LLNL - The True Story -

The new structure for the bid being developed by UC and Bechtel/AECOM It appears the talks between UC and Bechtel and developing a new structure. This structure would be to break the Operations and Projects PADs away from the Science/Technology/Security making each partner responsible for the management, performance, and fee. How would this effect Weapons PAD and program???

WIPP three year extension granted to BWXT / AECOM existing contractor. http://news.morningstar.com/all/business-wire/BWIPREM20170928005158/bwxt-joint-venture-awarded-three-year-928-million-contract-extension.aspx

No comment yet from NNSA on latest LANL crit safety violation in pit production facility In 2016, LANL was the only one of the Department of Energy’s nuclear facilities to receive a failing “red,” or does not meet safety expectations, safety rating for criticality. No comment has been available from the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, of which the Los Alamos lab is part. The DNSFB’s recent report says that on Aug. 18, the crew that had cast the pit shell moved it “into a location that already contained plutonium metal,” exceeding plutonium limits. When too much plutonium is put in close quarters, a criticality reaction can take place. In this case, the violation was discovered three days later when the shell was moved again. The DNFSB report said “this was the first shell cast in the facility in about four years and the second time that a restarted operation encountered conduct of operations issues related to the criticality safety of material movements shortly 

It is starting to appear that the current team of LANS will get to keep all the contracts for the future. https://energy.gov/em/articles/doe-extends-los-alamos-national-laboratory-cleanup-bridge-contract https://energy.gov/em/articles/doe-extends-los-alamos-national-laboratory-cleanup-bridge-contract

"Worker Safety and Health Enforcement Preliminary Notice of Violation issued for violations of 10 C.F.R. Part 851 relating to electrical safety. On August 17, 2017, the National Nuclear Security Administration issued a Preliminary Notice of Violation (WEA-2017-01) to National Security Technologies, LLC, for violations of the Department of Energy’s worker safety and health program requirements (10 C.F.R. Part 851) associated with implementation of the electrical safety program and an electrical shock event that occurred at the Nevada National Security Site." "...The incident occurred during preventive maintenance work on electrical equipment at the U1a Complex, involving multiple crews, crafts, and locations.  The electrical shock occurred while an employee was using a damp rag to clean the inside of an energized 5kV splice box..."  https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/08/f35/Preliminary%20Notice%20of%20Violation%2C%20National%20Nuclear%20Security%20Technol...

Was it all a ploy by the communications consultants to moderate the critical blog? One story is that the LANS team wanted to hold down negative comments as the re-compete heats up and that they were successful by spamming the blog with drivel. 

https://nnsa.energy.gov/ aboutus/ouroperations/apm/ majcontrsolicitation/los- alamos-national-laboratory- management-and Contains the following: Questions and Answers to Draft RFP, second set, Q&A's 12 thru 110 (yes 110), posted 9/20/17 List of interested parties - Notable attendees include University of Texas and University of California; Leidos, Bechtel and General Dynamics - notably missing:  Lockheed Readers will be interested in the clarification of (1) current employees have right of first refusal and (2) pension considerations are covered by ERISA and NNSA anticipates new contractor will continue current pension plans for retirees and future retirees.  All years of service and leave balances carry forward to new contract.

LANL has another failure in criticality safety. Article looks as if the workers made not just one but two attempts to cover up the mistake instead of reporting the lapse. No wonder NNSA is fed up with LANS! https://www.abqjournal.com/1067835/report-criticality-event-occured-at-lanl-plutonium-facility.html

It's nature has changed from a sometimes chaotic but open forum to something more personal, a very limiting give and take between piqued individuals and even trite nannying. Closing off threads rather than letting them exhaust themselves eliminates the authenticity of the exchange. It will only take perusing a few more Nannied threads before you will lose the interest of followers like me who have posted perhaps now thousands of posts since the 2007 rebid debacle motivated this anonymous forum. Thanks for your efforts and consideration. I for one do not hold anyone but the author responsible for the posts in an open, very lightly monitored forum

Sep 22, 2017  "The incidents are among the most serious to have occurred at the lab in the last year or more, and come at a time when the lab’s ability to handle nuclear materials — and ensure the safety of its workers and the public — have been questioned by critical investigative reports, the federal advisory board and members of Congress" http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/report-lanl-violated-nuclear-safety-standards/article_6692f11d-6c8d-5b4c-8f5d-1972330d3df6.html

No matter who wins LANL, because the team will be divided 2, 3 or even 4 ways into different bid teams, it means at most 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4 could survive into next contract. Some teams could have few or no current LANL managers. The if you factor in the retirements that will be timed for the contract change another fraction of top managers will be gone. No matter what the outcome, most LANL AD and PAD will be gone.

Kim Davis Lebak Leaving Los Alamos And DOE.  http://www.ladailypost.com/content/kim-davis-lebak-leaving-los-alamos-and-doe

I am also hearing that UTexas and Battalle are putting in a bid. Anyone else hear this?  That is at least two teams. How about Lockheed?

Lately,  someone pointed out that some posts have huge fonts. It may have something to do with my mobile device browser settings. The posts look good from my mobile device. I am doing this post using a laptop. It should have the correct font size.  I will continue researching the cause of the problem.

This makes no sense unless LANS is intending to bid as the current LLC, which seems very unlikely. LANS was established for the sole purpose of bidding on the contract for, and running, LANL for DOE/NNSA. It has no other function or business. Can anyone explain this rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic?

The appointment of Ellen Tauscher as an Executive Committee Governor of the Boards of Governors of the Los Alamos National Security, LLC and Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, effective February 16, 2018, replacing Norman Pattiz, be approved.

Senators want DNFSB to have more control over LANL and SNL operations New Mexico’s U.S. senators are pushing for language to be included in a major defense spending bill that they say would bolster safety at national laboratories in the state. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich have proposed that the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board report to Congress each year on what additional resources are needed to ensure that operations at Sandia and Los Alamos labs are safe. The independent oversight panel found earlier this year that many of the safety systems in place at Los Alamos date to the 1970s and will need to be upgrading to meet future demands. https://www.abqjournal.com/1063525/new-mexico-senators-push-for-annual-reports-on-lab-safety.html

Too little too late to save any hope for UC continued involvement in NNSA. Pattiz was a running joke and UC put up with his behavior for way too long. http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/sept17/a1.pdf

The primary purpose of LANL, and the only purpose of LANL, is to provide wasteful sums of money to the local community. “Our community has had some real challenges in communicating our interests, and just meeting and communicating with the potential bidders,” said Andrea Romero, the executive director of the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities. http://www.lamonitor.com/content/la-local-leaders-meet-dc-officials

Colleagues:  Our friend and colleague Kim Davis Lebak is retiring after 28 years of public  service. Throughout her distinguished career, Kim served in various capacities  in DOE and NNSA offices across the country, including Livermore, Sandia, Pantex,  Savannah River, and DOE/NNSA Headquarters. Most recently, she has been Los  Alamos Field Office Manager. Kim has been an extraordinary public servant and  contributed greatly to NNSA's missions.  Steve Goodrum has been selected to serve as the new Los Alamos Field Office  Manager. He has served as NNSA's Assistant Deputy Administrator for Stockpile  Management since 2005. Steve's 40 years of experience in the nuclear security  enterprise includes assignments as the Amarillo Area Office Manager and as the  Sandia Site Office Deputy Manager.  Please join me in thanking Kim for her service, and welcoming Steve to his new  role.  Frank Klotz

New rumor is that UC and Bechtel are talking partnership again with a different structural arrangement.

Saint Peter is no more.... https://www.abqjournal.com/1062836/end-of-an-era-sen-pete-domenici-passes-away-in-albuquerque.html

With WIPP, Beth Sellers, Arc-Flash, and inappropriate plutonium air transport, to name a few problems at LANL, have the LANS management failures and the NNSA Los Alamos Field Office oversight failures established a clear moral hazard or a no immediate consequence expectation for any failures on the part of the next LANL contractor?

Look at the recent SNL competition and Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrup Grumman each put together a team for the bid. From all accounts none of them are expressing interest in running LANL in the present round. Without making a claim if this is good or bad, it represents a complete U-turn from the SNL case and is worth considering what caused the change.

My name is Zach Dorfman--I'm an SF-based journalist working on a story on the particular challenges surrounding  counterintelligence /counteresp ionage in the Bay Area. While Russian espionage will likely be the focus, I'm also interested in the actions of other states, such as China. LLNL and Sandia are obviously an important part of this story. I saw your blog, which seems to serve as a lively forum for former and current DoE employees, and therefore wanted to reach out. If you have readers who worked in counterintelligence at LLNL or Sandia (or any of the other national labs, for that matter) or just have stories to share, I'd very much appreciate if you could pass on this request. These conversations can be structured in ways that ensure anonymity regarding what ultimately appears in print, if desired. That includes shielding the institutional identity of one's current or past employer. I'm an independent journalist and a non-resident Senior Fellow at...

What's Happening at the National Ignition Facility (NIF).  LLNL sure has been "mum" about it's billion dollar showcase failure.

Time to start the betting pool for the next LANL director, now that Charlie has been shown out the door. Names already mentioned include Gibbs and Wallace, and there is a circle of ADs that are rooting for Marquez to return. Who will be the bookmakers favorite?

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) could be just days from awarding a new contract for legacy nuclear cleanup operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. A major procurements update from EM, dated Aug. 11, says the contract was due to be issued from June to August of this year. The Environmental Management office did not say last week whether it anticipated meeting that schedule. One industry source said Fluor and CH2M are believed to have bid on the contract, but could not say whether the companies might be teaming with other firms. The source did not know what other companies might also be seeking the contract. Fluor did not respond to a request for comment regarding a potential bid on cleanup at the nuclear-weapon lab, while CH2M declined to comment. Both companies sent representatives to a pre-solicitation conference on the contract in June 2016, along with an October 2016 site tour. Many of the major contractors in the DOE cleanup c...

UC did not remove McMillan earlier, and that has doomed their chance for any future with NNSA. “Charlie McMillan has led Los Alamos National Laboratory with a rare combination of commitment, intelligence and hard work,” said Norm Pattiz, Chairman of Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS). “Because of his passion for the Lab, its missions and its people, he agreed to stay on as Director at the Board’s request, past his originally planned retirement date. We appreciate Charlie’s commitment and believe he has put this iconic institution in a strong position to continue serving the country for many years to come.”

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/03/asia/north-korea-nuclear-test/index.html Looks like NK did another test. I think the best thing to do is let Bechtel just have full control of the labs and so could be done with whole nuclear weapons thing in the US once and for all. Get rid of UC, crush scientists, and cultural cowboys. Winning!