Employee morale

Is employee morale improving, getting worse, or stabilizing at LANS and LLNS?

http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/The-Root-Causes-of-Low-Employee-Morale.aspx

Why is the weapons complex still under DOE?

"A prior Office of Inspector General report ... found that planning and execution of that project was not effective and resulted in a system that did not meet pre-established goals and objectives. In addition, a prior Government Accountability Office report identified NNSA project management as an area of high risk for fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement.

These issues were attributable, in part, to ineffective project planning practices related to the development and implementation of the 2NV initiative. For instance, essential components of a well-developed project management approach, such as charters, business cases, alternatives analyses, and implementation schedules, were often inadequate, outdated, or had not been developed in a timely manner. In addition, monitoring and oversight activities were not always sufficient to ensure success and hold project managers accountable for delivering the project within cost, scope, and schedule."

http://energy.gov/ig/downloads/audit-report-doe-oig-16-05

First news on fee money sent to LANL

"The latest performance review calls for docking LANS $7.7 million in incentive fees for the May incident at an electrical power substation that left one worker hospitalized for more than a month with burns over 30 percent of his body, and for potential contamination stemming from the handling of highly enriched uranium at a Nevada facility twice in 2014."

http://www.abqjournal.com/694829/news/accidents-contribute-to-loss-of-contract-for-lanl-operator.html

Why does it matter ?

Why does it matter so much to the rank-and-file LLNL worker who has the contract? It's way above your level. LANL and LLNL will continue forever as rent-speakers - receiving billions every year to "certify" Cold War relics. Meanwhile, someone else will have to figure out how to fight ISIS, deal with Putin, etc.

 

 

COMMENTS: 

Anonymous said...

"Why does it matter so much to the rank-and-file LLNL worker who has the contract? It's way above your level."

It didn't matter, and we paid no attention to it, until the contract change. Then it started really mattering because it had huge daily impact down at the worker level:

1) A bunch of unqualified, unthinking, yes-men/women have been systematically put into leadership positions. Mostly, these are people that don't have other options and therefore the management has leverage on them.

2) The most talented, intelligent, creative and productive individuals (in terms of both science and bringing funds in) have been relentlessly harassed until they left of their own accord or (where that didn't work) were forced out.

3) The entire culture has been transformed from one of getting smart, productive things accomplished...to one of shutting up, going along with ridiculousness, etc otherwise you face reprisals.

So, no, I didn't care who had the contract (or even who managed the place in the upper rungs) until it started severely impacting our ability to do productive, quality work for the nation.

More on LANL contract loss

Physics Today on LANL contract loss


In 2006 Los Alamos National Security LLC—a consortium of the University of California, Bechtel Corp, Babcock & Wilcox Co, URS Corp, and AECOM—took over management of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). On 17 December, in an email sent to LANL employees, lab director Charles McMillan revealed that the consortium's $2.2 billion contract would not be automatically extended or renewed after 2017 by the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the contract. The consortium took over operations after several years of problematic management and has shown improved management in its recent yearly reviews, but not at a level that earned it an automatic renewal. LANL has had a number of public embarrassments this year, including a radiation leak at its main waste storage facility.


http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/magazine/physicstoday/news/news-picks/nnsa-to-open-up-los-alamos-contract-for-bids-in-2017-a-news-pick-post

SIr Mason of Battelle!

Any reason why Battelle should not run LANL with Mason as Director?
He got a 94 at ORNL for the last year grade.

LANL contract up for bid!

Senators Confirm LANL Contract Will Go Up For Bid, New Mexican, December 19, 2015

Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation confirmed Saturday that the private consortium that operates Los Alamos National Laboratory will not have its contract renewed after it expires on Sept. 30, 2017.

The New Mexican reported in a story published Saturday that the National Nuclear Safety Administration, the arm of the Department of Energy that oversees the lab’s contract, has decided to put the contract worth about $2.2 billion annually up for competitive bidding. The decision follows a series of federal investigations and performance evaluations involving the lab’s safety record before and after a drum from the lab burst and leaked radiation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in February 2014 near Carlsbad, shutting down the nation’s only underground nuclear repository indefinitely.
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/senators-confirm-lanl-contract-will-go-up-for-bid/article_349ea81e-b3b7-5b14-8dbd-e64c4bc66f7e.html