LLNL - The True Story -

  Laboratory colleagues: It is our pleasure to announce the appointment of Dr. Kimberly (Kim) Budil as President of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) and the 13th Director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), effective March 2, 2021. The selection of the Laboratory director is one of the most important responsibilities of the University of California (UC) and the LLNS Board of Governors. Dr. Budil’s appointment has received the unanimous approval of the LLNS Executive Committee and the concurrence of the Secretary of Energy, NNSA Administrator and UC President. Dr. Budil will be the first woman to lead the Laboratory. Dr. Budil has a long career at LLNL and the University of California. She currently leads LLNL’s nuclear weapons program as the Principal Associate Director for Weapons & Complex Integration (WCI). She joined LLNL as a graduate student in Laser Programs in 1987 and became a postdoc in the weapons program in 1994. Over her career, she ha...

  I listened to Gov Granholm's hearing this morning. Almost nothing on NNSA or weapons work. An excerpt from her submitted statement on energy.senate.gov ------- "Chairman Murkowski, Ranking Member Manchin, and distinguished members of the Committee. Thank you for holding this hearing so expeditiously... A little about me — I was brought to this country from Canada at four years old by parents seeking economic opportunity. As I mentioned when I was nominated, my parents both had only high school degrees. My dad was born into dire poverty, in a cabin with no running water in a rural part of Canada. My dad’s father shot and killed himself out of desperation during the Great Depression because he could not find work to support my grandmother and their three children. My dad was three years old. I bring to this role the sincere belief that we, in America, cannot leave our people behind. I’d like to share a bit about the focus I will bring to the Department of Energy if I am confir...

  What happens to LLNS employees that speak out about diversity disparities that are not formally endorsed by LLNS corporate?

  https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/536078-granholm-should-take-a-realistic-measured-approach-at-energy

  Very subtle article that uses unsubstantiated accusations of racism to allow the Chinese to continue spying in this country. It advocates the amnesty for PRC ties. The real agenda is to stop the counterintelligence effort against the PRC spying and infiltration of US universities. https://supchina.com/2021/01/26/gang-chens-case-should-be-the-end-of-the-dojs-china-initiative/

  Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) ,  former Pentagon official, quickly drew up a bill designed to block QAnon believers, and other conspiracy followers, from obtaining the security clearances required to access classified federal government information. https://www.thedailybeast.com/dems-new-bill-aims-to-bar-qanon-followers-from-security-clearances

  Any researchers who took money from China with disclosing it or ok now. DOJ Considers Amnesty for Foreign Funding Disclosures https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/01/25/doj-considers-amnesty-foreign-funding-disclosures Officials at the Department of Justice are considering a proposed amnesty program through which academics could disclose past foreign funding without fear of punishment, The Wall Street Journal reported. Discussion of such an amnesty program comes in the context of a crackdown on researchers accused of hiding funding or affiliations involving Chinese sources. The Justice Department has brought more than a dozen criminal cases since mid-2019 against academics accused of lying about Chinese government funding or affiliations with the Chinese military, with some of those cases resulting in guilty pleas. Now there is huge sigh or relief for lots of people. I would also bet the all current cases that have been prosecuted in the last 2 years are all going to be...

https://losalamosreporter.com/2021/01/23/ban-treaty-nuclear-weapons-are-new-illegal/ January 22, 2021 will go down in history as the day when the tide turned against nuclear weapons. That’s the day when the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons went into effect, signed by 122 countries. It specifically prohibits nations from developing, testing, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons and assisting others in doing so. It reinforces existing international law obligating all states not to test, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons.

  It would be interesting to see a discussion of people's thoughts relative to security clearances and the Jan. 6 insurrection attempt. At LANL I have seen a few vehicles with "three percenter" stickers on them, and I know of a couple of people that talk as if they are in "oath keepers". Several media outlets report that both organizations had members that participated in the insurrection attempt. I've never known of anyone that had their clearance denied or revoked due to membership in a radical left or radical right organization, and I believe most people that are interviewed as part of the clearance process (for acquaintances) know that the interview reports are available to the person under investigation. Hence I suspect that there is generally a reluctance to "out" someone for being a member of a radical organization.

  I’m hoping Verdon is gone soon. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nuclear-arsenal/2021/01/21/biden-keeps-trump-appointee-as-acting-nuclear-weapons-chief/

  Incoming S-1 Granholm and Pres Biden seem to want DOE to focus on energy and climate science as opposed to nuclear weapons. It will be interesting during upcoming Senate confirmation hearings to get her position on the idea of moving NNSA to DOD. A possible proposal I recently heard was to keep any NNSA site/activity that is 75% or more dedicated to weapons work within NNSA and then move the whole thing to DOD. That would mean Y-12, Pantex, Nevada Site, KCP, SRS, Naval Nuclear, and LANL pit production facilities go to DOD with NNSA... while LANL, LLNL and SNL stay with DOE in a reconstituted Office of Defense Program. Clearly this would take Congressional actions to amend and revise the law that created the NNSA, but if any administration is going to try, this would be the one.

  Looking back to 2007, did the contract with LLNS provide a value added to our DOE/NNSA missions or a setback compared to the UC/LLNL contract? What will likely change in the next contract to manage LLNL?

  MIT Professor Arrested and Charged with Grant Fraud for Failing to Disclose Work For Chinese Government https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/mit-professor-arrested-charged-grant-fraud-failing-disclose-work-chinese-government/ There has been a series of arrest of US scientists working with the Chinese including people at LANL. This is just the latest one. Of course one could ask if this is going to end with the new administration.

  Top US Military Leads Condemn Failed Capital Coup, while Sec of Energy stays Silent. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/01/12/unprecedented-joint-letter-top-generals-denounce-us-capitol-riot.html The country's top military leaders have taken the unprecedented step of calling out last week's storming of the U.S. Capitol as inconsistent with the U.S. rule of law and a direct assault on the American way of life. In a one-page memo to all U.S. troops, the eight members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the entire military force that President-elect Joe Biden will be their next commander in chief. All service members, they added, "must embody the values and ideals of the nation." "The violent riot in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress, the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process," the general and flag officers said. "We mourn the deaths of the two Capitol policemen and others connected to these un...

  Bill Bookless resigned yesterday

  Ok, just asking for a friend, but can the labs discipline you or fire you if you took part in the Trump rally on Wed in DC? I mean that if the person just attend but did break in the capital building or anything? Could or should you at least lose your clearance? Also what if you expressed support for the rally. Maybe the labs need to start looking into what their employees have been saying on facebook, twitter, ect. One thing is that Congress could say, "unless you clean up your workforce we are not giving you any money."

  Perhaps it's a fools errand to attempt to commence a constructive discussion on the role of basic science in the NNSA nuclear security complex in this forum. But, hey -- hope springs eternal. Or: -- I'm a glutton for punishment. This article by Simmons & West is an interview with Pete Carruthers. I'll hold-off on giving my thoughts until others have posted. https://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?02-10.pdf So, here goes (>gulp<): what do you think?

  If anyone has this in it's entirety, please post. https://www.exchangemonitor.com/stratcom-commander-met-biden-transition-team-worries-weapons-complex/

  Now that the Dems have control of house, Senate and Executive branch will it have any effect on the NNSA labs?

  Anyone, any idea why all jobs at LANL are external only? No jobs advertised for internal moves

  Korean artificial sun sets the new world record of 20-sec-long operation at 100 million degrees https://phys.org/news/2020-12-korean-artificial-sun-world-sec-long.html

  https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2020/12/31/los-alamos-national-laboratory-get-hefty-funding-nuclear-work/4092612001/ LANL could get almost a billion dollars more if the bill goes through. The question is will this all just get cut in years time or is this going to continue? The Los Alamos study group will not be happy. It is odd that America is going broke cannot spend enough money on Covid yet we are going to spend 3 billion on Los Alamos when Savanah River could easily do the work.