National Laboratories

Huntington Ingalls Industries said this week it has hired two former National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) field office managers to lead a performance assessment team for company affiliates at Department of Energy nuclear sites. Kim Lebak, who managed the NNSA’s Los Alamos Field Office from 2014 through 2017, and Doug Dearolph, who ran the NNSA […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries has hired two former officials with the Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration to lead a performance assessment team for company affiliates doing work at nuclear sites around the country. Kim Lebak, who managed the NNSA’s Los Alamos National Laboratory Field Office from 2014 through 2017, and Doug Dearolph, who […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) won’t rule out pressing Triad National Security, the incoming management contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, to apply for federal nonprofit status. The company apparently hasn’t done that yet, and its new host county hopes it never does. The NNSA “is focused on making the transition […]

Triad National Security remains on course to take over management of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico on Nov. 1, the president and chief executive office of the incoming management contractor told regents of the University of California. Thomas Mason, who will also be lab director, reaffirmed his stance that restoring Los Alamos to […]

A story in Monday’s Weapons Complex Morning Briefing (10/01/2018) should have said the espionage scandal at the Los Alamos National Laboratory took place while the University of California alone managed the lab, prior to Los Alamos National Security taking over in 2006.

Triad National Security remains on course to take over management of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico on Nov. 1, the president and chief executive office of the incoming management contractor told regents of the University of California last week. Thomas Mason, who will also be lab director, reaffirmed his stance that restoring Los […]

An employee for the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico returned to work after suffering cuts from broken glass caused by a chemical reaction, a DOE spokesperson confirmed Friday. “A small chemical reaction occurred on September 14th which was contained in a chemical hood at Technical Area 35. No radioactive material was […]

The State Department is relying in part on the Sandia National Laboratories to prioritize spending on global nonproliferation assistance programs, a senior State official said Tuesday. The New Mexico-based laboratory will help State’s bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation target financial aid to foreign countries based on the urgency of threats to the United States, […]

The State Department is relying in part on the Sandia National Laboratories to prioritize spending on global nonproliferation assistance programs, a senior State official said Tuesday. The New Mexico-based laboratory will help State’s bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation target financial aid to foreign countries based on the urgency of threats to the United States, […]

The head of Triad National Security is slated Wednesday to brief the University of California Board of Regents’ National Laboratories Subcommittee about the company’s progress in assuming the management and operations contract for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Thomas Mason, president and CEO of the UC-led company, “will brief the Regents on the leadership, organization, […]

Errors and poor policy have fueled the controversy over reimbursement of expenses at a regional group intended to promote communities around the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. That is the crux of an Aug. 28 analysis by Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess, addressing financial irregularities by the Regional Coalition of […]

Errors and poor policy have fueled the controversy over reimbursement of expenses at a regional group intended to promote communities around the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. That is the crux of an Aug. 28 analysis by Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess, addressing financial irregularities by the Regional Coalition of […]

Errors and poor policy have fueled the controversy over reimbursement of expenses at a regional group meant to promote communities around the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. That is the crux of an Aug. 28 analysis by Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess, addressing financial irregularities by the Regional Coalition of […]

While two reports made public this month in New Mexico have illustrated poor accounting practices at the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities, Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess rejects the suggestion county employees, acting as the group’s fiscal agency, have engaged in wrongdoing. The New Mexico attorney general is investigating any potential fraud in reimbursements […]

While two reports made public this month in New Mexico have illustrated poor accounting practices at the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities, Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess rejects the suggestion county employees, acting as the group’s fiscal agency, have engaged in wrongdoing. The New Mexico attorney general is investigating any potential fraud in reimbursements […]

William Crooks has replaced Andrew Wysong as head of the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Nuclear Criticality Safety Division, a lab spokesperson said Monday. The change, effective July 20, was first disclosed publicly in a weekly Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board site report from the nuclear weapons laboratory in New Mexico. Crooks will be responsible for […]

A dispute over irregularities in expense reimbursements for the former executive director of the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) has attracted the attention of the New Mexico attorney general. “We can confirm the Office of the Attorney General has received a public referral and this matter is under review,” David Carl, spokesman for New […]

A dispute over irregularities in expense reimbursements for the former executive director of the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) has attracted the attention of the New Mexico attorney general. “We can confirm the Office of the Attorney General has received a public referral and this matter is under review,” David Carl, spokesman for New […]

Irene Qualters, most recently with the National Science Foundation (NSF), has been selected as associate laboratory director for simulation and computing at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, incoming lab manager Triad National Security said this week. In her new role, Qualters will be “responsible for high performance computing, theory, and simulation in support of the […]

Incoming Los Alamos National Laboratory manager Triad National Security will indeed have to pay a state gross receipts tax of just over 7 percent, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department said this week. Triad — a nonprofit organization encompassing nonprofit, tax-exempt senior partners Battelle Memorial Institute, the University of California, and […]

The Board of Regents of Texas A&M University, one of the senior partners on incoming Los Alamos National Laboratory Manager Triad National Security, last week appointed Katherine Banks vice chancellor for engineering and national laboratories. The move reflects Banks’ ascent to Triad’s governing board, an A&M spokesperson wrote in an email Monday. Banks was formerly […]

The White House has nominated longtime Lawrence Livermore hand William Bookless to fill the No. 2 slot at the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration — a post that has sat vacant throughout the Trump administration. President Donald Trump nominated Bookless, now a Livermore senior physicist, on Aug. 16. If recommended by the Senate […]

The New Mexico State Auditor’s Office has questioned whether the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) is improperly engaged in lobbying. Most press attention generated by an Aug. 7 report from State Auditor Wayne Johnson has focused on reimbursement of travel and entertainment expenses by the nongovernmental group’s former executive director, Andrea Romero. The organization […]

Irene Qualters, most recently with the National Science Foundation (NSF), has been selected as associate laboratory director for simulation and computing at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, incoming lab manager Triad National Security said Tuesday. In her new role, Qualters will be “responsible for high performance computing, theory, and simulation in support of the NNSA […]

The Board of Regents of Texas A&M University, one of the senior partners on incoming Los Alamos National Laboratory Manager Triad National Security, on Thursday said it appointed Katherine Banks vice chancellor for engineering and national laboratories. The move reflects Banks’ ascent to Triad’s governing board, an A&M spokesperson wrote in an email Monday. Banks […]

A new report out of New Mexico raises further questions about the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) has handled reimbursement of expenses for travel, meals, alcoholic beverages, and entertainment. The report, critical of the RCLC Board of Directors and former Executive Director Andrea Romero, was issued Aug. 8 by the Adams+Crow Law Firm of […]

To support a manufacturing effort crucial to future U.S. nuclear arms-modernization programs, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) still plans to drastically increase the amount of plutonium permitted inside a building at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to a recently completed environmental review. In a final environmental assessment dated July 18 […]

The Energy Department is doing early planning on a potential solicitation for teardown and removal of facilities at sites including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York state. The department’s Office of Environmental Management on Aug. 9 issued a request for information (RFI)/sources sought notice for deactivation, decommissioning, and […]

A new report from the New Mexico State Auditor’s Office faults both the board of the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) and the organization’s former executive director for not complying with state standards on reimbursement of mileage and other expenses for public officials. This is the latest twist in a controversy that arose after […]

Fluor Chairman and CEO David Seaton said Thursday the company remains in pursuit of a multibillion-dollar liquid waste management contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina that the Department of Energy is due to award again in a few weeks. Seaton offered his take, without elaboration, during Fluor’s quarterly earnings call with Wall Street […]