Trump pick for Air Force boss frustrated auditors

Trump pick for Air Force boss frustrated auditors with lucrative, murky consulting for nuclear weapons labs

Patrick Malone and R. Jeffrey Smith
Center for Public IntegrityFebruary 28, 2017

A federal inspector contacted the Energy Department fraud hotline a few years back to flag irregularities in contracts that several nuclear weapons laboratories had signed with a former New Mexico Congresswoman whom President Trump has designated to become the new Air Force Secretary.

A far-reaching probe ensued in Washington after the hotline contact, which ended in a demand that the weapons labs give back nearly a half-million dollars to the government. Wilson has said she did not do anything wrong in trading on her Washington experience to become a “strategic adviser” to the labs.

But internal Energy Department documents newly obtained by the Center for Public Integrity make clear that some of the contracting irregularities stemmed from demands specifically made by Wilson in her negotiations with the labs.

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As Charlie McMillan of LANS is fond of saying: "Follow the money!"

I wonder, did Charlie sign the "consulting" checks for Heather Wilson?

Blog complaints

Hey Scooby, why all the garbage about "road signs," "store fronts," and "street signs" on the "prove you're not a robot" thing?? It takes me twice as long to do this crap as to type a post. What problem is this garbage solving? If you have abuse statistics, publish them so we can see your choices of authorization methods are reasonable. Why does all this matter on an essentially unmonitored, anonymous blog???

Comments:

 Anonymous said...

I suppose that you might have heard about denial of service attacks?

 Anonymous said...

Again, on an unmonitored anonymous blog, the "service" is worth essentially nothing. Who cares if it goes down?

 Anonymous said...

Similarly, untested nukes are also worth nothing. No computer sim is going to capture the effect of thousands of incremental changes in materials, design and manufacturing processes. Trump, make testing go BOOM again!

U.S. Forecast to Spend $400B on Nuke Forces Over Next Decad

U.S. Forecast to Spend $400B on Nuke Forces Over Next Decade: CBO
02/16/17 07:56
Weapons Complex Monitor

The United States appears set to spend $400 billion on its nuclear deterrent over the next decade, with spending rising as weapons modernization advances, the Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday.

The United States appears set to spend $400 billion on its nuclear deterrent over the next decade, with spending rising as weapons modernization advances, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported Tuesday.

"If carried out, the plans for nuclear forces delineated in the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) and the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) budget requests for fiscal year 2017 would cost a total of $400 billion over the 2017– 2026 period, CBO estimates—an average of $40 billion a year. according to the report. "The current 10-year total is 15 percent higher than CBO’s most recent previous estimate of the 10-year costs of nuclear forces, $348 billion over the 2015–2024 period."

That increase is primarily due to the fact that the latest congressionally mandated cost estimate includes an additional two years of the modernization program, in which the United States plans to replace its existing fleet of ICBMs, ballistic missile submarines, and strategic bombers. The entire modernization program has been projected to cost upward of $1 trillion over 30 years.

Of the estimated $400 billion price tag, CBO said it expects DOE and DOD to spend $344 billion in four areas: $189 billion at both agencies for strategic nuclear delivery systems and weapons; $9 billion at both agencies for tactical nuclear delivery systems and weapons; $87 billion for DOE nuclear weapons laboratories and associated operations; and $58 billion for Pentagon nuclear command, control, communications, and early warning systems.

"The remaining $56 billion of the $400 billion 10-year total represents CBO’s estimate of additional costs that would be incurred over the 2017–2026 period if the costs for those nuclear programs exceeded planned amounts at roughly the same rates that costs for similar programs have grown in the past," CBO said.

LLNL, Sanctuary Lab

Sanctuary Lab

LLNL is a sanctuary lab for people wanting to pose as scientists and engineers.
The work force is second rate and would get slaughtered anywhere else. It's unfortunate that the young, good talent leaves before 40.

Trump administration halts penalties against firms that punish nuclear whistleblowers

Ah, great. Another Trump success story

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/08/trump-administration-halts-penalties-against-firms-that-punish-nuclear-whistleblowers/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-fedgov%3Ahomepage%2Fcard&utm_term=.c78348dfaa25

LANL safety program receives failing grade

I am sure the new porn policy will help with this:

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/lanl-safety-program-receives-failing-grade/article_59edb6a7-b5d7-57f9-b4de-bcefac373487.html

Adjusting to a new administration

LLNL NewsLine - 02/09/2017

Since the founding of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1952, a dozen presidential administrations have come and gone. Each transition came with questions about program shifts and funding impacts. While each administration has set its own priorities, the Laboratory's core mission -- to apply cutting-edge science and technology to make the nation and world safer and more secure -- has stayed the same.

Lawrence Livermore was created as the "new ideas" Lab, a multidisciplinary institution working at the cutting-edge to respond to the world's greatest challenges. Over the past six decades, our approach to innovation has served the nation exceptionally well. We changed the paradigm for nuclear weapons design with the Polaris missile; invented stockpile stewardship to assure the safety, security and reliability of the nuclear deterrent without testing; helped stem proliferation and respond to terrorist threats around the world; and, with our colleagues at Los Alamos and Berkeley Lab, initiated the human genome project.

Change is inevitable when any new administration takes over. Since the inauguration, a federal hiring freeze has been ordered; an immigration ban has been implemented, amended and litigated; and a new Nuclear Posture Review has commenced. As we learn more about these and other developments, and their impacts on the Lab, we will be sharing them with you. So far, it's clear that the hiring freeze does not affect the Lab, since we are not federal employees. We've been carefully tracking the immigration ban, and closely monitoring its immediate and potential impacts on employees and visitors. Our Immigration Services Office in the Strategic Human Resources Management (SHRM) Organization is a resource available to staff with questions. Through the Center for Global Security Research, and in other forums, we maintain tight connections to the nuclear policy community.

In addition, the government continues to operate under a continuing resolution (CR) enacted last December, expiring April 28. In other words, FY17 budgets have not yet been established. New budget priorities under consideration by the administration and Congress could impact funding in the current fiscal year through either a follow-on CR or an omnibus appropriation. Also in play is the federal debt limit, which will have to be increased or suspended by March 15, though the Treasury Department has a variety of means available to temporarily finance the government. The Lab will continue to operate in the event of a lapse in appropriations associated with either the CR or the debt limit, since our programs have healthy carry-over funding. On the whole, I expect budget impacts to the Lab this year to be minimal, despite these uncertainties.

Above all, it is important that we continue our important work through this period of change with a commitment to excellence and integrity, safety and security, that are the hallmarks of our Lab.

- Lab Director Bill Goldstein