This BLOG is for LLNL present and past employees, friends of LLNL and anyone impacted by the privatization of the Lab to express their opinions and expose the waste, wrongdoing and any kind of injustice against employees and taxpayers by LLNS/DOE/NNSA.
The opinions stated are personal opinions. Therefore,
The BLOG author may or may not agree with them before making the decision to post them.
Comments not conforming to BLOG rules are deleted.
Blog author serves as a moderator.
For new topics or suggestions, email jlscoob5@gmail.com
Blog rules
Stay on topic.
No profanity, threatening language, pornography.
NO NAME CALLING.
No political debate.
Posts and comments are posted several times a day.
Saturday, August 31, 2019
NNSA Seeks New Los Alamos Field Office Manager
The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is looking for a new manager for its Los Alamos National Laboratory
"Maybe she left because she wanted to. Imagine that!"
NNSA Los Alamos Field Office Manager Kim Davis Lebak and LANL Director Charles McMillan both announced their exits from LANL in September 2017. Maybe they both left LANL because they just wanted to.
Kim announced her retirement one day after the LANS "near-miss" that occurred on September 13, 2017. This "near-miss" was just the latest in a string of earlier accidents at LANL.
Both Kim and Charlie had been essentially fired, this is no secrete. In fact the plan was to get rid of Charlie earlier but after the LANS lost the contract they figured to keep him around longer because it would not have made a difference. The second worse Director in LANL history.
"You seem to think coincidence means cause and effect. Clearly not a scientist."
Who is "you", and what "coincidence" are you referring to? Try to compose a sentence or two where the end result is a complete thought before you worry about who is or who is not a scientist.
I like the "bring back Nanos" comment. I worked at lane 30+ years and liked Nanos. I think he was maligned more for trying to hold the dead wood employees accountable. Lots of BS'ers working at LANL during my time and probably now as well. Most of the dead wood were managers and because of that lots of lower rank employees were in jobs way over their heads and capabilities as they were never held accountable. I am glad to be retired and done with it.
"I like the "bring back Nanos" comment. I worked at lane 30+ years and liked Nanos. I think he was maligned more for trying to hold the dead wood employees accountable."
What is "LANE". Nanos was maligned for being insane, I don't remember anyone saying Nanos was trying to hold dead wood employees accountable. To be honest it was the deadwood employees that seemed to like him...funny that. Perhaps things are different at LANE.
Who is "you", and what "coincidence" are you referring to? Try to compose a sentence or two where the end result is a complete thought before you worry about who is or who is not a scientist.
I guess one needs to either be a scientist or a company shill to have a valid opinion as to why major LANL players elect to conveniently retire after a track record of major failures.
Maybe some who has a bit of experience with observations. For example the sun comes up every day, a good guess is that it will come up tomorrow. This is not guaranteed but a good guess. At LANL so far every major manager leaves due to failure, scandal or corruption, so when a major LANL manager leaves a good guess it was due to some failure, scandal or corruption. Again it is not guaranteed but without any other knowledge it is a safe guess to assume something like this.
Also there is plenty of inside baseball on what happened with Kim.
"At LANL so far every major manager leaves due to failure, scandal or corruption..."
9/10/2019 10:50 PM
Oh really? Oppenheimer, Bradbury, Agnew? All the ADs under them? Really? You obviously don't work at LANL or you have failed to appreciate where it is you work and what that means.
Oh, come on, think FEDEX and plutonium. Charlie was already out with WIPP but the contract was already lost so there was not point in throwing him out. Then came the FEDEX fiasco, which was a TOTAL fiasco if you know what actually happened, but hey this is New Mexico for ya ;). After that Charlie was out on the spot and Kim had to go as well since she was just a court jester so to speak and when the King that you serve and you serve alone is gone you go as well. One day longer and the political knives come out, no one liked her and many where waiting for the day this would go down. Say what you want but LANS did not make many friends, they did make lots of money for themselves.
There is so many more stories, don't get me started on Marquez the third in command, or Beth Sellers, or even the very firstLANS Bechtel deputy, heck it just goes on and on. But hey each and everyone of these people has way more money than you can ever dream of and looks down on you, so don't fee bad for them.
"With her strong leadership skills and wide experience at both headquarters and in the field, Kim is perfect as our Los Alamos Field Office Manager. Secretary Moniz and I believe that Kim and Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan will make a great team in promoting mission excellence in science, security, nuclear safety and project management." -Bruce Held
"Live in the past much? You sure do hold a grudge."
I don't think the person you are referring to is living in the past or holding a grudge at all. Maybe the poster just believes the NNSA Field Office and LANS leadership styles should not be repeated. Perhaps it is you a LANS beneficiary that narrowly escaped losing your job or lost your job that is actually living in the past.
9/12/2019 6:27 PM here. Not a LANS beneficiary, more like a LANS escapee. Didn't lose my job or even come close. Retired with a great pension and a great set of kudos (in writing and on wooden plaques)from both LANL and DOE. In my time, I saw greatness at LANL, along with mistakes and stupidity too. The greatness endures and will be remembered. The stupidity will fade as the consequences are seen to be minimal.
"The stupidity will fade as the consequences are seen to be minimal."
Really?
"Nuclear accident in New Mexico ranks among the costliest in U.S. history"
"the explosion ranks among the costliest nuclear accidents in U.S. history, according to a Times analysis. The long-term cost of the mishap could top $2 billion, an amount roughly in the range of the cleanup after the 1979 partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania."
"The stupidity will fade as the consequences are seen to be minimal."
Contractor LLCs make their maximum award fee or something less than their maximum award fee, but they never pay money back that exceeds their earnings when they screw up. That's why it's called an LLC. This is DOE casino land where the machines are loose, and if you get caught doing something improper, you just need to give back a portion of your winnings before you exit the premises, but you can come back the next day.
"The consequences are seen to be minimal" blog reply is essentially correct from the LLC contractors perspective, but not from the mission or the taxpayers perspective. However, there is nothing in this business model that remotely suggests "The stupidity will fade" because the current profit model doesn't require it to.
"The stupidity will fade because everything fades"
I think 9/15/2019 7:52 AM was simply saying the pattern of "screw ups" won't change or "fade" because the repercussions for "stupidity" are minimal compared to the profits earned.
32 comments:
Since she left in good standing maybe Kim Davis Lebak will come out of retirement and become the NNSA Los Alamos Field Office Manager again.
One assumes she let in "good standing" for a reason.
Bring back Nanos!!!!
"One assumes she let in "good standing" for a reason."
What does that mean? Did she retire in "good standing" or did she retire ahead of something coming?
"What does that mean? Did she retire in "good standing" or did she retire ahead of something coming?
9/03/2019 7:32 PM"
She was not in jail when she left so yes in good standing.
Maybe she left because she wanted to. Imagine that!
"Maybe she left because she wanted to. Imagine that!"
NNSA Los Alamos Field Office Manager Kim Davis Lebak and LANL Director Charles McMillan both announced their exits from LANL in September 2017. Maybe they both left LANL because they just wanted to.
Kim was Charlie’s darling. Maybe she left because she had no air cover?
Kim announced her retirement one day after the LANS "near-miss" that occurred on September 13, 2017. This "near-miss" was just the latest in a string of earlier accidents at LANL.
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/feds-probe-lanl-near-miss-incident/article_67b3ea72-341b-5d77-baa0-8c5bed76aafb.html
Both Kim and Charlie had been essentially fired, this is no secrete. In fact the plan was to get rid of Charlie earlier but after the LANS lost the contract they figured to keep him around longer
because it would not have made a difference. The second worse Director in LANL history.
You seem to think coincidence means cause and effect. Clearly not a scientist.
"You seem to think coincidence means cause and effect. Clearly not a scientist."
Who is "you", and what "coincidence" are you referring to? Try to compose a sentence or two where the end result is a complete thought before you worry about who is or who is not a scientist.
I like the "bring back Nanos" comment. I worked at lane 30+ years and liked Nanos. I think he was maligned more for trying to hold the dead wood employees accountable. Lots of BS'ers working at LANL during my time and probably now as well. Most of the dead wood were managers and because of that lots of lower rank employees were in jobs way over their heads and capabilities as they were never held accountable. I am glad to be retired and done with it.
9/08/2019 7:56 AM
Scooby apparently doesn't want me explaining to you that I was responding to 9/07/2019 1:49 PM. I wonder why?
"Scooby apparently doesn't want me explaining to you that I was responding to 9/07/2019 1:49 PM. I wonder why?"
You may wonder why as you wish. Perhaps what Scooby does from your perspective is a mere coincidence, and not a "cause and effect".
"I like the "bring back Nanos" comment. I worked at lane 30+ years and liked Nanos. I think he was maligned more for trying to hold the dead wood employees accountable."
What is "LANE". Nanos was maligned for being insane, I don't remember anyone saying Nanos was trying to hold dead wood employees accountable. To be honest it was the deadwood employees that seemed to like him...funny that. Perhaps things are different at LANE.
Who is "you", and what "coincidence" are you referring to? Try to compose a sentence or two where the end result is a complete thought before you worry about who is or who is not a scientist.
9/08/2019 7:56 AM
Clearly you are not a scientists.
I guess one needs to either be a scientist or a company shill to have a valid opinion as to why major LANL players elect to conveniently retire after a track record of major failures.
9/09/2019 9:27 PM
Maybe some who has a bit of experience with observations. For example the sun comes up every day, a good guess is that it will come up tomorrow. This is not guaranteed but a good guess. At LANL so far every major manager leaves due to failure, scandal or corruption, so when a major LANL manager leaves a good guess it was due to some failure, scandal or corruption. Again it is not guaranteed but without any other knowledge it is a safe guess to assume something like this.
Also there is plenty of inside baseball on what happened with Kim.
"Also there is plenty of inside baseball on what happened with Kim."
Like what?
"At LANL so far every major manager leaves due to failure, scandal or corruption..."
9/10/2019 10:50 PM
Oh really? Oppenheimer, Bradbury, Agnew? All the ADs under them? Really? You obviously don't work at LANL or you have failed to appreciate where it is you work and what that means.
Like what?
9/11/2019 11:57 AM
Oh, come on, think FEDEX and plutonium. Charlie was already out with WIPP but the contract was already lost so there was not point in throwing him out. Then came the FEDEX fiasco, which was a TOTAL fiasco if you know what actually happened, but hey this is New Mexico for ya ;). After that Charlie was out on the spot and Kim had to go as well since she was just a court jester so to speak and when the King that you serve and you serve alone is gone you go as well. One day longer and the political knives come out, no one liked her and many where waiting for the day this would go down. Say what you want but LANS did not make many friends, they did make lots of money for themselves.
There is so many more stories, don't get me started on Marquez the third in command, or Beth Sellers, or even the very firstLANS Bechtel deputy, heck it just goes on and on. But hey each and everyone of these people has way more money than you can ever dream of and looks down on you, so don't fee bad for them.
"With her strong leadership skills and wide experience at both headquarters and in the field, Kim is perfect as our Los Alamos Field Office Manager. Secretary Moniz and I believe that Kim and Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan will make a great team in promoting mission excellence in science, security, nuclear safety and project management." -Bruce Held
9/11/2019 6:19 PM
Live in the past much? You sure do hold a grudge.
"Live in the past much? You sure do hold a grudge."
I don't think the person you are referring to is living in the past or holding a grudge at all. Maybe the poster just believes the NNSA Field Office and LANS leadership styles should not be repeated. Perhaps it is you a LANS beneficiary that narrowly escaped losing your job or lost your job that is actually living in the past.
9/12/2019 6:27 PM
9/12/2019 6:27 PM here. Not a LANS beneficiary, more like a LANS escapee. Didn't lose my job or even come close. Retired with a great pension and a great set of kudos (in writing and on wooden plaques)from both LANL and DOE. In my time, I saw greatness at LANL, along with mistakes and stupidity too. The greatness endures and will be remembered. The stupidity will fade as the consequences are seen to be minimal.
"The stupidity will fade as the consequences are seen to be minimal."
Really?
"Nuclear accident in New Mexico ranks among the costliest in U.S. history"
"the explosion ranks among the costliest nuclear accidents in U.S. history, according to a Times analysis. The long-term cost of the mishap could top $2 billion, an amount roughly in the range of the cleanup after the 1979 partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania."
https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-new-mexico-nuclear-dump-20160819-snap-story.html
That's headlines. So what? Long-term consequences = zero. (Hint: the LA Times is not a reliable news source for things nuclear.)
"The stupidity will fade as the consequences are seen to be minimal."
Contractor LLCs make their maximum award fee or something less than their maximum award fee, but they never pay money back that exceeds their earnings when they screw up. That's why it's called an LLC. This is DOE casino land where the machines are loose, and if you get caught doing something improper, you just need to give back a portion of your winnings before you exit the premises, but you can come back the next day.
"The consequences are seen to be minimal" blog reply is essentially correct from the LLC contractors perspective, but not from the mission or the taxpayers perspective. However, there is nothing in this business model that remotely suggests "The stupidity will fade" because the current profit model doesn't require it to.
The stupidity will fade because everything fades.
"The stupidity will fade because everything fades"
I think 9/15/2019 7:52 AM was simply saying the pattern of "screw ups" won't change
or "fade" because the repercussions for "stupidity" are minimal compared to the profits earned.
9/16/2019 3:04 PM
My post of which you quote was two days earlier than that of 9/15/2019 7:52 AM. Not something I considered or need to.
Post a Comment