Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
LANL's Future
Los Alamos National Laboratory: You know The Real Story. You know The Corporate Story. Now you'll know The Rest of the Story.
Plutonium
LANL's Future
Contact Us
Blog Archive
-
▼
2009
(254)
-
▼
December
(16)
- Lab Performance Reports Withheld
- Comment of the Week
- Merry Christmas!
- Nuclear Bomb Researchers Accidentally Blow Up Buil...
- Where LANS Fits in the Overall Scheme
- From the Nut Files
- Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin
- Customer Service
- LANS "Engagement Survey" Analysis Summary
- Official LTRS Rollout of the 2009 LANS "Engagement...
- Indefinite Career
- Don't plan on going anywhere, anytime soon
- Lab Conducts First X-Ray Test on Mock Weapon By J...
- Comment of the Week, The Winner
- Comment of the Week, Saturday Edition
- Comment of the Week, Wednesday Edition
-
▼
December
(16)
Links
- Alsos Digital Library
- AntiPolygraph.org
- Atomic City Underground
- Bradbury Science Museum
- Buckman Direct Diversion Project
- Cold War Patriots
- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
- CSIS PONI Debates the Issues
- Energy Communities Alliance
- FAS Project on Government Secrecy
- FCNL Nuclear Calendar
- Fleck at the Journal
- LANL Daily News Bulletin
- LANS's LANL Home Page
- LLNL: The True Story
- Los Alamos Site Office
- Lucky 13
- National Museum of Nuclear Science and History
- New Mexico Science
- Ongoing Polygraph Discussion
- The Former LTCS
- The Original LTRS
- The Tin Star Saloon (Santa Fe) Music Blog
31 comments:
Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Anastasio. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds (Los Alamos), to seek out new cars and cash, to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Will this effect my bonus?
-MIKEY
Dear Mikey:
Apparently nothing at all affects your bonus. No matter how poor a job your LANS management team does in managing LANL, LANS still gets a huge fee and your bonus is also large.
I knew it, I knew it...we at the Lab ARE at the center of the universe!!!
Dear Mikey:
Apparently nothing at all affects your bonus.
Ahhh... yeah .... that's actually not correct, 10:37 am. You see, the more I abuse you, the more pee tests, computer gloveboxes, cavity searches I institute, the higher my bonus will be. You saw it this year with your own eyes.
NNSA wants me to do one thing: to whip all of you, arrogant scientists and engineers, "into shape". Actually, forget that last part, just to whip you guys, for the sake of whipping. I'm just happy to oblige.
It's you vs. my bonus, see? It's that simple.
Got it already?
-MIKEY
December 16, 2009, and short before the blizzard hit the DC Metropolitan Area, Directors, Mike Anastasio (LANL), George Miller (LLNL), and Tom Hunter (SNL) briefed the V.P. Joe Biden on the state of US Nuclear Weapons Stockpile.
The press release of The White House, Office of the Vice President, December 16, 2009, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/readout-vice-presidents-meeting-with-directors-national-security-laboratories-us-nu:
"For Immediate Release
December 16, 2009
Readout from Vice President´s Meeting with Directors of National Security Laboratories on the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Stockpile
Today, the Vice President was briefed on the state of the nation´s nuclear weapons stockpile by the Directors of the three national security laboratories. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman, National Nuclear Security Administrator Tom D´Agostino, and officials from the Department of State and Defense were also present. The briefiing was provided by Mike Anastasio from Los Alamos National Laboratory, George Miller from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Tom Hunter from Sandia National Laboratory. The Vice President hosted the briefing as part of the Administration´s ongoing commitment to maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal, to the President´s vision of a world without nuclear weapons and to ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty."
Will this effect my bonus?
-MIKEY
12/20/09 9:39 AM
"Effect?" Was that a typographical error or an illiterate poster trying to be cute in masquerading as "Mikey?"
"A universe of women to conquer, so little time to do it in."
-R Marquez
8:47 Back to school with you.
December 16, 2009, and short before the blizzard hit the DC Metropolitan Area, Directors, Mike Anastasio (LANL), George Miller (LLNL), and Tom Hunter (SNL) briefed the V.P. Joe Biden on the state of US Nuclear Weapons Stockpile.
This meeting really scares me!!! Talk about the blind leading the blind. I hope they only ended up sipping cognac and smoking cigars because trust me, these guys know little to nothing about our stockpile and I'm not talking about Biden or the staffers.
They left out the final frame, where the Universe is shown to be held up by a giant green turtle.
More cost cutting coming soon from NNSA. Lowest bid wins!...
---
Obama's 'Ebay in reverse' aims to cut costs (Financial Times)
December 22 2009
The Obama administration will use an "Ebay in reverse" system as part of its efforts to cut $40bn in contracting costs from the federal budget each year.
...As an example of how money could be saved, the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration would conduct "reverse auctions" where contractors could bid online, with the lowest bid winning.
This "Ebay in reverse" system was expected to save the NNSA about 18 per cent on each contract, Mr Zients said.
Under the cost-saving measures, agencies have identified initiatives to reduce by 10 per cent the money spent through new high-risk contracts.
What's amazing is that of all the galaxies in the universe, of all the star systems and planets, of the zillions upon zillions of societies from which to choose and God, in his eternal male wisdom, chose us to bless. By us of course, I mean us at the Lab.
COWBOYS AND BUTT-HEADS OF THE WORLD UNITE!!!
Good news, people... LANL is being run better than ever thanks to the hard work of your LANS upper management team. The latest NNSA performance metrics prove it. Bechtel is helping to boost this lab to greatness! We are so lucky. This latest news is LANS-tastic!
I'm sure this good news will result in major improvements to staff morale once current misunderstandings by lab employees are cleared up with a new round of intense training programs to be cascaded out this spring.
Stay tuned and be sure to check often at the official LANS Performance Blog to remain fully informed about what's really happening at LANL. Onward, ho!
:-0:-0 :-0 :-0 :-0 :-0 :-0 :-0
NNSA Says Los Alamos Management Has Strengthened
Dec 22, 2009 - Global Security Newswire
The corporate management team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has received a one-year extension of its federal contract, the Albuquerque Journal reported Saturday (see GSN, March 19).
The extension means that the corporate managers, which include Bechtel and the University of California system, would continue to manage Los Alamos through September 2015. In approving the extension, the National Nuclear Security Administration also gave the team a $72 million management award for improved performance this year.
The team, collectively known as Los Alamos National Security, took over operation of Los Alamos in 2006 following a series of security and safety mishaps at the laboratory. Previously, it was managed solely by the University of California (see GSN, June 1, 2006).
Lockheed Martin, which manages the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, also was awarded a $23.5 million management award and was given an "outstanding" rating by the National Nuclear Security Administration. Lockheed's contract is in place through September 2012.
The nuclear agency would not make public the performance reports that the management fees were based on, citing a new policy that excludes contractor performance evaluations from public information laws.
:-0:-0 :-0 :-0 :-0 :-0 :-0 :-0
"NNSA Says Los Alamos Management Has Strengthened"
Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009
http://www.globalsecuritynewswire
.org/gsn/nw_20091222_6562.php
"The corporate management team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has received a one-year extension of its federal contract, the Albuquerque Journal reported Saturday (see GSN, March 19)."
"The extension means that the corporate managers, which include Bechtel and the University of California system, would continue to manage Los Alamos through September 2015. In approving the extension, the National Nuclear Security Administration also gave the team a $72 million management award for improved performance this year."
Merry Christmas!
Truly surreal.
The DOE is a farce. The DOE's rating of the Lab is a farce. The DOE now refuses to release the results of its assessment of the Lab. How convenient. Hide the facts, rely totally on the source, and to hell with the public's right to know. So in the brave new world of the new and improved DOE, C students are now known as "best in class." Not best and brightest anymore, not world class or crown jewel, but best in class. The GW legacy lives on!!
The GW legacy lives on!!
12/23/09 10:39 AM
Nope, sorry. It's a year in - this is now part of the Obama legacy. Get used to it.
"The DOE is a farce. The DOE's rating of the Lab is a farce. The DOE now refuses to release the results of its assessment of the Lab. How convenient." - 10:39 AM
No one outside of LANL cares about the degeneration of Los Alamos or the fact that NNSA won't release how they computed their fake "90% success" figures for LANL. Not NNSA, not DOE, not Dr. Chu, not Congress, not the media nor the public.
Morale results could sink to 1% and it wouldn't matter to anyone except the employees left working under the dismal LANS/Bechtel "Get Rich Quick" regime. In fact, NNSA is probably very happy to see the plunging morale results at LANL. Get use to it or leave. This is the new normal for the lab and the path forward is only going to get worse under LANS/Bechtel and NNSA.
LANL's days as a world class science lab are definitely over. What's left is little more than a hollow shell of a lab with a hyper-active lab PR machine to hype fake accolades. There are much better and safer institutions in which to sustain and nuture a scientific career.
Former Director Sig Hecker was right when he spoke to the Senate Committee two years ago. LANL has become a scientific "prison" for those who are extremely risk adverse and for lovers of bureaucratic policies.
You're right about Obama. Now the DOE monkey is on Obama's back. But as Sig Hecker used to say when it comes to change at the Lab... "same monkeys, different trees." Kind of like UC and DOE pretending LANS constituded "change you can believe in" (now what politician also used that slogan in his recent campaign?) and Congress, as usual, going along for the ride. Farce you say? You betcha!!
The DOE is a farce. The DOE's rating of the Lab is a farce. The DOE now refuses to release the results of its assessment of the Lab. How convenient. Hide the facts, rely totally on the source, and to hell with the public's right to know. So in the brave new world of the new and improved DOE, C students are now known as "best in class." Not best and brightest anymore, not world class or crown jewel, but best in class. The GW legacy lives on!!
12/23/09 10:39 AM
We are no longer the "crown Jewels", but the "family jewels", just hanging there.
Funny, but I didn't see anything about this story below on the LANL web pages.
And before anyone else says it, I'll blurt it out here first:
"Is this going to hurt my annual bonus?" - Mikey
***
"Blast! Los Alamos Researchers Accidentially Demolish Building with a Cannon" (Updated)
Wired, Dec 23, 2009
Los Alamos National Lab’s history of security and safety woes is long and well-documented. But even by the shoddy standards of the notoriously-lax birthplace of the atomic bomb, this latest incident is a whopper.
Last week, “researchers accidentally blew a building apart… while testing a gun which acts like a Civil War cannon,” the watchdogs at the Project on Government Oversight note. “While no one was hurt, sources advise POGO that there was over $3 million in damage to property.”
A little after 3pm local time on December 16th, “researchers heard a loud unusual noise from Technical Area 15, Building 562 after firing a shot from a large-bore powder gun,” according to a Lab “Occurrence Report.” “About twenty minutes later, the research conducted surveillance outside [the building] and observed that “two doors had been blown off the facility and concrete shielding blocks on the west and the east side of the building were separated from the wall.”
Nobody was hurt. But it is another black eye for Los Alamos, which constantly seems on the cusp of credibility — only to fall back into the abyss. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
UPDATE: “Despite claims to the contrary, the only thing ‘demolished’ in this case was POGO’s credibility. No building at Los Alamos was destroyed in this incident and any suggestion otherwise is the sort of irresponsible hyperbole we’ve come to expect from this group,” National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman Damien LaVera e-mails Danger Room.
- Here are the facts: On December 16, Los Alamos conducted a standard proof test on a new design for a catch tank in the target chamber for one of our large bore powder guns (LBPG). These types of experiments are routine and responsible. The LBPG is used to conduct measurements of material properties at pressures needed for understanding nuclear weapons performance. During this particular test, unexpected explosive damage occurred and, because that damage could result in $1 million in damages, an investigation was automatically triggered. That investigation will seek to identify the cause of the incident and any changes in procedures that might be required. NNSA, Los Alamos, and all of our facilities take their commitment to safety very seriously. It is important to note that no personnel were injured from this event, no hazardous or radioactive materials were involved, and that lab’s incident response mechanisms appear to have performed as intended.”
***
www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/12/
blast-los-alamos-researchers-accidentially-
demolish-building-with-a-cannon/
"The Peek-a-boo Information Initiative"
- Los Alamos Monitor, 12-21-09
One week the White House announces an Open Government Initiative. The next week the National Nuclear Security Administration slams the lid down on a vital piece of information that has been shared with the public in the past.
That probably isn’t the way it was meant to play out, but that’s the way it felt.
Here’s what happened:
Like most other newspapers and citizens everywhere we have been led to expect a new era of openness in the federal government.
On Jan. 20 Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, and on the next day he issued his first executive memorandum on “Transparency and Open Government,” which said, among other things, “Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.”
The memo directed various officials to get busy for 120 days on a policy to get all the government agencies to comply with an Open Government Directive.
...In any event, the job has taken more than 120 days, but on Dec. 8, the White House issued the open government directive from Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Included were instructions and deadlines, suggestions and requirements for creating and sustaining a culture of open government. They sound good.
Apparently NNSA didn’t get the memo. Or if they got it, it was overruled in advance by a relatively minor official, the agency’s procurement director David Boyd who had decided on Oct. 19, that a set of critical documents that determine how millions of federal dollars are distributed would no longer be made available.
Rather, he decreed, the hundreds of pages of information about the performance of national laboratory contractors, would henceforth be summarized with four data points.
To account for last year’s payment of $72.1 million to Los Alamos National Security LLC, the partnership that manages Los Alamos National Laboratory, the agency will divulge the contractor’s name, the amount of fee available, the amount of fee earned and the percentage of fee earned.
This is communicating a high-value data set in minimal data points.
Actually the fourth point is superfluous, since it could be calculated from all that other information already provided.
To add to the obstruction, the minor official has decided that the reports are proprietary and therefore, based on an obscure federal regulation, should not be made available for three years.
Here’s the problem:
The Performance Evaluation Reports, as they are known, are one of the few detailed insights into how the work of the laboratory is going and how well the managing contractor is doing its job and almost equally important, how the federal agency supervising that contractor measures and perceives the quality of that work.
In past performance reports, the nitty-gritty, the reality, the good and the bad have been on display, although couched in an obscure jargon that needs interpretation. Still, that is very important information for the public to have.
Without it, the public is free to stop paying attention, which bars the public from having adequate information to make elective choices in a democratic society, or the public is free to make up its own story.
Without it, leaked information begins to take on a very high value, right or wrong.
For example, already, the Monitor has received a copy of the unclassified presentation from an all-manager’s meeting Tuesday at which the Performance Evaluation Report was discussed.
Included were suggestive bullets, indicating the site manager rated the overall performance as “Good,” but intended to focus on “the next level of implementation and PF-4 risks.”
The PF-4 risks may be a problem the Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has been concerned about for a number of years that could result in the worst-case meltdown at the Plutonium Facility.
What is that you might ask?
Oh, never mind. We’ll tell you in three years.
LANL keeps improving with LANS as our new lab management. The latest 90% score from NNSA is yet another sign. Even better, LANS obviously care about what their employees think and the fantastic new Performance Blog helps proves the point.
Wow! This new management team is impressive! I think I'll join Dr. Anastasio and his winning team. It's LANS-tastic!
~~~~~~~~~~
Talk, learn, and reduce risk all at the same time!
(LANS Performance Blog, Dec' 09)
A growing conversation is happening at LANL. Not that that is anything special or unusual, there are always conversations at LANL. This conversation, however, is interesting in that it seems to point to a shift in our focus. We are talking about the way the lab has traditionally approached organizational failure. We are shifting from the traditional “blame and punish” view of failure to a more “diagnose and treat model” of understanding failure.
Moving from blame and punishment to diagnose and treat. Hmmmm…. it seems to make so much sense. In fact, this is EXACTLY how you think about doing your science. Technical work at LANL has always been the type of work that both understands the importance and celebrates the value of failure. Therein lies our most interesting challenge, we are very good at learning technically — why aren’t we better learning operationally? Why don’t we value failures that happen operationally as opportunities to better understand “how” events happen at LANL and less time on “why” events happen at LANL?
This Performance Blog is a chance to have that conversation in an open and transparent forum for all to see. I invite you, no strike that - I “dare” you to become a part of this conversation. Actually double dare you, as this way of sharing and talking with each other is both new AND different. Everything happens through conversation.
Todd Conklin
Human Performance Improvement instructor and Senior Advisor
ESH&Q Directorate
R&D Magazine ran a recent story about the winners and losers among the US national labs regarding ARRA and the thrusts of the new Administration. Here are some excerpts...
"Govt. Labs See Bright Future, For Now" (R&D Magazine, Dec 23 '09)
To say that the outlook for government R&D laboratory executives is brighter for 2010 than 2009 would be a great understatement. At this time last year most laboratories were scrambling to adjust to a short-term financial upheaval brought about by an across-the-board freeze on budgets until March 2009. Additional question marks about the outcome of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and personnel changes associated with a change in federal administration put some laboratories in the position of retrenchment.
For 2010 there are still questions. But the prospects are far more certain, and the outlook has certainly taken a turn for the better, say participants in the 2009 R&D CEO Roundtable, an annual open forum discussion about the state of R&D at government labs hosted by R&D Magazine on Nov. 12, 2009, at the Renaissance Orlando Hotel at Sea World, Orlando, Fla. A change in administration, the appointment of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and ARRA funding appear to have turned the tide.
...The ARRA is not a immediate windfall for every lab. Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LNNL), Livermore, Calif., for example, is not expecting any significant increases as a result of the recovery funding, and about $8 million in Recovery Act money has come to the laboratory this year to support basic science and applied energy research.
...According to Mary P. Neu, associate director for chemistry, life, and earth sciences at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, N.M., the greatest changes in her lab’s budget are from the new administration’s emphasis on increasing R&D related to energy and health. At LANL, that increase — about $40 million for solar, wind, and geothermal energy projects — is modest in comparison to a $200 million site revitalization project. Like several labs, major facility adjustments — including both upgrades and building removal — have demanded funding activity in recent years.
...ORNL, Ballard reports, has been adding... an average of one computer scientist a week.
...NREL did, in fact, add more than 400 people in the past year. That growth, Hawsey believes, was precipitated not by Recovery Act dollars but by the commitment of the new administration to the goal of solving heightening energy problems. In the last year, NREL hired one degreed scientist, engineer, or technician every work day.
www.rdmag.com/Featured-Articles/2009/12/
Policy-And-Industry-Government-Labs-See-Bright-Future-For-Now/
This Performance Blog is a chance to have that conversation in an open and transparent forum for all to see. I invite you, no strike that - I “dare” you to become a part of this conversation. Actually double dare you, as this way of sharing and talking with each other is both new AND different. Everything happens through conversation.
Todd Conklin
Human Performance Improvement instructor and Senior Advisor
ESH&Q Directorate
Hey Todd. How much bonus money are you being paid to get people on the LANS Performance Blog. I like this one better. Real conversations are taking place on the Rest of the Story, not some sanitized Blog where people are posting information to score points with the boss.
Todd. I big dog double dare you to post lanl-the-rest-of-the story comments on the "official" LANS blog without editing the content. If you do, I think you'll get the "honest" feedback you and your managers claim to want. Until that time, you'll get about 2 or 3 comments a day mostly from those who are already in the LANS management's shorts. The truth hurts, but it is necessary for progress to be made. There is a reason that over 80% of the Laboratory employees think you and LANS management are just blowing smoke; you can't handle the truth!
“diagnose and treat model”...more jargon, but same results. Kind of like "enhanced interrogation techniques" vs torture.
Diagnose = Blame = Identify the employee who complained
Treat = Punish = Retaliate against the Employee who complained
DOE Rating For Improved Performance = Pay Off For Future Employment Opportunities
"On Jan. 20 Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, and on the next day he issued his first executive memorandum on “Transparency and Open Government,” which said, among other things, “Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.”
He's just another big wind bag & it's going to be a very, very long 3 yrs :(
TO: North Pole
FROM: Mikey
Santa,
I've been a very good boy this year.
My recent NNSA performance scores prove it (Disclaimer: Santa, I'm sorry but I can't let you see the actual results -- LANS corporate "proprietary information", you understand).
All I really want for Christmas this year is a new, luxury sports car with a great big VROOM-VROOM engine and a nice 30% bonus. I'll be waiting to see what's under my tree, Santa.
Oh, and please be extra generous to my good friend, Riley Bechtel. I hear he wants a bigger yacht this year and the LANS profit fees didn't quite give his family enough money to pull off this purchase. Can you help him, too?
And as for the employees at LANL, just put a small sack of coal under their trees. That's all they deserve for treating me so nastily on the LANS Engagement Survey.
Your dearest admirer,
MIKEY
"Real conversations are taking place on the Rest of the Story..."
12/24/09 6:28 AM
ROTFLMAO!!! I appreciate the humor some posters bring to this blog. "Real conversation?" LOL!!! Thanks--I needed the holiday cheer!
Post a Comment