National Laboratories

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 yesterday in a message to employees. Knapp served as the acting LLNL director for nearly five months from November of 2013 to March of 2014 before […]

Battelle Energy Alliance, operator of the Idaho National Laboratory, issued a sources sought notice yesterday for 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 (NORM) waste produced as a by-product of […]

The New Mexico Environment Department is expected to take enforcement action ‘any day now’ against Los Alamos National Laboratory for violations uncovered in the wake of the radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, LANL Director Charlie McMillan told employees this week. A transuranic waste drum processed at LANL was linked to the WIPP […]

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 yesterday that highlights lax oversight of the temporary detail program. The IG said during 2012, Lawrence […]

A Los Alamos National Laboratory spokesperson said late last week that the lab is working to address repeated deficiencies in its Earned Value Management System uncovered in recent reviews. As NS&D Monitor reported last week, the National Nuclear Security Administration is set to revoke the lab’s EVMS certification because of “systemic and material deficiencies” with the […]

The Department of Energy is investing $425 million in its pursuit of exascale supercomputing, including the award of two new supercomputers at Oak Ridge and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced the awards Friday, as well as a $100 million boost to DOE’s FastForward 2 program, which shepherds research and development into […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 Officials with Sandia National Laboratories improperly used government funds to lobby for an extension to the Lockheed Martin-run contractor’s management and operating contract, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said in a report released this week. The IG report details a Sandia plan to push for a contract extension that […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration is set to withdraw the Earned Value Management System certification for Los Alamos National Laboratory because of “systemic and material deficiencies” with the system, according to a draft letter slated to be sent to acting Deputy Lab Director Paul Henry obtained by NS&D Monitor. The […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The Department of Energy this week formally selected Brookhaven Science Associates for a new five-year, $3.2 billion contract to run Brookhaven National Laboratory, choosing the only team to submit a bid for the contract. BSA, a partnership of Battelle and Stony Brook University, submitted the only proposal for the contract […]

PNNL to Pay $200,000 to Settle DOE Concerns Over Beryllium Program WC Monitor 11/14/2014 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has agreed to pay $200,000 as part of a settlement reached late last month with the Department of Energy to resolve concerns over the lab’s beryllium protection program. DOE opened a safety investigation at the lab this […]

Sandia National Laboratories officials improperly used government funds to lobby for an extension to the Lockheed Martin-run contractor’s management and operating contract, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said in a report released yesterday. The IG report detailed a Sandia plan to push for a contract extension that was hatched in 2009, relying heavily on […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is set to withdraw the Earned Value Management System certification for Los Alamos National Laboratory because of “systemic and material deficiencies” with the system, according to a draft letter slated to be sent to acting Deputy Lab Director Paul Henry obtained by NS&D Monitor. The letter from Los Alamos Field […]

Lab Union Threatens Strike Over Wages, Benefits, Safety Issues NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Union trades workers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are threatening to go on strike over concerns about low wages, benefits and safety issues at the lab, according to one of the union’s top negotiator. Approximately 100 people attended an Oct. 30 demonstration at […]

Lab Director Stepping Down WC Monitor 11/7/2014 After leading the Idaho National Laboratory for almost a decade, Director John Grossenbacher is stepping down in time to have a new director in place by Sept. 30, 2015, the lab announced earlier this week. The search for a replacement for Grossenbacher, who has served as INL Director […]

NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 AT THE NATIONAL LABORATORIES The Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories held its fourth meeting this week, this time gathering at Argonne National Laboratory Nov. 4 for a closer look at the laboratories it is studying. The Congressionally mandated lab commission met with nearly a dozen officials, including […]

Leak Source Identified at ORNL Research Reactor Pool WC Monitor 11/7/2014 A month-long investigation has pinpointed the apparent source of leaking water from an old reactor pool at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and discussions are now under way about how to best deal with the problem. Mike Koentop, the executive director of the Department of […]

SRNS Completes Replacement of Freeze Damaged Cooling Coils at Lab WC Monitor 11/7/2014 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the managing contractor for the Savannah River Site, recently completed the replacement of 68 heating and cooling coils that were damaged in an unusual cold snap in January. The coils at two analytical buildings at Savannah River’s F […]

After leading the Idaho National Laboratory for almost a decade, Director John Grossenbacher is stepping down in time to have a new director in place by Sept. 30, 2015, the lab announced earlier this week. The search for a replacement for Grossenbacher, who has served as INL Director since February 2005, will begin “immediately,” the […]

The Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories will hold its fourth meeting today, this time gathering at Argonne National Laboratory for a closer look at the laboratories it is studying. The Congressionally mandated lab commission will meet at 9 a.m. today and hear from nearly a dozen officials, including Argonne Director […]

DOE IG Raises Concerns With Pantex Corrective Actions Systems NS&D Monitor 10/31/2014 New Pantex Plant contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security should strengthen its corrective actions systems, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said in an audit report released late last week. The IG found previous plant contractor B&W Pantex generally implemented corrective actions programs, including the […]

Spallation Neutron Source Runs Into More Problems NS&D Monitor 10/31/2014 Problems keep mounting at the Spallation Neutron Source, with yet another target-vessel failure and lost research time at one of the Department of Energy’s top research facilities. On Oct. 27, just a week after the SNS was restarted following a couple of other significant problems, […]

New Pantex Plant contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security should strengthen its corrective actions systems, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said in an audit report released late last week. The IG found previous plant contractor B&W Pantex generally implemented corrective actions programs, including the Problem Evaluation Request/Electronic Suspense Tracking and Routing System, the Employee Concerns Program, […]

NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Parney Albright has been named the President and CEO of Malibu, Calif.-based HRL Laboratories, a research and development laboratory owned by Boeing and General Motors. Albright stepped down as Livermore’s director a year ago, and had served as a senior advisor in the […]

Former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Parney Albright has been named the President and CEO of Malibu, Calif.-based HRL Laboratories, a research and development laboratory owned by Boeing and General Motors. Albright stepped down as Livermore’s director a year ago, and had served as a senior advisor in the Office of the Director of National […]

N.M. Nuke Activist Group Hires Fired LANL Nonproliferation Expert NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Jim Doyle, the Los Alamos National Laboratory nonproliferation expert who has alleged he was fired based on an the publication of an article supporting nuclear abolition, has signed on to work with Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a nuclear activist group based in Santa Fe, […]

Sandia Names New VP for Science and Technology, Chief Technology Officer NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Rob Leland has been named Sandia National Laboratories’ new Vice President of Science and Technology and the lab’s Chief Technology Officer, the lab said late last week. Leland, a 24-year employee of the lab, replaces Duane Dimos and Julia Phillips, who […]

At Livermore DOE IG Criticizes Size of Lab’s Vehicle Fleet NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory could have done more to reduce the size of its vehicle fleet, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General report released this week that suggests the lab didn’t adequately look into replacing some of its 770 vehicles […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory could have done more to reduce the size of its vehicle fleet, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General report that suggests the lab didn’t adequately look into replacing some of its 770 vehicles with other modes of transportation. The IG report released yesterday notes that a “fleet leveling” exercise […]

Jim Doyle, the Los Alamos National Laboratory nonproliferation expert who has alleged he was fired based on an the publication of an article supporting nuclear abolition, has signed on to work with Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a nuclear activist group based in Santa Fe, N.M. Doyle has alleged that he was fired this summer because […]

An item in Thursday’s Morning Briefing incorrectly described a 2011 explosion at Sandia National Laboratories’ Plasma Materials Test Facility as being related to work on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor being built in France because of incorrect information provided by the lab. The work conducted at the lab during the experiment was for an undisclosed […]