National Laboratories

A meeting of the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories scheduled for today has been cancelled. The meeting was to be the panel’s sixth and final of its phase one work, but with it expected to deliver its phase one report by Feb. 1, the final meeting was scrapped. The committee […]

An Office of Science project to consolidate alarm stations and save money at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the East Tennessee Technology Park and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office could end up costing the government money, DOE’s Inspector General said yesterday. The IG said the Office of Science—often lauded for its project management acumen—failed […]

The Department of Energy yesterday awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity master contract to TSAY Professional Services for general construction and environmental regulatory support at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The contract, which fell under the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, will have a maximum value of $15 million over 5 years. The first task order for […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is still facing issues in meeting its hydrodynamic test schedule, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said Friday in a report that suggests National Nuclear Security Administration life extension work could be impacted. The IG said 12 out of 19 planned hydrodynamic  tests from Fiscal Years 2010 to 2013 were delayed […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board isn’t happy with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s progress on an alternate analysis of the seismic vulnerabilities of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility (PF-4), and wants answers from the agency within 30 days. In a Dec. 17 letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz published Friday, DNFSB Chairman Peter […]

Two nuclear weapons complex watchdog groups are urging Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to slash the fee of Lockheed Martin-run Sandia National Laboratories for its involvement in a pair of lobbying incidents that were revealed over the last two years. Lockheed Martin’s Sandia Corporation can earn up to $9.8 million in at-risk fee in Fiscal Year […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 A pair of Bechtel and Lockheed Martin executives defended this week the role the private companies play in managing the National Nuclear Security Administration’s three nuclear weapons laboratories, telling a lab effectiveness panel that the corporate reachback brought by the companies that run the labs has made a difference. “If […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 Plutonium shots at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility are expected to take place for the first time in January as the National Nuclear Security Administration takes another—somewhat controversial—step on the massive experimental laser system. NNSA weapons program chief Don Cook told Congress last week that the plutonium shots […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/19/2014 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has uncovered “significant flaws” in the hazard and accident analyses at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s facility for loading transuranic waste, according to a Dec. 9 DNFSB staff report. LANL’s Radioassay and Nondestructive Testing Shipping Facility is used to load the waste for shipment, and […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 12/19/2014 The Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Limited, formerly known as Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, successfully entered into a collective agreement this week with close to 900 United Steelworkers members. The agreement enables the continued work through 2016 and 2017 of 884 union members across CNL sites, including Chalk River. The […]

A pair of Bechtel and Lockheed Martin executives defended the role the private companies play in managing the National Nuclear Security Administration’s three nuclear weapons laboratories, telling a lab effectiveness panel yesterday that the corporate reachback brought by the companies that run the labs has made a difference. “If you look at the corporate reachback […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety board has uncovered “significant flaws” in the hazard and accident analyses at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s facility for loading transuranic waste. LANL’s Radioassay and Nondestructive Testing Shipping Facility is used to load the waste for shipment, and in 2013 contractor Los Alamos National Security submitted a Documented Safety Analysis to […]

Patricia Falcone, the Assistant Director for National Security and International Affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will address the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories today at 10 a.m. in Alexandria, Va. The Congressionally mandated commission will meet for the fourth time today at the Institute […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy this week released a sources sought notice for 8(a) small businesses interested in performing scope planning work for upcoming transition contracts for legacy cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory. DOE is looking to transition administration of the cleanup work from National Nuclear Security Administration management […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2012 The Department of Energy has suspended a small business procurement for a Natural Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan for Los Alamos National Laboratory pending the outcome of a challenge to the size standard used. The firm Environment International Ltd. filed the appeal of the 500 person size standard to […]

The Department of Energy yesterday released a sources sought notice for 8(a) small businesses interested in performing scope planning work for the upcoming transition contract for legacy cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Department of Energy announced recently it will be looking to transition administration of the cleanup work from National Nuclear Security […]

The Department of Energy has suspended a small business procurement for a Natural Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan for Los Alamos National Laboratory pending the outcome of a challenge to the size standard used. The firm Environment International Ltd. filed the appeal of the 500 person size standard to the Small Business Administration in […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 12/5/2014 Former Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director Beth Sellers and her husband, Bill, have been suspended from doing work with the government and have been proposed for debarment, government records indicate. Sellers resigned as Los Alamos’ deputy director in March after an investigation by the Department of Energy’s Inspector General […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 Former Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director Beth Sellers and her husband, Bill, have been suspended from doing work with the government and have been proposed for debarment, government records indicate. Sellers resigned as Los Alamos’ deputy director in March after an investigation by the Department of Energy’s Inspector General […]

Watchdog Groups Call for Major Fee Cut For Lab Contractor NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 Two weapons complex watchdog groups are asking Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to slash the Fiscal Year 2014 performance fee for Los Alamos National Laboratory contractor Los Alamos National Security because of the lab’s alleged role in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant radiological […]

Rottler to Take Over as Deputy Lab Director in March NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 Stephen Rottler, the head of Sandia National Laboratories’ California campus, is taking over as the lab’s new deputy director and executive vice president for National Security Programs. Rottler will replace longtime lab executive Jerry McDowell, who will retire in July, on March […]

Mystery Material Sets Off Monitoring Alarms at Y-12 Beta-2E Facility NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 For the first time in at least 15 years, a worker’s personal air monitor picked up an “action level” of an unidentified hazardous material used in a secret operation in a secret part of the Y-12 National Security Complex, according to a […]

Two weapons complex watchdog groups are asking Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to slash the Fiscal Year 2014 performance fee for Los Alamos National Laboratory contractor Los Alamos National Security because of the lab’s role in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant radiological release and problems with the lab’s Plutonium Facility. In a Dec. 3 letter to […]

Former Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director Beth Sellers and her husband, Bill, have been suspended from doing work with the government and have been proposed for debarment after a laboratory consulting scandal, government records indicate. Sellers resigned as Los Alamos’ deputy director in March after an investigation by the Department of Energy’s Inspector General […]

URS Executive Carl Beard is resigning as Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Principal Associate Director of Operations and Business to take a senior position at URS Nuclear & Environment. Beard has worked at Los Alamos for the last eight years, serving as associate director for Plutonium Science and Manufacturing and then later as the principal associate […]

Sandia National Laboratories still has to make progress in improving safety controls, according to a targeted review of the lab’s work planning and control by the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments. The review found that while Sandia is making progress in revamping its work planning and control in the wake of several workplace […]

Former Weapons Program Chief Bret Knapp Dies NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 Bret Knapp, the former acting Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director and head of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s weapons program, died earlier this week, Los Alamos Director Charlie McMillan said in a Nov. 19 message to employees. Knapp served as the acting LLNL director for nearly […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 Laboratory contractor employees received hundreds of thousands of dollars in per diem payments while on Intergovernment Personnel Act assignments with the Department of Energy, some for as long as six years, DOE’s Inspector General said in a report released this week that highlights lax oversight of the temporary detail program. The […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 The Department of Energy is investing $425 million in its pursuit of exascale supercomputing, including the award of two new supercomputers at the Oak Ridge and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced the awards late last week, as well as a $100 million boost to DOE’s FastForward […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 11/21/2014 Battelle Energy Alliance, operator of the Idaho National Laboratory, issued a sources sought notice this week seeking interested parties who are capable of commercializing its prototype Integrated Waste Screening System (IWSS) design that helps in the segregation of radioactive waste. The system has applications with Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material […]