Monday, Sept. 14, 1998
Energy Secretary Bill Richardsons is greeted on his arrival in Los Alamos Friday by DOE's Los Alamos Area Office Manager David Gurulé, as C. Judson King of the University of California watches. Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez
Energy Secretary Richardson talks to employees
Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson held up what he called a "fancy text" of a talk prepared for him to deliver to Lab employees, but said he did not want to give the formal address, preferring instead to talk informally about the Laboratory, the Department of Energy and his visit to the Lab last Friday.
Richardson visited the Lab many times during his 13 years as U.S. representative from the congressional district that includes Los Alamos, but this was his first visit as energy secretary. His talk was interrupted by laughter and applause several times by an appreciative audience in the Administration Building Auditorium.
"First of all, let me say, it's good to be home," he began, then added with a smile: "It's also good to be out of Washington."
Richardson, who left Congress nearly two years ago to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, spent Friday afternoon at the Laboratory.
At Technical Area 55, he dedicated a prototype technology known as ARIES that will be used to disassemble plutonium components from retired nuclear weapons. He also was briefed on the Lab's work in stockpile stewardship and threat reduction.
He noted during his talk that many of his previous contacts with the Lab simply involved working with the rest of New Mexico's congressional delegation to obtain funding. The tour and briefings last week helped him understand the full scope of the work that is conducted at the Lab.
"So thank you," he told employees, "... for the work that you do for the country."
Although this was his first visit as Energy Secretary to the Lab, he said it would not be the last and urged employees to tell him about their ideas and concerns. "I want to be accessible and open," he said. "Let me know what you're thinking."
Richardson said he was impressed with ARIES, which stands for Advanced
Recovery and Integrated Extraction System. The prototype, developed by Los
Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories, recovers plutonium
from pits. The plutonium reacts with oxygen to form an oxide, which is blended
with other materials to make a mixed oxide that can be burned in existing
reactors, making it no longer usable for weapons.
"This is going to be very important in plutonium disposition," Richardson said. "I saw how it can be done ... effectively and efficiently."
After the tour and dedication, Richardson met briefly with local media outside the main gate at TA-55. He said ARIES is important for arms control and said he planned a trip to Austria in about two weeks to meet with the Russian energy minister. At that time, he said, he hoped to reach an accord on steps to take to implement the existing plutonium disposition agreement between the countries.
"This laboratory is good," he told the reporters. "I know its value to national security, to the Department of Energy, and I'm going to make sure it plays an important role in the future."
He also fielded a few questions from local media about the current situation in Washington involving President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, whom he had interviewed for a job while he was U.N. ambassador, but he said he was not worried that the situation would affect him personally.
Richardson said during his 17-minute talk to employees that he wants to make DOE the best agency in the cabinet. The problem for the department, he said, is that most of the public recognition it has received in recent years has been bad, focusing on problems.
"We do a lot of important things, and we have to let the American people know about it," he said.
During a brief question-and-answer period after the talk, Richardson said he wants to open the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad because it is ready. He had concerns about WIPP as a congressman because of safety issues, he said, but now he believes it is safe.
He was asked if he could do something about the average 2.2 percent salary increase proposed for technicians at the Lab and replied that he was unaware of it. "We're going to look at all of the pay scales in the DOE complex," he said. "It's a good question, and I'll work on it."
He also said he did not believe the nuclear tests in India and Pakistan meant that the country should shift direction from stockpile stewardship to underground testing.
"I am confident that the Stockpile Stewardship Program is working," he said, adding that approval of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was the right decision.
After the late afternoon talk to employees, Richardson was scheduled to go to DOE's Los Alamos Area Office to meet with local leaders from Northern New Mexico. Earlier in the day, he visited Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque.
--John A. Webster
Bill Richardson, the new Department of Energy Secretary, cuts a ribbon dedicating the Laboratory's Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES) at Technical Area 55 to be used for dismantling plutonium pits. Looking on (from left to right) are Lab Director John Browne; Vic Reis, DOE's assistant secretary for defense programs; Dana Christensen (in backrow), deputy division director for Nuclear Materials Technology (NMT); and NMT Division Director Bruce Matthews. Photo by Mick Greenbank of Materials Science and Processing (NMT-11)
Revisions to AM 701 available for comment
Several revisions to AM 701 are available for comment on the RevCom system at http://hazel.lanl.gov/rcg1/LANL.html. The changes concern acceptable and unacceptable uses of government resources, including incidental personal use of computer resources.
Comments on the policy changes will be accepted until Oct. 1. Once they are entered, comments will be visible to others who access the system. The names of commenters will be known to Human Resource Policy staff only. This system is available to University of California employees only and requires them to enter their Z-numbers for access. No password is required. Only comments submitted on the RevCom system will be accepted.
MANA del Norte's annual scholarship award banquet slated for Sept. 18
The not-for-profit MANA del Norte organization is sponsoring its annual scholarship award banquet Sept. 18 in Santa Fe.
The scholarship banquet begins at 6 p.m. in the Kachina Ballroom of the Radisson Hotel, 750 St. Francis Drive, said Carmen Rodriguez of the Community Involvement and Outreach (CIO) Office and MANA del Norte member.
MANA del Norte is a Laboratory-sanctioned organization and includes members from Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Rio Arriba County.
The banquet coincides with National Hispanic Heritage Month, which is Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.
The banquet keynote speaker is Virginia Apodaca, a member of MANA's national board. Her address is titled, "Leadership, Scholarship and the Future."
Tickets are $25 per person, or $300 for a corporate table of 10 and can be purchased from Rodriguez, 662-7044; Rebecca Trujillo of Imaging Services (CIC-9) at 7-8261; or Betty Gonzales at 471-5658 in Santa Fe.
--Steve Sandoval
Walking Month walkers log more than 4,500
hours during first week
At the conclusion of the first seven days of Walking Month, 4562.01 hours were walked by Laboratory employees. One hundred eleven group and division coordinators reported hours with the greatest participation from Materials Management (BUS-4) with 181 hours and the Nonproliferation and Internal Security Division's Facility Management Unit 75 (NIS-FMU75) with 154 hours.
Coordinators who did not report hours for the week ending Sept. 7 should add those hours to hours walked last week and report them today.
Upcoming special events include a White Rock RimTrail hike on Wednesday, a walk and talk titled "Fitness, Weight Loss and Competition" on Friday and the Alzheimers Memory Walk in Española on Saturday. For more information on other special events, see your group/division coordinator, the Walking Month web page at or call the Wellness Center at 7-7166.
Tip of the week
Choose one day each week for a fast walk. Warm up easily, then bend your elbows 90 degrees, stand tall and take quick steps, walking briskly. You should be breathing heavily when you finish if you are looking for an aerobic workout. Be active every day. Write down your mileage. Listen to your body. If you're sore, take it easy for a day.
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