Fire danger: Moderate
Secretary Richardson accepts recommendations for improving security at nuclear weapons laboratories
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson today accepted the recommendations of John Gordon, National Nuclear Security Administrator, for improving security and other facility operations at the Energy Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, both operated by the University of California. On June 30, Secretary Richardson asked Administrator Gordon to prepare recommendations for restructuring the University of California (UC) contracts with the Energy Department's weapons laboratories.
Based on these recommendations, Secretary Richardson has authorized the NNSA Administrator to immediately restructure the department's current contracts with the University of California to address security and management issues. The department will also commence negotiations with UC that, if successful, would lead to additional performance requirements and a three year extension of the contract. The current UC contract for the operation of the laboratories runs through September 30, 2002.
The initial phase of recommended improvements, which Administrator Gordon will work with UC to begin implementing, include:
When Secretary Richardson made his June 30th decision to restructure the Department's contract with the University of California, he recognized the University's unparalleled scientific reputation and its valuable contributions to the scientific vitality of the laboratories. At the same time, Secretary Richardson was sharply critical of their failure to bring the same degree of expertise to the management of security and facility operations. These near-term actions are designed to help address these shortcomings.
Secretary Richardson also accepted Administrator Gordon's recommendation to work to extend the UC contract by the end of the year to improve UC's performance not only in security and project management but also in health and safety, community and employee relations and other non-science management areas. The extension will be contingent on successful negotiations in these areas.
Statement by John C. Browne
"On behalf of the workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory I welcome today's announcement by the Department of Energy regarding the University of California management contract. I applaud Secretary Richardson's leadership of DOE's national security mission. His decision to extend the UC contract will strengthen our long-standing relationship and assure continued scientific and technical excellence in support of the nation.
"The partnership between the DOE and UC has brought great benefit to the nation's security, energy needs and industrial development. We look forward to working with Secretary Richardson, National Nuclear Security Administrator Gen. John Gordon and the University of California in the contract extension negotiations to address national security priorities and implement best management practices."
Statement by Richard C. Atkinson, President, University of California
"I am very pleased that the Secretary of Energy has chosen to enter negotiations to extend the University of California contracts to operate the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories. The decision to proceed is a vote of confidence in a relationship that has brought great benefits to our nation for more than half a century. The University is committed to scientific excellence, responsible management and effective security in its operation of these laboratories as a public service to the nation.
"This step will be a welcome boost to our scientists and staff. As we move forward, we must address several important challenges, including rebuilding employee morale and continuing to recruit the very best scientists to our labs. At the same time, we look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate our continuing commitment to superb science and strong security in the national interest.
"The Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories
are among the great scientific centers of the world. We at the
University of California are proud of our long association with
the labs and are eager to open the next chapter of our history
together."
Distinguished Bell Labs scientist joining Los Alamos
One of the leading researchers in solid state and materials physics will be joining the Laboratory later this year. Art Ramirez, currently a distinguished technical staff member at Lucent Technologies' Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, will become the new group leader of Condensed Matter and Thermal Physics (MST-10) within the Laboratory's Materials Science and Technology Division.
Laboratory Director John Browne said, "We are very pleased that Art has decided to join the Laboratory's materials division. Materials research is critical to the success of our programmatic activities. He is the kind of strategic hire who will carry on this Laboratory's tradition as one of the nation's preeminent scientific labs. Art is an authority in his field and we look forward to his continued scholarship and leadership."
"I'm thrilled to be joining the Laboratory because of the tremendous opportunities to do great science here," Ramirez said. "I believe that Los Alamos represents one of only a few places in the country with the capabilities needed to be the leader in solid-state sciences, as well as in thermal and fluid science. It's a world-class operation and I look forward to being a part of it."
Ramirez will be directing the research efforts of the approximately 45 personnel in Condensed Matter and Thermal Physics. The group focuses on characterizing and understanding the physics of materials, particularly those with unusual superconducting, magnetic and semiconducting groundstates. The group also develops novel material characterization capabilities and applies them to industrial, security and energy-related technologies. Additionally, the group's researchers investigate fluid dynamics and thermodynamics in non-linear science and refrigeration.
Bill Press, principal deputy Laboratory director for Science, Technology and Programs, said, "Art Ramirez's decision to join the Laboratory is just one signal that the long-term prospects for great science at Los Alamos are very good. We welcome his arrival."
While at Bell Labs, Ramirez pioneered the field of "geometrical frustration" in magnetism. "Geometrical frustration" refers to a phenomenon in which magnets, or other materials, are "frustrated" when they are forced to settle into a single state. A typical "frustrated" material will want to settle in many different states, for instance as it cools down from the temperature at which the solid forms. The dynamics of how the magnets switch from one state to another have implications for new states of magnetism, but also have potential applications to other materials. For example, Ramirez recently found several of the hallmarks of geometrical frustration in a material that undergoes negative thermal expansion, meaning that it expands (rather than shrinks) as it is cooled. This type of research could have applications ranging from optical switches to dentistry. Ramirez will continue this work at Los Alamos.
In addition, Ramirez plans to continue researching two-dimensional electron system transitions between the metallic and insulating states, as well as large dielectric constants in new materials for possible use in microelectronics, such as dynamic random access memory. He will also focus on high-temperature superconducting materials and new directions in molecular conductors.
Ross Lemons, division director of MST, said, "We're all very excited that Art will be joining the MST team. His expertise complements our existing work and fits very well into our strategic plan. Combining his expertise with our current capabilities puts us in an even stronger position to be a leader in new materials research and technologies."
Ramirez received his doctorate and bachelor of science both in physics from Yale University. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and was a Bell Laboratories Cooperative Research Fellowship Program Predoctoral Fellow. Ramirez has been published extensively and over 4,400 articles have cited his work in the past 10 years, as ranked by the Institute for Scientific Information®.
Tom Meyer, associate Laboratory director for Strategic and Supporting Research, and Lemons applauded the work of Joe Thompson, who has served a total of 11 years as the Deputy Group Leader, and more recently as Group Leader, of the Condensed Matter and Thermal Physics Group. Thompson is leaving the group leader position to return to research.
--David Lyons
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Members of the Department of Energy's Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) Team take a small sample from a water and mud-filled concrete structure discovered during excavation near the old Catholic church on Canyon Road. Pictured from left to right are team members Chris Gardner, Darrin Stafford and John Haynie all of Hazardous Materials Response (ESH-10). Haynie is measuring for gross gamma radiation and reported on-scene no levels above background. An overnight measurement of the sample by the Health Physics Analysis Lab (ESH-4) also found no detectable gamma above background. The below-grade concrete structure was uncovered during excavation for the new apartment complex in a far corner of the area just below the parking lot of the new Catholic church. The box-like concrete structure appeared to be part of either an old septic or water diversion system. Since the structure was not part of any known water-retention or sanitary waste systems, Los Alamos County requested a RAP Team deployment to assess any potential radiological contamination. Photo by Kevin Roark |
United Way rally for BAO employees
set for Oct. 31
Laboratory employees disguised as spooks, ghosts and goblins can celebrate the success of the Los Alamos/Northern New Mexico 2001 United Way campaign at a rally from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Halloween Day, Tuesday, Oct. 31.
The rally at the SM-30 Warehouse is being coordinated for all Business Administration and Outreach (BAO) personnel by the Business Operations (BUS) Division, said Mary Van Eeckhout of Materials Management (BUS-4).
But Van Eeckhout said employees from outside BAO, including subcontract personnel, can take part in the rally, which includes a raffle drawing, music by the BUS-4 Big Band, accordion music by Ray Trujillo of BUS-4 and a Halloween costume contest.
ARAMARK Corp. is providing a catered lunch for $5 with all profits donated to the United Way campaign, said Van Eeckhout.
"The BAO is striving to increase participation to 100 percent this year," said BUS Division Director Allan Johnston. "The many agencies and organizations that receive funding from United Way were here for us during the fire. The United Way deserves our support."
At the rally, raffle winners will be selected for several prizes, including a $4,000 cow elk hunt donated by the Chama Land and Cattle Co.; two tickets for three round trips anywhere in the continental United States donated by Southwest, TWA and Delta airlines; and one night at the Elk Horn Lodge in Chama.
Van Eeckhout said employees who have returned completed pledge cards are eligible for the drawings. Additional raffle tickets can be purchased for $5 at the Halloween rally, she added. Employees who return completed pledge cards by Friday will be credited with three raffle tickets; employees returning their United Way pledge forms by Oct. 31 will be credited with two raffle tickets.
Employees can pledge to United Way through payroll deduction. Or they can write a check to United Way, attach the check to the pledge card and return it to Mail Stop A117 through interoffice mail.
Subcontract personnel who want to pledge to the United Way campaign can call Anthony Garcia of BUS-4 at 7-4166 or write to garcia_anthony@lanl.gov by electronic mail to obtain a pledge card.
The Lab's United Way giving campaign ends Nov. 10. As of Oct. 13, $353,594.88 had been pledged or donated to the campaign by University of California Lab employees.
The community-wide campaign goal this year is $750,000. Last year, Lab employees gave about $404,000 to United Way during the Lab's United Way campaign.
In other Laboratory United Way campaign news, David Scudder of the Atlas Project Office (P-26) is the latest Dollars for Dining winner of a $100 gift certificate to Anthony's on the Delta in Española. Dollars for Dining is an incentive program to encourage employees to return their completed United Way pledge forms.
Additional information about the Los Alamos and Santa Fe United Way campaigns can be found at www.losalamos.com/unitedway and www.uwsfc.org respectively through the World Wide Web.
What you don't see can hurt you
Dr. Paul F. Bommarito, Director of the Eye Safety and Vision Ergonomics Clinic at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and at the NASA Ames Health Unit in Mountain View, Calif. will talk about vision issues in the office environment at an ergonomic presentation at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Materials Science Laboratory Auditorium (TA-3, Bulding 1698, Room A103).
The presentation, hosted by Industrial Hygiene and Safety (ESH-5), is intended to inform and raise ergonomic awareness in the workplace. "Our record on ergonomic disorders at [the Laboratory] has improved over the past two years," said Barbara Hargis of ESH-5. "However, it remains as one of the most prevalent reasons for recordable injuries and illnesses."
Vision is one ergonomic issue often overlooked in office workstation evaluations, Bommarito said in a telephone interview. "The message is this: when we deal with people who work in front of a computer, vision ergonomics can be very critical."
Bommarito said he adopts a holistic ergonomic approach to workplace vision issues. "Otherwise, musculoskeletal problems such as backaches and neckaches can result," he said.
"Either the eyes lead the way or the body follows the eyes," he said. "If an individual wearing bifocals has to tilt their head up, they either have the wrong posture, the wrong workstation setup, or they don't have the proper eye glass prescription. The latter can become a real problem, particularly, as we get older," he said.
Dr. Bommarito is a consultant to various high-tech companies where he performs on-site workstation and vision ergonomic analysis. He holds bachelor's and master's of science degrees in optometry and is a certified industrial ergonomist.
-- Fran Talley
UC Regents Oversight committee at Lab last week
Leroy Salazar, standing, of the Española School Board
talks with University of California regent S. Sue Johnson, standing
right, and Laboratory Director John Browne, seated, at a meeting
last week in the J. Robert Oppenheimer Study Center. The UC Regents
Committee on Oversight of the Department of Energy laboratories
met in Los Alamos to hear reports on Laboratory operations. The
committee later toured areas of Los Alamos that were burned by
the Cerro Grande Fire in May and traveled to Española to
continue Lab discussions with Northern New Mexico community leaders
and nearby tribal leaders. Also shown left to right are regents
Joanne Kozberg and Irene Miura. Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez
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RAP team deployed
Kiwanis pancake breakfast
is on Saturday
