National Laboratories

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 had assumed the role in an acting capacity for the last 20 months. Leland […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 The top manager at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Site Office improperly utilized her position to force employees to perform work on personal matters and created a “negative work environment” before being terminated, DOE’s Inspector General said in a report released late last week. The publicly released version of […]

Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 10/10/2014 The top manager at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Site Office improperly utilized her position to force employees to perform work on personal matters and created a “negative work environment” before being terminated, DOE’s Inspector General said in a report released late last week. The publicly released version of […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Stanford University is proposing a contracting pilot program that would dramatically reset the Department of Energy’s relationship with its national laboratories, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Board of Overseers Chairman Bill Madia told a Congressional panel examining the effectiveness of DOE’s labs this week. Speaking at an Oct. 6 meeting of […]

Nelson-Jean Appointed Manager of Livermore Field Office NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Nicole Nelson-Jean has been appointed as the manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Livermore Field Office, the agency said this week. Nelson-Jean has served as the acting head of the field office since January, when Kim Davis-Lebak left to serve as the manager of […]

Sandia Not Penalized for 2011 Explosion at Plasma Materials Test Facility NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Sandia National Laboratories will not face a fine for a 2011 explosion in a building at its Plasma Materials Test Facility, according to a Preliminary Notice of Violation recently issued by the National Nuclear Security Administration. Workers in the facility narrowly […]

Sandia National Laboratories was not fined for a 2011 explosion in a building at its Plasma Materials Test Facility, according to a Preliminary Notice of Violation recently issued by the National Nuclear Security Administration. Workers in the facility narrowly avoided serious injury or death, according to the NNSA, but the agency waived $412,500 in penalties […]

Already hit with a $365,000 fee reduction for a 2013 sulfuric acid burn event that left two employees with first- and second-degree burns, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory avoided further penalties for the incident, according to a Preliminary Notice of Violation sent to the lab last week. The workers received sulfuric acid burns to their face, […]

International Isotopes has entered into an agreement with the Department of Energy to use its Advanced Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory for the irradiation of cobalt targets for the production of cobalt-60, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday. The agreement allows the company to use the reactor for the next […]

Stanford University is proposing a contracting pilot program that would dramatically reset the Department of Energy’s relationship with its national laboratories, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Board of Overseers Chairman Bill Madia told a Congressional panel examining the effectiveness of DOE’s labs yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the panel in Alexandria, Va., Madia said Stanford […]

A commission tasked with reviewing the effectiveness of the Department of Energy’s national laboratories will meet for the third time today in Alexandria, Va., and will hear from a broad range of government and industry officials. National Nuclear Security Administration weapons program chief Don Cook will appear before the committee along with DOE Office of […]

A senior manager at a federal site office improperly utilized their position to force employees to perform work on personal matters and created a “negative work environment” before being terminated, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said in a report released Friday. The report did not identify the manager, but it said that the manager […]

DOE Inspector General Identifies Weaknesses in LANL Waste Processing Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 10/3/2014 More changes are underway at Los Alamos National Laboratory as planning begins to transition lab cleanup work from the National Nuclear Security Administration to the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. This week, the lab announced that Randy Erickson will […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 10/3/2014 The National Energy Technology Laboratory late last week awarded a contract worth $99 million to US&S – E2 I, LLC, to perform Site Operations Support, according to a notice posted on the FedBizOpps website. The contract covers various services including: site management support; environment, safety, and health (ES&H) support; […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is addressing recommendations the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office raised in a report that found weaknesses in LANL’s waste remediation and packaging techniques that could be linked to the radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The IG report noted that LANL did not fully consider reactivity issues between […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Associate Director Enrique Torres is serving as acting lead for LANL environmental programs after several Los Alamos cleanup managers were relieved of their duties last week in connection with the breached drum at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, LANL Director Charlie McMillan said Friday in a message to staff obtained […]

Three senior members of the House Armed Services Committee will begin a visit to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s two nuclear weapons laboratories in New Mexico today. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chairman of the panel’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee, is heading the visit, and will be accompanied by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), the ranking member […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/26/2014 As the Department of Energy moves to shift responsibility for cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory to the DOE Office of Environmental Management, four LANL cleanup managers late this week were relieved of their duties in a major management change following issues with the site’s transuranic waste program. The […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration has directed Los Alamos National Laboratory to begin developing preliminary planning documents for the third phase of its plutonium strategy, the construction of modules that will complement the lab’s Plutonium Facility (PF-4). In a Sept. 16 memo to Los Alamos Field Office Manager Kim Lebak […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 9/26/2014 As the Department of Energy moves to shift responsibility for cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory to the DOE Office of Environmental Management, four LANL cleanup managers late this week were relieved of their duties in a major management change following issues with the site’s transuranic waste program. The […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory could be subject to penalties from its federal overseers for charging unallowable insurance costs to the government, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General assessment report released this week. The Aug. 13 report, released publicly Sept. 23, notes that from Fiscal Year 2008 to FY […]

Lab Won’t Be Penalized by DOE for Technetium-99 Contamination Incident NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 Sandia National Laboratories will not be penalized for a contamination incident earlier this year at its Tomography and Radionuclide Transport Laboratory, the Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement said this week. In a Sept. 22 letter to Sandia Director Paul Hommert, Office […]

URS Exec Conway Joins LANL Nuclear and High Hazard Ops Directorate NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014   URS executive Chuck Conway is joining Los Alamos National Laboratory as the operations manager in the lab’s Nuclear and High Hazard Operations Directorate, Associate Director for Nuclear and High Hazard Operations Cheryl Cabbil said in a message to lab employees […]

URS executive Chuck Conway is joining Los Alamos National Laboratory as the operations manager in the lab’s Nuclear and High Hazard Operations Directorate, Associate Director for Nuclear and High Hazard Operations Cheryl Cabbil said in a message to lab employees yesterday. Conway most recently served as the startup manager for Retrieval Operations and Deputy Plant […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory could be subject to penalties from its federal overseers for charging unallowable insurance costs to the government, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General assessment report released yesterday. The report notes that from Fiscal Year 2008 to FY 2012 the lab unjustly billed as operating costs $621,900 in directors and […]

Reviews Find Need for Additional Resources at Several Sites to Address Maintenance Concerns LANL Director Emphasizes Advantages of Keeping Cleanup Work in Contract SPRU Schedule Slips Once Again DOE Approves New SWPF Baseline, Cost Increase Nears $1 Billion Senate Confirms New DOE Deputy Secretary Congress Completes Work on FY 2015 Stop-Gap Funding Measure CH2M Hill […]

New Mexico Has Called for LANL Cleanup to be Taken Out of NNSA Kenneth Fletcher and Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 9/19/2014 Following a call from New Mexico’s environmental regulator to break out the cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory, LANL Director Charlie McMillan this week emphasized the advantages of keeping cleanup in the current […]

N.M. Regulator Has Called for LANL Cleanup to be Taken Out of NNSA Kenneth Fletcher and Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 Following a call from New Mexico’s environmental regulator to break out the cleanup work at Los Alamos National Laboratory, LANL Director Charlie McMillan this week emphasized the advantages of keeping cleanup in the current […]

Kenneth Fletcher and Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Science has given more autonomy to national laboratories from headquarters on management and budget decisions, a DOE official this week told a panel tasked with reviewing the labs. The Congressionally-mandated Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories pressed […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) have formally established a bipartisan Senate National Laboratory Caucus aimed at rallying funding and policy support for the Department of Energy’s 17 institutions. The senators gathered with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and directors or representatives from each of the 17 laboratories Sept. […]