LLNL - The True Story -

  LANL is now requiring chemical hazards training for anything that has an msds. Toilet paper has an msds. You can't even use the bathroom at LANL without training.

 According to this article, this could have far reaching effect on the NNSA. Quote from article: "As the government shutdown has persisted with no end in sight, NNSA has had to acknowledge that its funds are beginning to run out" Details: https://upolitics.com/news/trump-administration-furloughs-80-of-employees-at-nuclear-weapons-agency-amid-government-shutdown/

  Should the DOE/NNSA end the LLNS contract to manage LLNL on or before 2030 in favor of a non-profit contractor? Less expensive, better employee morale, more of a science and engineering focus?

  So in Los Alamos there are so many new people hired and so much construction that no one has anywhere to park. People have had to part in illegal or make shift parking spots for months now. Today they have out hundreds of tickets. I think LANL should have some parking or hire less people. On the other hand it is also know that hundreds of even thousand of people are not showing up to work. You cannot have it both ways. Some one needs to look into this. What we do at Los Alamos is serious, we need to act like a serious place to work. The buildings are falling apart, the infrastructure is horrible, and our overhead rates are insane. Something does not add up. It might be time for a contract change.

 Washington leaders are calling it a historic day, as the Hanford Vit Plant started processing radioactive waste material on Wednesday, the culmination of a years-long effort to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Site. https://youtu.be/u0WmL04NhDo?si=a6jdKd7wdeV89kaY

  https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/10/ensuring-continued-accountability-in-federal-hiring/  Trump on late Wednesday signed a new executive order that told agencies to restrict hiring throughout the federal government, providing some exceptions related to immigration enforcement, national and public security, and political appointees. Does this affect the labs, NNSA, DOE? 

  Heard that lab furloughs will be on the way if the shutdown lasts much longer. The question is really how long the shutdown will last. Lost of rumors (1) Until next Monday after the no Kings rally. (2) Until, Nov 1st because some other things kick in (3) Until Thanksgiving when people cannot fly and demand something. (4) Until Christmas (See 3) I have no idea but we did 35 days before so we still have some time. I am betting for 30-35 days again. Somehow the lab just seems much more nervous about this one.

  Governor Newsom just signed SB 79 into law, and it will go into effect July 1, 2026. 1. Will existing and under development, low density neighborhoods pushback in court? 2. Will the passage of SB 79 be helpful or a headwind to the expansion of ACE and other mass transit proposals and expansions throughout the Bay Area and the rest of California? Protesters rally against California Senate bill that increases housing density near transit hubs https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1y9SLg-26BY&pp=ygUlY2JzIDggcHJvdGVzdGVycyByYWxseSBhZ2FpbnN0IHNlbmF0ZQ%3D%3D California ACE train expansion is coming https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F7iGUZW_sqA&pp=ygUeY2FsaWZvcm5pYSBhY2UgdHJhaW4gZXhwYW5zaW9u

  American Physical Society Fellows 2025 highlights decline of NNSA labs. Worse year ever for NNSA labs LANL 1 Sandia 0 LLNL 0 Comparison ORNL 4 Fermilab 4 Brookhaven 3 LBNL 2 SLAC 1 ANL 0 PNNL 0

  California FAIR Plan seeks huge rate hike. Map shows which ZIPs hit hardest “The California FAIR Plan has proposed raising home insurance rates by an average of 35.8% starting next spring - a hike that, if approved in full, would be its largest in at least seven years.” https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/california-fair-plan-seeks-largest-231104839.html

 This is a very interesting claim : that a devastating earthquake in the Pacific Northwest, could also trigger an earthquake on the San Andreas, perhaps one might suppose even affecting the entire West Coast of the United States. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-cascadia-megathrust-earthquake-trigger-san.html

On September 25, 2025, Antifa was designated as a “domestic terrorist organization.” Under the “Adjudicative Guidelines” to acquire or maintain a security clearance, this may fall under “Allegiance to the United States” as defined by the Guideline. Are Lab employees, with any past or present association with Antifa, being required to promptly update their “Questionnaire for National Security Positions” as of September 22, 2025?

 Universities are being asked to endorse Trump agenda in order to obtain priority access to funding: https://www.kjzz.org/politics/2025-10-02/university-of-arizona-among-9-colleges-trump-offered-access-to-funds-to-follow-his-agenda

  The DOE is killing a number of energy projects: https://www.npr.org/2025/10/02/nx-s1-5560869/energy-trump-democrats-shutdown https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-termination-223-projects-saving-over-75-billion