I worked at LANL for 20 years, and it is true the the University of California was an extremely lax contractor, especially during the last couple of decades of its 63 year stint at Los Alamos. However the new contractor, LANS, LLC makes the former contractor, UC, look positively efficient by comparison.

LANS, LLC took over the Los Alamos contract in June, 2006. LANS is a limited liability corporation whose partners include Bechtel, BWXT, the Washington Group, and the University of California.

Under LANS, LANL continues to experience security lapses and safety incidents. Just three weeks ago workers at Los Alamos were exposed to Germanium-68, a toxic radioactive isotope.

Now that Los Alamos is run by a corporation, it is possible for the contractor to have all but buried the facts surrounding this incident. However, this incident is just one of many that have occurred during the past year which show that LANL's new contractor is incapable of safely running Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Curious contracting environment and blog post from Former Emp. I take it s/he thinks that for-profit contractors are more inclined than universities to bury evidence of poor performance. Why? Any data? Universities, especially big research institutions that have drunk at the federal trough for decades, may not have the sharpest management, and security is not their specialty. Also, culturally, they have a grant, vs. contract, mentality. And what about big construction and engineering firms. The Big Dig and Iraq debacles suggest these firms can't cut it either on non-core functions. What about carving out security--for a number of good reasons--and having a third-party be responsible for security operations? Could be a contactor or some sort of nonprofit.

2:18pm misunderstands. I am contending that LANS, LLC is more *successful* in burying evidence of poor performance at LANL than the University of California was. My only evidence for saying this is having worked there for 20 years under UC, and two years of close observational data from watching LANL under its new contractor.

The FOIA does not apply to a private corporation, whereas in the past it could be used to force UC to divulge information of security and safety screw-ups.

Former Emp.,

Maybe we're close. You say the current LLC, a private corp. that includes UC, is more successful in burying [embarassing] info, and I said you seem to imply that private corps. are inclined to do that. From your description, it sounds like the traditional UC security lapses live on, perhaps because UC is still there. It also seems that the corporate umbrella and teammates have been ineffective in getting UC to do better at security. Not surprising for behemoth companies that have a lot of money and leeway to do what they do. What do you think about a third-party contractor to do security operations? This might help ensure that it receives focus and that problems are not buried.

4:04,

I think that LANL is too entrenched in its ways to ever change. Couple this with the fact that the Bechtel-led LLC doesn't really want to make any substantive changes at LANL other than changes that might increase their annual award fee from DOE/NNSA, and you have a pretty sick, broken system at Los Alamos.

Plus, security at LANL is *already* handled by a third-party security contractor, has been for years.

Bechtel would love to strip all programmatic work from LANL that does not directly relate to manufacturing plutonium pits for weapons. That way Bechtel would reap huge construction profits from building new plutonium manufacturing facilities, and BWXT would make huge profits operating the new plutonium production facility.

Sadly, it would probably be preferable to just shut LANL completely down. Morale is at an all-time low, most of the more talented staff have already left, and face it: most of the remaining non-weapons science currently being done at LANL could be done cheaper and more effectively elsewhere; the remaining weapons work could be moved to Livermore and Sandia National Labs.

No one but DOE, NNSA, and Bechtel want to turn LANL into a plutonium pit factory. Nearby Santa Fe and Albuquerque don't want that. Most of the remaining employees don't want that. Nevada, Pantex, or Savannah River are better locations for plutonium production operations.

UC's "university incompetence" has been replaced at LANL by "corporate greed", to nobody's benefit except the parent companies that comprise the LLC.

Former Emp.

Thanks for your insights. What firm is the third-party security contractor? With whom does this firm contract: DOE or the LLC? Was there competition for the last award? If this firm avoids responsibility and accountability for all these security lapses, how does it do it?

8:17,

In the years immediately preceding my leaving LANL in 2005, the security contractor was Mason & Hanger. Now it is an operation called "Pro-Force". I don't have any of the specifics of the contracts. I worked for a living when I was at LANL; wasn't interested in those mundane details.

Regards,

-Former Emp

I'm another former LANL employee. "Pro Force" is a colloquialism; it's a reference to the 'protective force', which is a private security contractor, now named PTLA (Protective Technology Los Alamos), a subsidiary of Day & Zimmerman. D&Z won the physical security contract for the LANL campus from Mason & Hanger in the early '90s. They are not responsible for the laboratory security plan with regard to weapons information and other classified material; they provide the security guards that man entry and egress points, check bags and vehicles, provide rapid response teams ("SWAT teams") and escort services for the movement of special materials, among other duties.

The security systems that are supposed to protect weapons info and other data and material is the subject of an internal lab security plan, implemented by lab groups and divisions, and it's basically designed by LANL and signed off on by DOE/NNSA. Then it's implemented by the organizations, the lab groups and divisions, that hold classified information and materials. For instance, the division I was in had a classified materials vault. In order to read or view any of that material, you had to go to the vault and look at it there. Documents were not to be removed from the vault. The vault room had a standard government spec combination lock vault door. The only thing PTLA did with 'our' vault was check that the door was closed and the combination spun into locked mode outside of working hours. PTLA did the same thing for another vault my division owned which was used to store small samples of radioactive materials.

Both LANL and DOE are supposed to assess and audit the effectiveness of the security plan. LANL has an audit group which is responsible for the ongoing audit of security systems, just as DOE does. They don't seem to be doing all that well, if the reportage of various issues is to be taken at face value.

Former employee:

Why do you think Pantex is a good place for Platonium storage/pit. We are right in the middle of farm land which grows the corn and wheat you eat and the cotton you wear. It also has the cattle that graze on the land next to it. The airport is only about 15 miles away with the 3 longest runway in the US. Somehow, I don't see this as a good place for storage of Platonium!! Call me crazy!

Dear Txgirl,

Why Pantex? Pantex is an excellent place for plutonium storage because... it's there? After all, it's next to beautiful Amarillo, they're already in the business, and the folks in Santa Fe sure don't want it at Los Alamos. If you really want a riot, try siting it at Livermore.

I would contend that plutonium storage and pit production should be dispersed, decentralized, to make it difficult for anyone to get their hands on a significant quantity. Obviously, that's not the easiest thing to do at a facility where you might have tons of the stuff. On the other hand, setting up and operating a dispersed system isn't all that easy either.

If storage and production must be centralized, there's one place that makes some sense, and that's the Nevada Test Site. Not that the locals there want it; look at the howling and screeching about the Yucca Mountain site for long-term disposal of spent fuel.

But all of that is rather off the point of the security problems at LANL, isn't it?

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