"Neile Miller, former principal deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), has joined Nevada National Security Site operating contractor Mission Support and Test Services as head of government affairs, the company announced Monday."
https://www.exchangemonitor.com/former-nnsa-no-2-lead-government-affairs-nevada-site-contractor/?printmode=1
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"WASHINGTON – The National Nuclear Security Administration is defending itself against charges that it renewed lucrative deals for undeserving contractors, but the issue is likely to come up at congressional oversight hearings in the coming months, sources say."
"The firm that manages the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico “received only 68 percent of its possible at-risk award fee of $46.5 million for the last budget year, primarily because of cost overruns that ballooned a security project from $213 million to $254 million,” according to a press release from the organization."
"Nonetheless, Neile Miller, then the agency’s top award determining official and now its acting chief, overrode a decision by NNSA site personnel and granted Los Alamos National Security a waiver that extends its contract through fiscal 2018, the group said."
"A similar situation occurred regarding the contract of a consortium -- consisting of Bechtel National, the University of California, Babcock and Wilcox, the Washington Division of URS and Battelle -- that manages the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the group said."
"Lawrence Livermore National Security earned 78 percent of its “available at-risk incentive fee, still short of the gateway of 80 percent,” the group said. “However, acting NNSA Administrator Neile Miller overrode that too, giving the lab contractor an extra $541,527 to help it meet the 80 percent mark and extending the management contract another year.”"
"The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office has also raised concerns about the extension of NNSA contracts for management of its facilities. Assistant Director Allison Bawden said last month that the inconsistent NNSA enforcement of contract terms could be problematic, the Nuclear Weapons Materials and Complex Monitor reported."
“What kind of message do these actions send to potential bidders on future … contracts?” Bawden said. “Will they take the contract structures as seriously?”"
"Agency spokesman Josh McConaha defended Miller’s decisions and suggested that the watchdog groups might be missing the bigger picture."
Watchdog groups aside, the GAO and the NNSA's Neile Miller apparently had VERY different views of what the "bigger picture" was in 2013.
https://www.nti.org/gsn/article/nnsa-defends-contract-extensions-congressional-scrutiny-expected/
Why is this very old news of interest to anyone?? LANS is long gone.
Because past is a prologue, and there were numerous NNSA Lab failures involving employee safety, the environment, and contractor misconduct after Neile Miller elected to cook the performance reviews of LANS and LLNS 2013. This is what happens when you move the goal line. The GAO perspective on this matter was the correct one.
8/26/2019 10:14 AM
Oh, BS with your ridiculous trope. You just have this insane insatiable need to keep bashing the NNSA labs because you think they screwed you over. Get over yourself.
If you could only raise your magic wand and prevent any NNSA Lab criticisms from appearing on this blog, you'd finally have your contractor centric utopia. Then you could focus all of your time to discredit the motives of the DOE Office of Asessment, the DOE IG, the GAO, and the DNFSB? As the saying goes, "You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” Don't be such a sensitive and irrational baby.
8/30/2019 9:38 PM"
Oh, it gets better, Charlie is also coming back and in even bigger way than Mickey.