Los Alamos site from NNSA to EM. DOE issued the following statement this morning: "The safe and efficient cleanup of the Los Alamos Site in New Mexico is a high priority for the Department of Energy. The Secretary of Energy has directed the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Office of Environmental Management (EM) to develop a plan for the transition of the Los Alamos Site legacy environmental cleanup work from NNSA to EM. This will align the focus and accountability of cleanup work with the Department's environmental management program and enable the Los Alamos site prime contractor, Los Alamos National Security, to continue its focus on the core national security missions ...

Newsline 09/26/14 Newly minted Lab machinists ready to support research "After four years of training as machinist apprentices at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Christian Oda and Will Morton are ready to apply their trade. The two graduated Sept. 18 from the Engineering Directorate's Machinist Apprentice Program. ... The Machinist Apprentice Program is a four-year-program that teaches entry-level machinists the technical skills and safety training they need to be certified machinists at LLNL and in the state of California. The ultra-selective program (most applicants are turned away) provides education and training in the machine tool trade, specific to the work done by LLNL researchers. That means Lab machinists are manufacturing products not built anywhere else in the world...." Comment at bottom from Kim Shelley,, 09-26-2014 07:04:16 AM: "It is sad that the newly graduated apprentice, Willard Morton, has quit the Laboratory. I hope where he has gone to wo...

DOE to Break Out Cleanup Work at Los Alamos, LANL Cleanup Managers Relieved of Duties The Department of Energy will break out the cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory from the National Nuclear Security Administration to be managed by the Office of Environmental Management,  WC Monitor  has learned. DOE is expected to announce its plans for the cleanup work currently included in the Los Alamos National Security contract as soon as today, though the exact contract vehicle or vehicles to be used remains unclear. The decision comes as LANL Director Charlie McMillan yesterday relieved several managers of their duties in relation to the site’s transuranic waste processing problems that have been linked to the radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant,  WC Monitor  has learned. The impacted managers include Dan Cox, LANL deputy associate director of environmental programs, Jeff Mousseau, associate director of environmental programs, Kathy Johns-...

The conflict between budgets and nuclear modernization got more attention today in a NY Times article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/us/us-ramping-up-major-renewal-in-nuclear-arms.html?hpw&rref=us&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpHedThumbWell&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well so it goes. September 22, 2014 at 4:52 AM  Anonymous said... Impossible. DOE is the meddlesome arm of Congress. Congress meddles where it likes. To the elect, even outright failure is preferable to limitations its perogatives. The only hope is to put authority to run the labs on a body independent of its authority, such as a state government. You decide it this is possible again. September 22, 2014 at 12:14 PM  Anonymous said... DOE is the meddlesome arm of Congress. September 22, 2014 at 12:14 PM You apparently do not understand that DOE is a Executive Branch cabinet Department, which reports to the President, not to ...

First look at what it takes to reopen WIPP after LANL drum blew The Energy Department has identified 7,000 steps needed to reopen its badly damaged nuclear waste dump in New Mexico, but cannot say how long it will take or how much it will cost. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nuclear-waste-dump-20140919-story.html

Who paid for this settlement? Since LANL gets its funding from the federal government, maybe the taxpayers paid for the sexual harassment case settlement. Anybody got a guess as to how much this cost? http://www.abqjournal.com/462481/abqnewsseeker/lawsuit-over-sexual-harassment-at-los-alamos-lab-settled.html

First look at what it takes to reopen WIPP after LANL drum blew The Energy Department has identified 7,000 steps needed to reopen its badly damaged nuclear waste dump in New Mexico, but cannot say how long it will take or how much it will cost. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nuclear-waste-dump-20140919-story.html

DOE moving to more Autonomy for Labs, Official Says Weapons Complex Monitor September 16, 2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Science is moving to give more autonomy to national laboratories from headquarters on management and budget decisions, a DOE official yesterday told a panel tasked with reviewing the labs. The Congressionally-mandated Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories at a meeting in Alexandria, Va., yesterday pressed DOE officials on improvements being implemented at the labs. Office of Science Deputy Director for Science Programs Patricia Dehmer told the panel: “We are moving toward funding the laboratories with larger lots of money in order to give the laboratory management the flexibility to make decisions. At headquarters we should not be managing on the post-doc level. And you will anecdotal hear stories of managing at half the post-doc level, and it happens, but we are trying to move away from it.” National Nuclear S...

Does any one have any insight into: -The impacts of Davis Bacon on the Lab. I have heard some crafts people are earning over $60 dollars an hour. If this is true, how is this impacting the budget? -What is the latest on negotiations with the Lab and the Union? Has there been any progress?

DOE should investigate all the plagiarism by Sandia in scholarly publications.

  Anonymous  said... Looks like Charlie "GQ" McMillan has some explaining  to do about his retaliatory actions against LANL staff who don't follow the LANS LLC party line: ***** DOE official seeks probe of dissident analyst’s dismissal by nuclear weapons laboratory A senior Energy Department official has requested a special probe of claims by a U.S. nuclear weapons analyst that one of the nuclear weapons laboratories canceled his security clearances and fired him as punishment for publishing a critique of longstanding U.S. weapons policy. The request by Under Secretary for Nuclear Security Frank Klotz for an inquiry by the DOE Inspector General into the dismissal in July of James E. Doyle by Los Alamos National Laboratory was disclosed in a Sept. 15 letter from another department official to Doyle’s attorney, Mark Zaid. In the letter, Poli Mamolejos, director of the DOE’s Office of Hearings and Appeals, wrote that DOE’s “senior leadership takes the issue you raise serio...

New Mexico newspapers ran a recent story about settlement of sexual harassment lawsuit against LANL. Another example of your tax dollars hard at work, or something like that.

How did "scooby" become "doobydew" in recent blog moderator postings? Did we get a new blog moderator, or a substitute? A little openness in the practices of the blog moderator would be welcome. For example, how did the ridiculous "prove you're not a robot" tests get changed to a simple photographed street address number and then get changed back, and why?

ICF program is now officially owned by WCI. A step forward, or an attempt to bury it out of sight?  http://webcenter.llnl.gov/myllnl/faces/oracle/webcenter/portalapp/pages/top-story-wrapper.jspx?articleId=33327&destName=Inertial%20Confinement%20Fusion%20Program%20to%20realign

Anantha Krishnan selected associate director for Engineering at LLNL 09/12/2014 Newsline Anantha Krishnan has been named as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's new associate director (AD) for Engineering, effective immediately, Lab Director Bill Goldstein announced Friday. Krishnan's selection follows a nationwide search process that the Lab launched last year after current Associate Director Monya Lane announced her intent to retire. As the AD for Engineering, Krishnan will be responsible for leading an organization of approximately 1,600 employees who provide engineering expertise, capabilities and research that is vital to the success of the Laboratory's programs and to sustaining the long term vitality of our Laboratory's scientific foundations. "Anantha is exceptionally well-qualified for this role and I am confident that he will be an outstanding advocate for the engineering discipline, sustain excellence in our engineering staff, ensure excellence in ma...

Have your LLNL facilities improved since the URS regime (Harold Conner and minions) took over in 2007? Are your facilities "world class"? How about the overall appearance of the Lab? Things are improving right?

Moses claims hot spot ignition at NIF in the first paragraph of this interview. Is that true? http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/magazine/physicstoday/news/10.1063/PT.5.1025

Y12 problems: http://knoxblogs.com/atomiccity/2014/09/05/security-woes-y-12-federal-overseer-orders-comprehensive-review-failures/ If we would have such a list at LANL we would be closed and everyone would talk about culture again.

"Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Lab Appointed as President of Giant Magellan Telescope Organization Ed Moses will begin his new role effective on Oct. 2, 2014." see http://patch.com/california/livermore/scientist-lawrence-livermore-national-laboratory-appointed-president-giant-magellan-telescope

DOE Panel members get consulting cash from labs they oversee More of the same people overseeing DOE labs that pay them a fat check. http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060005110

The scope and scale of the problem continue to grow. With this the cost to fix the problem continues to escalate, as does the time to address the growing list of concerns. http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/review-relabeling-of-lanl-waste-drums-raises-questions-about-scope/article_08aae724-dfb5-5e99-a387-6dc3c91fd295.html

Why do we have political ads on the blog?

Retraction of journal article authored by (now) Sandia postdoc: http://retractionwatch.com/2014/02/25/inconsistent-errors-and-unknowing-authors-force-retraction-of-microbiology-paper/ There are also rumors of plagiarism of a paper authored by another Sandia researcher in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C

Any word on the package the labs submitted to DOE for approval

When will LLNL finally take over Sandia Livermore? August 28, 2014 at 6:33 PM  Anonymous  said... When will LLNL finally take over Sandia Livermore? What does the fox say? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE August 28, 2014 at 11:20 PM  Anonymous said... NNSA can't even get Sandia Livermore to allow LLNL to take over protective force security. Makes zero sense to have two different security forces covering basically the same site. I constantly see Sandia security vehicles on the LLNL site going to the gas station and cafeterias.