An anonymous commenter captured my thoughts on pit production, almost as if he were reading my mind. Like it or not, this is what DOE has planned for LANL. As the comment below suggests, Congress will come around to this way of thinking soon.
--Gussie
_____________________________________________________
St. Pete made it clear with his comments what he envisions for LANL. We're going to become the new Pit Factory of the weapons complex. Congress will come around to this way of thinking in the next year or so.
Bechtel and BWXT are here for that very reason. Pits will become the main purpose for LANL's existence during the next decade. We'll downsize the science and upsize the production facilities. That's our future, whether we like it or not. Overall, LANL will be a smaller facility, with pit production at the core.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
25 comments:
I know I'm forgetful, but I swear I heard discussion back when about eventually splitting out pit production from LANL somewhat similar to the Oak Ridge/Y12 model. Maybe I'm just losing it.
Did anyone else notice how bad St. Pork (Pete)looked and that Heather seems to be his hand-picked replacement. Just hope he can hold on until King Bill is out of office.
Can anyone give a good recommendation for the services of Eric Fairfield in career placement? Time to go for me.
How ironic that on the eve of our annual celebration of independence we've lost our ability to participate in uncensored discussion.via this blogg. I guess it was too good to last. Undoubtedly there are those who love censorship, at least so long as their own views don't get censored. But after awhile you're basically just talking to yourself. I'm a long time Lab. employee. that found the unbound discussion on this blog. angering at times, but always stimulating and even, at times, enlightening. But this is now over. What a dishonor to Doug. . Robert's legacy.
--Signed Over and Out for Good
Not to worry, 5:35 PM. I fully support moderating the comments here. One of the things that I learned from running the original LTRS is that there are a lot of trash-talkers out there, and there is absolutely no good reason to pollute an entire blog with the rantings of a few anonymous jerks.
Good job, Gussie!
--Doug Roberts
LANL, Retired
Honestly, I think folks should stop whining about censorship. Gussie is not exactly "the man." He was your hero before he wisely decided to try to keep at least a modicum of a civil tone here. The blog might actually be more useful with this effort. It is non-trivial to read through each post and approve it. How did he turn into a villain for that? Pat the Dog did this too, but very badly and his blog turned into a political circus, dealing more with national politics than LANL events. I don't detect that here yet.
I certainly do NOT agree with many of Gussie's apparent positions on various issues nor all of his posts. Heck, even most of his posts...but give the censorship thing a rest already.
- GL
Geez. :( Regarding 10:15 PM, did the moderator fall asleep, or is this some kind of cruel joke?
I haven't disapproved anything yet. Let's keep it that way.
If the extra funds necessary for the new pit factory come up short (as they most certainly will), Congress will likely have them taken out of the hide of the science-based areas of the NNSA budget, such as Roadrunner and Stockpile Stewardship. This will eventually happen with NNSA's blessing.
Give it about 6 years and I suspect we'll start to look a lot like Savannah Research Lab (SRL). Pit production and cleanup operations will be the main thrusts.
For 3:36 PM,
Those that I have helped either seldom read this blog or no longer need to.
If you want to get references, you may have to contact me directly.
Follow the hyperlinks.
Sorry that it is time for you to leave.
And this is why the comment moderation got turned on? Good grief. Notice the huge drop in posts? Too bad. Anyhow, the thoughts on this post are a bit morose and why are people pushing for Eric to be banned from posting? You criticise Gussie for turning on the comment moderation and then you want him to ban people? Isn't that kind of a double standard? On this 4th Holiday, it is something to think about ...
Geez, what is going on with "allowed posts" to be posted? What kind of time delay can we expect?
can I advertise my private business here too????
Eric, what a pity that you haven't taken the more than subtle hints and left this blog. You are not worthy of the controversy that you cause here.
Not so sorry that It is time for you to go . . .
7/4/07 9:32 PM,
Does it involve Amway or Scientology?
The 1st amendment guarantees you freedom of speech. It doesn't guarantee you the right to spew anonymously on *this particular* blog. If you require a forum where you can behave as an uncensored asshole, start your own blog.
God Bless America.
Hey 5:32! Is that you Eric? Must've forgotten to ID yourself for that one.
Don't anyone hold your breath, but "national politics and LANL events" sometimes converge so hard, it hits you upside the head.
-Pat, the (Circus) Dog
Double dippers need to retire...it's time to move on.
Anonymous said...
Double dippers need to retire...it's time to move on.
They cost lees to the company that do the FTE's so why should LANS or LLNS get ride of their greatest source of information and know-how.
NOT GOING TO HAPPEN
They are getting what they earned and anyone who would have had the same opportunity would have done the same. Most people are very understanding and don't blame them a bid, because they think before they open their mouths. Get over it, son. Out-sourcing is coming soon enough.
11:04--- get over it. Maybe it's time for YOU to move on to somewhere else. Very few double dippers. If you are referring to those of us who froze or took our UCRP and went TCP2 it's not double dipping. It's only taking what we had already earned. In big picture we took a real hit in this whole thing. 30 years service 54 years old.. I estimate that this whole fiasco cost me at least $300K in UCRP benefits. You bet I'm taking advantage of what I already earned before I lose more. That's not double dipping.
I'll give you a prime example of true double dipping. 30 years service. 62 years old. Took UCRP annuity at 80% of salary. Left Lab for 1 year. Came back as a contract employee with Weirich doing same job at same salary. Now that is double dipping.
So, 11:04-- get your facts straight and get your ass outta here and stop your whining. Geez - how many times do we need to explain all this to you before you get it? How dense can you be?
7/5/07 12:35 PM, so... let me understand this.
A double dipper is someone who retires and draws their pension from UCRP, while simulateously working for a new employer in the same job and at the same salary as they did pre-retirement?
Whereas you, in stark contrast to those ruthless double-dippers, have retired and are drawing your pension from UCRP, while simulateously working for a new employer in the same job and at the same salary as you did pre-retirement?
Anonymous at 10:55 PM said...
"Hey 5:32! Is that you Eric? Must've forgotten to ID yourself for that one."
Nope. I can assure you I am not Eric. Leave the guy alone. Why don't you try to act like an adult.
Another brick in the wall
Thanks to a commenter (GL), we are making a small attempt to have a discussion about steps that might preserve the LANL that many of us would like to see, not one that is only pit production.
This discussion is under the title The Future of the Lab and is at http://workingatlanl.blogspot.com/
All are welcome to propose viable solutions or pieces of them, of any size. Anonymous commenters are welcome. Just like here, the commenting will be lightly moderated to keep the value high.
I see this discussion as complementary to the good efforts that are being done on LANL:The Rest of the Story and as being a place where longer comments, with references and attachments as needed, can be made.
The discussion will not include the clips that are posted in this blog but will link to them.
There is one hell of a big difference between someone who is perserving what they had earned at a much lower premium rate due to lower age, and continuing to work which will be a much shorter time with much less to reap than someone who took full benefits, 80 - 90% of their salary, and then came back at 100%. That's double dipping.
Post a Comment