LLNL - The True Story -

  Department of Energy Office of Inspector General Bechtel National, Inc.'s Cost Proposal Estimates for Baseline Change Proposal 02 and Its Contract Modification 384 Counterpart for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (DOE-OIG-23-34) What Did the OIG Find? We found that Bechtel did not utilize reasonable cost proposal estimates for baseline change proposal 02 and its contract modification 384 counterpart at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. First, Bechtel did not always use adequate estimating practices. Second, Bechtel was unable to reconcile management reserve amounts to identified risks and demonstrate how estimates reconciled to the Risk Management Plan. Finally, Bechtel's use of its Monte Carlo simulation was not consistent with industry practice, which resulted in overstated hours and costs. We attributed these issues to inadequacies in Bechtel's estimating system and Department oversight. We identified several weaknesses related to Bechtel's ...

  T he Department of Defense (DoD) announced that the United States will pursue a modern variant of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb, designated the B61-13, pending Congressional authorization and appropriation.  https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3571660/department-of-defense-announces-pursuit-of-b61-gravity-bomb-variant/

  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12688663/Nuclear-Hiroshima-bomb-Biden-Xi-Taiwan-Putin-Pentagon.html B61-13s will have less than one third the power of the biggest U.S. nuclear weapon - the B83 - which has a yield of 1.2 megatons, 80 times the Hiroshima bomb. Barack Obama tried to retire the B83 but Donald Trump ended that effort. At Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico 3,300 workers have been hired in the last two years, with the workforce now numbering more than 17,000. Workers are producing plutonium cores which are key components for nuclear weapons.

 It seems surprising that China invests more than any country in renewable energy. These 2019 statistics by statista, a reliable and often source cited in academic research. Is my surprise justified? https://www.statista.com/statistics/799098/global-clean-energy-investment-by-country/

  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-s-nuclear-arsenal-on-track-to-double-by-2030-pentagon-reports/ar-AA1ix2i5 China has developed an arsenal of more than 500 operational nuclear warheads and is set to double that number by the end of the decade, exceeding previous Pentagon estimates, according to a Defense Department report.

  9th Circuit panel considers if Sandia scientist’s retirement was voluntary https://www.exchangemonitor.com/9th-circuit-panel-considers-if-sandia-scientists-retirement-was-voluntary/ January 2022 (background) Former Sandia Lab Director Robert Hwang Files Suit For Racism https://www.independentnews.com/news/livermore_news/former-sandia-lab-director-robert-hwang-files-suit-for-racism/article_93b308d4-7a05-11ec-8516-77578a6fb89e.html

  Greg Mello posted this Good morning Khal. One senate staffer, when asked what the post-PF-4 plan for pit production at LANL was, said to me, "Savannah River." That is, pit production at LANL is meant to be temporary. The idea is apparently what LANL's Bob Webster (I think it was) said to a large group of managers, "Interview 50, hire all 50, and sort them out later." All these people being hired will be "sorted out" later. LANL hopes there will be a new "Bit Thing," or continuing "Big Thing(s)" down the road. Dear developers: don't bet on the pit market forever. It does not sound like Webster but I have to admit the new hires are horrible. Not everyone but they seem to have no quality control and just hiring everyone. I can understand that maybe in the PIT part of the lab you just need to hire, however what I cannot figure out is why is this attitude in other parts of the lab?

  https://time.com/6296743/los-alamos-lab-plutonium-pits-nuclear-weapons/ In the Lab Oppenheimer Built, the U.S. Is Building Nuclear Bomb Cores Again The effort to restart America’s nuclear-weapons manufacturing program in response represents the biggest test since the Manhattan Project. A wide range of arms-control experts and nuclear watchdogs, as well as a handful of lawmakers, are frantically sounding the alarms, warning of the existential risks of the course that leaders in both parties have taken. Critics say the U.S. is repeating the mistakes of the Cold War by funneling billions of taxpayer dollars into weapons that will hopefully never be used and haven’t been tested in more than a generation. The picturesque setting for Oppenheimer’s pursuit of an atomic bomb contributed to the sense of insularity. Outsiders were not welcome. The people who worked and lived at Los Alamos were bound by secrecy and, with few exceptions, unable to leave. To this day, the people on this isola...

  WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The United States must prepare for possible simultaneous wars with Russia and China by expanding its conventional forces, strengthening alliances and enhancing its nuclear weapons modernization program, a congressionally appointed bipartisan panel said on Thursday. https://www.reuters.com/world/us-must-be-ready-simultaneous-wars-with-china-russia-report-says-2023-10-12/

  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12598295/Putin-vows-create-new-world-Russian-insists-Western-arrogance-started-war-Ukraine-trying-end-ranting-anti-speech.html Putin threatens the West with total nuclear destruction leaving 'no chance of survival' in the event of a strike on Russia as he warns his 'Satan-2' and 'Flying Chernobyl' missiles are ready for use in ranting anti-US speech. This is a lot of talk. What I want to know is what happens if Putin tests a nuke. Would this really put fear into the west that this is serious or would it just make the west want to take out Russia even faster. Also what if the test is a failure? Would we test? Things could be getting very interesting in the next 14 months, as we could have ww3, a civil war or both. Well at least NIF works. Maybe a Nobel next year.

MIT water desalinisation system yields fresh water cheaper than tap water!   https://scitechdaily.com/mits-new-desalination-system-produces-freshwater-that-is-cheaper-than-tap-water/

  This discovery holds promise for the advancement of fusion energy, with potential implications for the ongoing ITER project in France. https://scitechdaily.com/pivotal-discovery-signals-a-huge-leap-forward-in-fusion-energy-reactor-progress/