Agreement in Principle with New Mexico Environment Department

To/MS: LANL-All

From/MS: Charles F. McMillan, DIR, A100

Phone/Fax: 7-5101/Fax 7-2679

Symbol: DIR-15-050

Date: April 30, 2015



Subject: Agreement in Principle with New Mexico Environment Department



The U.S. Department of Energy and the State of New Mexico have

signed general principles of agreement to resolve the State’s

claims against DOE and contractors, including Los Alamos National

Laboratory, related to the February 2014 drum breach at the Waste

Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, N.M.



The agreement in principle is a positive step for the Laboratory

because it allows us to move forward on restoring our transuranic

waste processes and rebuilding credibility in our nuclear

operations. I wish to thank all of our employees for their

continuing hard work and dedication as we continue this year to

advance our scientific excellence, complete all necessary

deliverables, and correct deficiencies across all areas of the

Laboratory.



Detailed information about the agreement can be found at:

http://energy.gov/articles/new-mexico-governor-susana-martinez-and-us-energy-secretary-ernest-moniz-announce



What a crime! LANS screws the pooch on WIPP and federal tax payers foot the bill. Privatization is really "efficient."

Tax hike could impact Sandia

http://www.koat.com/news/tax-hike-could-impact-sandia-national-labs/32625334

Ash Carter is looking for the "coolness factor"

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/ash-carter-silicon-valley-appeal-117293.html

Wonder if these Silicon Valley engineers will enjoy their polygraphs and reporting all their foreign contacts. Should be easy to find companies with no foreign nationals and no connections with overseas investors or suppliers. Every Silicon Valley startup will want their own SCIF so they can get instructions from Washington. You go Ash!

Federally funded R&D center spending down

Federally funded R&D center spending declined, latest figures say. Spending has fallen since one-time federal infusion of funds in fiscal year 2009

National Science Foundation
April 21, 2015
News Release

The majority of the nation's federally funded R&D centers (FFRDCs) reported spending less on research and development in fiscal year 2013 than they had the previous year, according to a new InfoBrief from the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES).

The report details that the 40 federally-funded centers spent $16.9 billion on research and development in fiscal year 2013. Of those, 24 reported declines from fiscal year 2012, and 17 reported two straight years of decreased spending.

Federal funding for the centers has been declining since a high of $18 billion in total spending was reported in fiscal year 2010. That peak corresponded with the one-time American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which accounted for more than $1 billion of federal R&D expenditures to FFRDCs in fiscal year 2010. In contrast, ARRA-funded expenditures to all FFRDCs combined amounted to $170 million in fiscal year 2013, or 1 percent of federal R&D expenditures.

Basic research accounted for 24.8 percent of total FFRDC research and development expenditures in fiscal year 2013, a significant drop from the reported 35.2-percent share for the previous year. A major contributor to that decrease was a re-evaluation of the reported distribution of activities by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Five of the 40 laboratories--Los Alamos, Sandia, Oak Ridge, Lawrence Livermore and the NASA-sponsored Jet Propulsion Laboratory--account for half of the total reported R&D spending.

FFRDCs are privately operated organizations that the government funds exclusively or substantially. Since 2001, federal funding accounted for over 96 percent of their total R&D spending.

See more from this report: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15319/

Anything from Empyrean?

Anyone gotten their health insurance bill from Empyrean ?

Atomic Labs Across the U.S. Race to Stop Iran

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/us/in-atomic-labs-across-us-a-race-to-stop-iran.html?rref=homepage&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Home%20Page&pgtype=article&_r=0

Killer robots

Mark Gubrud has just posted an excellent examination of the distinction (or lack thereof) between autonomous and semi-autonomous lethal weapons systems.

Best regards,

Janice

Semi-autonomous and on their own: Killer robots in Plato's Cave:  http://ow.ly/LxHuZ 

-- 

Janice Sinclaire

Internet Outreach Coordinator