LLNL - The True Story -

Have you ever wondered if Scooby and Doobydew are people you know? Who is behind them? To find out,  visit the website on 1/1/16! Merry Christmas!

Now that the local politicians have tasted tax riches, there is slim to no chance that the contract will be allowed to go to a nonprofit operator. http://www.dchieftain.com/news/state/up-for-bid-nuke-lab-contract-could-affect-tax-revenues/article_4254145e-8273-5bc5-bbac-f3b1d48f6e04.html

By Rebecca Moss, The New Mexican Thousands of mislabeled waste containers, missing safety equipment and a broken emergency alarm system were among the more than 400 hazardous waste permit violations that Los Alamos National Laboratory listed in a report to the state this week. The report, submitted annually to the Waste Management Bureau of the New Mexico Environment Department, largely characterized the violations as “inconsistencies” in record-keeping and labeling. However, it is the latest in a series of reports revealing a culture of negligence and lax safety protocols at the lab and follows a February 2014 radiation leak that shut down the nuclear waste storage facility in Southern New Mexico after a mislabeled and mishandled LANL drum burst there. http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/lanl-reports-more-safety-lapses-at-waste-sites/article_d0cd5f20-c168-5e7d-b4f4-a69a7299d9a7.html December 25, 2015 at 2:30 AM COMMENT: Anonymous: "Culture...

LLNL's 2015 performance earns another contact award term 12/18/2015 The Lab's ability to deliver on its science and technology missions has resulted in excellent marks in the fiscal year 2015 Performance Evaluation Plan. The Livermore Field Office (LFO) recently released the assessment, which outlines six performance objectives for the period of Oct. 1, 2014 through Sept. 30, 2015. The Laboratory received four ratings of "excellent" and two ratings of "very good," resulting in an award of more than 93 percent of the possible fee, or almost $38 million. The percentage total ranks among the highest performance since Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS) assumed management of the Laboratory for the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration in 2007. In addition, LLNS received another one-year award term to manage the Laboratory for NNSA, which extends the current contract to Sept. 30, 2020. "These ratings reflect the ...

Is employee morale improving, getting worse, or stabilizing at LANS and LLNS? http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/The-Root-Causes-of-Low-Employee-Morale.aspx

"A prior Office of Inspector General report ... found that planning and execution of that project was not effective and resulted in a system that did not meet pre-established goals and objectives. In addition, a prior Government Accountability Office report identified NNSA project management as an area of high risk for fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. These issues were attributable, in part, to ineffective project planning practices related to the development and implementation of the 2NV initiative. For instance, essential components of a well-developed project management approach, such as charters, business cases, alternatives analyses, and implementation schedules, were often inadequate, outdated, or had not been developed in a timely manner. In addition, monitoring and oversight activities were not always sufficient to ensure success and hold project managers accountable for delivering the project within cost, scope, and schedule." http://energy.go...

"The latest performance review calls for docking LANS $7.7 million in incentive fees for the May incident at an electrical power substation that left one worker hospitalized for more than a month with burns over 30 percent of his body, and for potential contamination stemming from the handling of highly enriched uranium at a Nevada facility twice in 2014." http://www.abqjournal.com/694829/news/accidents-contribute-to-loss-of-contract-for-lanl-operator.html

Why does it matter so much to the rank-and-file LLNL worker who has the contract? It's way above your level. LANL and LLNL will continue forever as rent-speakers - receiving billions every year to "certify" Cold War relics. Meanwhile, someone else will have to figure out how to fight ISIS, deal with Putin, etc.     COMMENTS:  Anonymous said... "Why does it matter so much to the rank-and-file LLNL worker who has the contract? It's way above your level." It didn't matter, and we paid no attention to it, until the contract change. Then it started really mattering because it had huge daily impact down at the worker level: 1) A bunch of unqualified, unthinking, yes-men/women have been systematically put into leadership positions. Mostly, these are people that don't have other options and therefore the management has leverage on them. 2) The most talented, intelligent, creative and productive individuals (in terms of b...

Physics Today on LANL contract loss In 2006 Los Alamos National Security LLC—a consortium of the University of California, Bechtel Corp, Babcock & Wilcox Co, URS Corp, and AECOM—took over management of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). On 17 December, in an email sent to LANL employees, lab director Charles McMillan revealed that the consortium's $2.2 billion contract would not be automatically extended or renewed after 2017 by the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the contract. The consortium took over operations after several years of problematic management and has shown improved management in its recent yearly reviews, but not at a level that earned it an automatic renewal. LANL has had a number of public embarrassments this year, including a radiation leak at its main waste storage facility. http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/magazine/physicstoday/news/news-picks/nnsa-to-open-up-los-alamos-contract-for-bids-in-2017-a-news-pick-post

Any reason why Battelle should not run LANL with Mason as Director? He got a 94 at ORNL for the last year grade.

Senators Confirm LANL Contract Will Go Up For Bid, New Mexican, December 19, 2015 Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation confirmed Saturday that the private consortium that operates Los Alamos National Laboratory will not have its contract renewed after it expires on Sept. 30, 2017. The New Mexican reported in a story published Saturday that the National Nuclear Safety Administration, the arm of the Department of Energy that oversees the lab’s contract, has decided to put the contract worth about $2.2 billion annually up for competitive bidding. The decision follows a series of federal investigations and performance evaluations involving the lab’s safety record before and after a drum from the lab burst and leaked radiation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in February 2014 near Carlsbad, shutting down the nation’s only underground nuclear repository indefinitely. http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/senators-confirm-lanl-contract-will-go-up-for-bid/article_349e...

Covers much of the LANL contract term losses http://www.abqjournal.com/693548/news/poor-performance-at-lanl-means-contract-up-for-bid-post2017.html

Is it time for DOE to remove these LANS and LLNS for-profit LLCs and revert to a University non-profit model? December 19, 2015 at 8:32 AM COMMENTS: Anonymous said... Nuclear weapons should not be a for-profit endeavor. December 19, 2015 at 8:47 AM Anonymous said... Federalize LLNL and LANL.

Since the lowest score in the evaluation was for leadership, who will be brought in from outside LANL to replace Charlie? December 18, 2015 at 10:37 AM COMMENTS: Anonymous said... Ed Moses? December 18, 2015 at 10:39 AM Anonymous said... How about Charlie Verdon? You guys need another LLNL guy. December 18, 2015 at 3:05 PM Anonymous said... Verdon, Dunning, Pinkington. December 18, 2015 at 3:39 PM Anonymous said... Verdon, Dunning, Pinkington. Just more Livermore losers. We are so tired of hearing "at Livermore, at Livermore,..." at Los Alamos. December 19, 2015 at 5:05 AM Anonymous said... Where is Norm Pattiz in this fiasco at LANS? He is the principal reason that the LLCs have failed. It's absolutely unbelievable this loser has endured all the failures of the Labs during the last 9-years. Where is he? On his $20M yacht, at a Lakers game sitting on in the front row, in his Beverly Hills mansion sitting a...

Results are out and Charlie will go down as the only Director to never earn a contract extension. Sad, so very sad.  COMMENTS:   Anonymous said... As Charlie said the score was very disappointing to LANS. This whole private contractor thing has been a complete disaster. If you have any doubt just remember when LANS rolled out the "lab" purpose, misguided, inane, inappropriate and a waste of time. Well they sure have dropped that like a rock. LANS needs to go and the sooner the better. December 17, 2015 at 7:50 PM Anonymous said... An end date for Bechtel! December 17, 2015 at 8:36 PM Anonymous said... Goodbye you corporate turds. Don't let the door hit you on the ass. December 18, 2015 at 4:12 AM Anonymous said... Does this mean they will stop cycling through Bechtel cronies that are incompetent stay parked for three years at a huge salary do nothing, look down on the technical staff, and move on to their next assignme...

Y-12 and Pantex got 57% and had a very good year, when compared to LANL, last year. Does this indicate that LANL is in for another year of sub 10% score from NNSA? http://knoxblogs.com/atomiccity/2015/12/15/cns-gets-disappointing-performance-score-of-57/ December 16, 2015 at 4:49 AM COMMENTS: The talk in the halls at LANL is that LANS got 46% but the site office moved it up to 56% so that LANS could get an extension. Odd that the site office is now under scrutiny from the IG about doing a bad job. Still a disappointing year for LANS again. Not sure how they could justify bringing up the score to 56%, maybe this is way we still have no official word on the score. In any case an extension gives LANS another year to really mess things up more than they already have. December 16, 2015 at 4:47 PM   46%, 56% still an F.   --Y-12 and Pantex got 57% and had a very good year, when compared to LANL, last year. So you must be unfamiliar with CNS ? "very...

http://www.lamonitor.com/content/audit-points-weaknesses-lanl-oversight By Associated Press Friday, December 11, 2015 at 9:17 am (Updated: December 11, 9:18 am) ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Investigators are raising flags about weaknesses in the way federal officials keep track of deficiencies, concerns from employees and contractors and other problems at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The findings of the U.S. Department of Energy's inspector general were outlined in an audit released Thursday. Investigators say the National Nuclear Security Administration's office that oversees operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory failed to put in place an effective management program that includes the tracking of actions taken to fix problems at the lab. As a result, the auditors wrote, the risk increases that the field office "may not be identifying and resolving environment, safety and health issues in an effective and timely manner." Critics say the findings are serious since the ...

According to the latest new reports, there is no date for scheduled reopening and the air handling systems are inadequate and way over budget. Thanks again, LANL!

Site 300: "Proximity of Superfund Site To New Tracy Development Causes Concern"  http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/12/13/proximity-of-superfund-site-to-new-tracy-development-causes-concern/

Considering the IG report of earlier this week about LAFO, there probably will be a delay in delivery of NNSAs annual evaluation letter to the lab. Be ready for news just before the holiday break.

The Office of Inspector General has issued a report titled “Issues Management at the Los Alamos Field Office," (OAI-M-16-02). This report is now available for viewing and can be accessed by clicking the link below: http://energy.gov/node/1446546

Courthouse News Service              Wednesday, December 09, 2015              Last Update: 3:20 PM PT Contract Right to Health Benefits Found by Judge By SEAN DUFFY (CN) - An Alameda County judge ruled Tuesday that retirees of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory were University of California employees entitled to the system's health care plan. The decision by Judge George Hernandez Jr. marks the first time that a contractual right to benefits for California public employees has been recognized. "The legal issue is whether the employees have a legal right to have health care through the university, or can the university change it as it likes," Dov Grunschlag, who represented the retirees, said. "The judge has found this contractual right on the part of public employees for the first time." Hernandez ruled that the UC Regents and the retirees had a mutual understanding over the nature of their health care...

Dear Secretary Moniz: Anthony T. Rivera's Petition for Secretarial Review was served on your office July 15, 2015. His case arose under 10 C.F.R. Part 708 due to reprisal for his reporting of dangerous incidents in the High Explosives Application Facility at Livermore. The issue is straightforward. Your Office of Hearings and Appeals conducted no investigation and no hearing. If there is no particular explanation for the delayed response to the Petition for Secretarial Review, I will be obliged to start preparing to obtain judicial intervention. We will bring the matter to court if your decision is issued without providing a remedy. If no decision is received from your office, we will plan to file the court case January 15, 2016. Your consideration is appreciated. Cordially, ANTHONY P. X. BOTHWELL Attorney for Anthony T. Rivera cc. Mr. Kevin Knobloch, Chief of Staff Mr. Steven Croley, General Counsel Comments: Does this effect the profit margin by LLNS? December 7...

"Livermore Field Office sets core values as part of continuous improvement process" http://nnsa.energy.gov/blog/livermore-field-office-sets-core-values-part-continuous-improvement-process Comments: How much did this drivel cost the taxpayer? What were the NNSA LFO values before November 2015?

So is the party coming to end for LANS? That what everyone keeps hinting at but there is no solid evidence. Comment: Anonymous said... So there is talk that we will know something near Dec 10-11 about the LANL contract when the official scores come out. There are certain provisions in the contract that should happen if the score is too low.

What happens after the end of the NNSA experiment? Comments: Anonymous said... NNSA is a bureaucracy. Bureaucracies do not go away, so NNSA is here to stay. Even is the administrator and deputies are replaced, all of the lower level apparatchiks stay in place (or are promoted), and they are the ones who actually craft and enforce policy and funding. Sorry to break that news to you! Anonymous said... Bureaucracies are the closest thing to immortality that you will find on this earth. Names will change and the deck chairs will get shuffled but the ship will sail on.

Why does no one ever hear anything at all about Goldstein? We all know that McMillan has been a total and complete failure as a director, and that SNL has an unqualified director that was hand-picked by Moniz, but we never hear much from Goldstein. Is he just invisible?

Well as we approach WWIII we can be rest assured that privatization and punishment of the labs has left us less prepared to deal with whatever may arise. Did anyone ever think that our enemies might be really interested in how we treat our own labs? November 24, 2015 at 11:45 PM Comments:   Anonymous said... Fortunately 5,000 people had their computers disabled last week in the midst of a terrorist crisis to facilitate the installation of new (unclassified) passwords. Go LANS! Way to keep America safe. November 25, 2015 at 3:49 AM Anonymous said... Fortunately 5,000 people had their computers disabled last week in the midst of a terrorist crisis to facilitate the installation of new (unclassified) passwords. Go LANS! Way to keep America safe. November 25, 2015 at 3:49 AM Another example of LANS just driving the lab and workers (and other facilities) to complete standstill (e.g. WIPP, PF-4, WCRRF, RANT, Area G, WETF, etc.). LANS - Working ...

Why does UCRS not offer a simple ultra low cost SP500 index fund? It is the foremost, lowest fee, broadest, best characterized, most elementary of equity vehicles which offers the best understood risk/reward (sharpe ratio) of any equity. It is the foremost equity vehicle for equity weight in asset allocation. Yet it is absent. Why? LLNS offers it in the 401k plan. November 21, 2015 at 6:20 AM  Anonymous said... Napolitano is too busy hawking 5000 freshman billets to Cal, UCLA and UCSD to rich foreigners to care about your investment choices. She's a big Cheese now. November 21, 2015 at 6:23 AM    Anonymous said... Yep. President Kim Chee and Pasha Jihad kids sit from and center at UCLA, your Califonia slop smells cow paddies in Merced. Merced? Isnt that the crack capital of the central valley? November 21, 2015 at 6:33 AM