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If True, that is interesting news for the accelerator types at LANL. Mason headed up the development of SNS at Oak Ridge as his first job there. LANL accelerator engineers collaborated strongly on that project. Interesting times on the Hill.
This blog will accurately predict the next LLNL director, just like it predicted the contract. So many knowledgeable LANL folks who are “in the know” frequent this site. Get all your news here!
How can an outsider credibly sign and approve the Nation's Annual Certification Letter when he/she would have less experience on nuclear weapons that a first year summer student? Can DOE/NNSA justify that?
How can an outsider credibly sign and approve the Nation's Annual Certification Letter when he/she would have less experience on nuclear weapons that a first year summer student? Can DOE/NNSA justify that?
July 3, 2018 at 9:58 AM
Uh, the same way the President can credibly authorize a military attack on almost anyone without any military experience? It's about authority, not experience. It counts who you surround yourself with.
"UC "won" as a major assistant "wins" an election. Just an assistant.
July 2, 2018 at 6:12 PM"
You have to go through some very bizarre psychology convolutions to get to this point. Perhaps you have to see it this way, as it is the only way you can keep your delusion going that UC was the bad guy when it comes to your personal situation. Pretty messed up. Don't you think it is time to let it go?
FYI from last year the ORNL Press Release for those not familiar with him....
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (Feb. 24, 2017) – Dr. Thom Mason will step down as director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory effective July 1, 2017, exactly 10 years after becoming director of the nation’s largest science and energy laboratory.
Mason will take on a new role as Senior Vice President for Laboratory Operations at Battelle in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle, in partnership with the University of Tennessee, has managed and operated ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy since April 2000.
“Thom has been an exemplary scientific leader and we're fortunate that he will continue to be engaged with Oak Ridge National Laboratory as he uses his experience and expertise to benefit DOE, Battelle, and other labs where Battelle has a management role,” said Joe DiPietro, chairman of the UT-Battelle board of governors. Battelle has a substantial management role at six DOE labs and one lab for the Department of Homeland Security.
Mason is an experimental condensed matter physicist by training and came to ORNL in 1998 to work on the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), a facility that was under construction to serve scientists worldwide. He soon assumed responsibility for completion of the $1.4 billion project.
SNS and its sister neutron facility, the High Flux Isotope Reactor, solidified ORNL’s role as the leading source of neutrons for scientific research in the U.S. and recently welcomed their 20,000th scientific user.
Mason’s decade as lab director was marked by a number of other milestones, including:
- Two supercomputers ranked as the most powerful in the world, bringing the power of high performance computing to a wide range of science and engineering problems; - Leadership of ambitious, multi-institutional research organizations such as the BioEnergy Science Center and Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors; - Establishment of ORNL as a center for advanced manufacturing, and creation of game-changing technologies in support of clean energy and industry; - Continued revitalization of laboratory infrastructure; - Support of national priorities in nuclear science and energy, in fission, fusion, isotope production, and nuclear security.
At Battelle, Mason will work with Executive Vice President of Global Laboratory Operations Ron Townsend by participating in governance at each Battelle-managed lab, engaging key sponsors, contributing to capture management, and leading strategic planning for lab operations that integrate with Battelle’s overall strategic plan.
If it is Thom Mason, it will be interesting. He has kept staff salaries at ORNL -- including leadership team -- well below what the weapons labs pay. I recall how shocked he and others in ORNL were when the Stimulus Act in circa 2010 caused all the labs to publish their top 5 salaried employees pay information, and he was paid as ORNL Director somewhere in the vicinity of less than 25% of Sandia's president, and less than half of LANL and LLNL's Directors.
That being said, I'd be somewhat surprised if Battelle put him forward as Director. There are skeletons in the SNS closet just like there are skeletons in the NIF and DAHRT closet. And Mason has little experience with or relationship with the major components of NNSA and DoD. I think Thom Mason is in a holding pattern to succeed Ron Townsend when Jeff Wadsworth retires and Ron moves up.
I think the smart money bet for Director would be Vajid Majidi.
if you mean Vahid Majidi it seems unlikely since he was appointed Director of Savannah River National Lab in the spring which someone committed to a proposal could not do.
Triad is official - just not announced publicly. Thom Mason is the next Director. This will all come out on Monday along with the high-level org chart.
Triad is official - just not announced publicly. Thom Mason is the next Director. This will all come out on Monday along with the high-level org chart.
July 6, 2018 at 5:37 PM
A variant I heard is that Thom Mason will be the CEO and that a LANL person would be the lab Director? Seems a bid odd but who knows . Mason should be good, at least he will not nuke Canada ;)
This would also mean the protest period is over and no one protested.
22 comments:
Webster, the new LANL Director?
He’s not the new director. Thom Mason is.
He’s not the new director. Thom Mason is.
No, it has to be John Sarrao, if not Tony Taylor. It is the clash of the TITANS, release the Kraken! Reeeeeee!
He’s not the new director. Thom Mason is.
June 29, 2018 at 10:33 PM
If True, that is interesting news for the accelerator types at LANL. Mason headed up the development of SNS at Oak Ridge as his first job there. LANL accelerator engineers collaborated strongly on that project. Interesting times on the Hill.
Mason would be an excellent choice.
This blog will accurately predict the next LLNL director, just like it predicted the contract. So many knowledgeable LANL folks who are “in the know” frequent this site. Get all your news here!
Hey 2:20! We all said UC would win, and it did !
UC "won" as a major assistant "wins" an election. Just an assistant.
OK 4:13, you’re awesome. The rest of you guys, uh, I don’t know about.
How can an outsider credibly sign and approve the Nation's Annual Certification Letter when he/she would have less experience on nuclear weapons that a first year summer student? Can DOE/NNSA justify that?
How can an outsider credibly sign and approve the Nation's Annual Certification Letter when he/she would have less experience on nuclear weapons that a first year summer student? Can DOE/NNSA justify that?
July 3, 2018 at 9:58 AM
Uh, the same way the President can credibly authorize a military attack on almost anyone without any military experience? It's about authority, not experience. It counts who you surround yourself with.
"UC "won" as a major assistant "wins" an election. Just an assistant.
July 2, 2018 at 6:12 PM"
You have to go through some very bizarre psychology convolutions to get to this point. Perhaps you have to see it this way, as it is the only way you can keep your delusion going that UC was the bad guy when it comes to your personal situation. Pretty messed up. Don't you think it is time to let it go?
It doesn't require experience, it requires authority and accountability. Besides, there are lots of inexperienced "insiders."
FYI from last year the ORNL Press Release for those not familiar with him....
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (Feb. 24, 2017) – Dr. Thom Mason will step down as director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory effective July 1, 2017, exactly 10 years after becoming director of the nation’s largest science and energy laboratory.
Mason will take on a new role as Senior Vice President for Laboratory Operations at Battelle in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle, in partnership with the University of Tennessee, has managed and operated ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy since April 2000.
“Thom has been an exemplary scientific leader and we're fortunate that he will continue to be engaged with Oak Ridge National Laboratory as he uses his experience and expertise to benefit DOE, Battelle, and other labs where Battelle has a management role,” said Joe DiPietro, chairman of the UT-Battelle board of governors. Battelle has a substantial management role at six DOE labs and one lab for the Department of Homeland Security.
Mason is an experimental condensed matter physicist by training and came to ORNL in 1998 to work on the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), a facility that was under construction to serve scientists worldwide. He soon assumed responsibility for completion of the $1.4 billion project.
SNS and its sister neutron facility, the High Flux Isotope Reactor, solidified ORNL’s role as the leading source of neutrons for scientific research in the U.S. and recently welcomed their 20,000th scientific user.
Mason’s decade as lab director was marked by a number of other milestones, including:
- Two supercomputers ranked as the most powerful in the world, bringing the power of high performance computing to a wide range of science and engineering problems;
- Leadership of ambitious, multi-institutional research organizations such as the BioEnergy Science Center and Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors;
- Establishment of ORNL as a center for advanced manufacturing, and creation of game-changing technologies in support of clean energy and industry;
- Continued revitalization of laboratory infrastructure;
- Support of national priorities in nuclear science and energy, in fission, fusion, isotope production, and nuclear security.
At Battelle, Mason will work with Executive Vice President of Global Laboratory Operations Ron Townsend by participating in governance at each Battelle-managed lab, engaging key sponsors, contributing to capture management, and leading strategic planning for lab operations that integrate with Battelle’s overall strategic plan.
If it is Thom Mason, it will be interesting. He has kept staff salaries at ORNL -- including leadership team -- well below what the weapons labs pay. I recall how shocked he and others in ORNL were when the Stimulus Act in circa 2010 caused all the labs to publish their top 5 salaried employees pay information, and he was paid as ORNL Director somewhere in the vicinity of less than 25% of Sandia's president, and less than half of LANL and LLNL's Directors.
That being said, I'd be somewhat surprised if Battelle put him forward as Director. There are skeletons in the SNS closet just like there are skeletons in the NIF and DAHRT closet. And Mason has little experience with or relationship with the major components of NNSA and DoD. I think Thom Mason is in a holding pattern to succeed Ron Townsend when Jeff Wadsworth retires and Ron moves up.
I think the smart money bet for Director would be Vajid Majidi.
Vajid Majidi would be a home run selection for LANL Director.
I think the smart money bet for Director would be Vajid Majidi.
July 5, 2018 at 7:10 AM
Except that Savannah River already snapped him up earlier this year.
if you mean Vahid Majidi it seems unlikely since he was appointed Director of Savannah River National Lab in the spring which someone committed to a proposal could not do.
Triad is official - just not announced publicly. Thom Mason is the next Director. This will all come out on Monday along with the high-level org chart.
The publication Exchange Monitor reported today (July 6) that there were no protests filed and Triad is official.
Triad is official - just not announced publicly. Thom Mason is the next Director. This will all come out on Monday along with the high-level org chart.
July 6, 2018 at 5:37 PM
A variant I heard is that Thom Mason will be the CEO and that a LANL person would be the lab Director? Seems a bid odd but who knows . Mason should be good, at least he will not nuke Canada ;)
This would also mean the protest period is over and no one protested.
I guess you know that Lab Directors don't actually "nuke" other countries, and also that they have absolutely no say over who does get "nuked"?
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