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Interim Laboratory Director Pete Nanos spoke to employees and invited guests at the Laboratory's 60th anniversary address Monday in the Administration Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3.

Sixty years later, Lab continues serving the nation

The world today is much more dangerous than it was in 1943 when the Laboratory was created as part of the Manhattan Project on plateaus in the Jemez Mountains of northwest New Mexico.

"On Dec. 7, 1941, there were no nuclear weapons. Today, there are nuclear weapons and chemical and biological weapons," said Interim Laboratory Director Pete Nanos.

Sixty years later, Los Alamos' role, as it was in 1943, is to serve the nation, a job Nanos said the Lab and its personnel are fulfilling admirably.

Nanos made his remarks Monday in the Administration Building Auditorium at the kickoff event for Los Alamos' 60th anniversary celebration.

Nanos was introduced by Denny Erickson of the Associate Directorate for Weapons Program (ADWP) and one of the chairs of the Lab's 60th anniversary committee. The committee, Erickson noted, has spent about a year planning activities to mark the Lab's 60th anniversary.

"This is indeed a special place in many ways," said Erickson. He also introduced the Protection Technology Los Alamos honor guard, which presented colors; Melissa Porter of Tritium Science and Engineering (ESA-TSE), who led in a singing of the National Anthem; and Ralph Erickson of the Los Alamos Site Office of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Erickson, in brief remarks, wished the Laboratory a happy birthday and congratulated Los Alamos for "60 years of ideas that have truly changed the world."

Erickson also lauded the personnel of the Laboratory for making the "world a better place, a safer place that I think all of us are proud to call home."

"This is an important time in our history, and I wanted us to take our time to explore our history and to spend the intellectual effort to examine our history," Nanos said in opening his roughly 40-minute talk to Lab personnel and invited guests.

Nanos thanked Erickson and former Laboratory Director John Browne for giving impetus to and creating the Lab's 60th anniversary committee. "It was really important for [the committee] to step up at this important time in our history," he said.

Nanos told employees that the anniversary events are a reminder of what the Lab has done – and what it must continue to do for the nation.

He said Los Alamos' work in creating the world's first atomic bomb saved the lives of many who otherwise would have died in World War II. "In 1943, when this place was formed, we were already at war," said Nanos.

"It was an idea predicated on several things. National leaders felt we had to have it," he said, talking about the bomb. "For the one million men who were expected to die in the battle of Japan, it was salvation," said Nanos.

"The truth is, it was an idea that truly changed the world."

Nanos continued: "Today, we are in a similar place. It wasn't Pearl Harbor, it was 9-11. And because it was part of the international financial district, it wasn't just limited to citizens of the United States," he said, recalling the Sept. 11, 2001, incidents in New York.

Nanos said that though circumstances are different today, the Laboratory, as a national institution, exists to safeguard the nation.

Nanos called Los Alamos' scientific contributions "the gold standard for the country."

He also lauded the partnership and contributions of the University of California, which has brought "the sense of academic freedom and openness" to Los Alamos, and the work of sister weapons laboratories.

Nanos also said the Lab's slogan for 60th anniversary activities, "Ideas that Change the World," is appropriate as the Lab moves into a new century because it is the ideas from the people who work at Los Alamos that will set the Lab apart from others.

"Our people at the Lab are what make the difference," said Nanos, adding that, "Individual excellence is absolutely critical at the Lab."

And while acknowledging Los Alamos' core mission of stockpile stewardship, Nanos said Los Alamos needs to continue its scientific research outside its weapons mission. The breadth of the science at Los Alamos can't be focused too narrowly, he said.

He also reminded the audience that excellence in science needs to carry over to other aspects of the Laboratory's operations. He said excellence in safety and security and the Lab's business practices are critical to the Lab's future. "Excellence is not just in [the] science we do," he said.

In closing Nanos told thanked employees for their support and said the work employees are doing to improve the Lab haven't gone unnoticed. "This is a doable job for us . . . that we can get this Lab back on track," said Nanos.

"We are positioned for success," he said. "The response has been incredible. It has been recognized that the Lab is performing admirably.

"This is a national institution. It will survive. It will be a center of excellence. Of that I am confident," said Nanos. "Remember, it is the ideas. Remember, it is the institution. Remember, it is our country."

Nanos' talk was followed by a forum by former Laboratory directors, which Nanos moderated. Harold Agnew (1970-79), Sig Hecker (1986-1997) and John Browne (1997-2003) participated in the forum. Former Lab Director Donald Kerr (1979-1985) was unable to attend (see accompanying story).

Other events took place on Monday and a series of events are scheduled throughout the year.

At 7:15 this evening, the Los Alamos Historical Society will host the Lab directors at a public forum in the Duane Smith Auditorium at Los Alamos High School. Additional information is available from the Historical Society at 662-6272, and tickets are on sale at the Historical Society Museum Shop next to Fuller Lodge downtown or at the door for $5 each.

Schedules and general information about 60th anniversary activities are available at http://sixty.lanl.gov online. New events will be added to the event schedule frequently.

Nanos' talk will be rebroadcast on Labnet Channel 10. Check the Labnet Channel 10 schedule at http://www.hr.lanl.gov/TIO/labnet10.htm for rebroadcast times.

--Steve Sandoval

Interim Laboratory Director Pete Nanos, center, moderated a forum of former directors Monday in the Administration Building Auditorium. At left is Harold Agnew (1970-79). Far right is John Browne (1997-2003), while next to Nanos is Sig Hecker (1986-1997). John Hopkins, second from left, represented former director Donald Kerr (1979-1985). Hopkins was associate director for nuclear weapons under Kerr and Hecker. Photos by LeRoy N. Sanchez, Public Affairs

Present day problems shouldn't detract from Lab's legacy, mission

Recent problems that reflect the need to improve business practices should not distract Laboratory employees from their mission or from celebrating the Laboratory's 60 years of achievements, Interim Director Pete Nanos told an audience gathered at the Administration Building Auditorium Monday for a directors' forum that kicked off Los Alamos' 60th anniversary celebration.

Stressing the value of openness, Nanos cautioned employees against viewing themselves as victims of negative publicity.

"It's only through openness that arrogance and stupidity get rooted out," Nanos said, pledging his full support for workers who are willing always to do the right thing. "This Laboratory is too strong, too good and has too many bright and dedicated people to be a victim."

Nanos moderated the forum, which included former Laboratory directors Harold Agnew (1970-1979), Sig Hecker (1986-1997) and John Browne (1997-2003) discussing their accomplishments and challenges. Former Director Donald Kerr (1979-1985) was unable to attend the forum and other 60th anniversary activities due to his responsibilities as science and technology director with the Central Intelligence Agency. John Hopkins, who served as associate director for nuclear weapons under Kerr and Hecker, took Kerr's place at the forum.

Certifying that the nation's nuclear weapons remain safe and reliable without underground nuclear testing "still remains as the biggest technical challenge for this Laboratory," former Director Browne said.

Meeting the challenge of certification today requires a much greater degree of technical rigor and certainty than in the decades when expert judgments and testing were sufficient, Browne said.

He and the other directors urged a thorough examination and strengthening of the contractual relationship between the Laboratory and the government.

"Without that, I don't think we're going to be the greatest Laboratory that I know we can be," Browne said.

Hecker said the mission of maintaining the nation's nuclear deterrent is inherently a government function but one unlike any other. He called for a major study on how to best to rebuild the government/contractor partnership.

Nanos told reporters at a news conference after the forum that the University of California's management role for the past 60 years has been nothing short of guaranteeing the quality of the stockpile through scientific analysis, adding that the university "has a tremendously big footprint."

He said current issues with the Laboratory's business practices are helping the Department of Energy define the value the Laboratory adds, and that UC is doing all it can to improve the management structure.

"They (UC) have seen the need for their engagement in these laboratories in a more complete way and I don't think they will retreat from that responsibility," Nanos said.

Repeating his theme that the Laboratory must improve its business practices until they are as good as its technical base, Nanos said the Laboratory will do what it takes to become "best in class in business."

Agnew agreed, saying the research in support of the stockpile continues to be excellent.

"The real mission of the Laboratory has not been degraded by these problems," Agnew said. "The American public should be reassured of that."

The former directors recounted times of low morale during their tenures.

"When people have a low morale, they sit around for several hours a day complaining and they aren't very productive," Agnew said.

Hopkins added that he's observed a rebound in employee morale.

"Unfortunately, because of a very small number of people, all of us got a black eye," Hopkins said. "People have pulled up their socks and said they can and will go forward."

Agnew pointed with pride to the fact that more than 80 percent of the U.S. nuclear stockpile is Los Alamos designs.

"The Los Alamos weapon systems are the basis for the deterrent that has prevented wars between the major powers," he said.

Asked about J. Robert Oppenheimer's management style, Agnew recalled going to Los Alamos' first director with a complaint from young scientists who wanted more pay. He said Oppenheimer agreed to meet at Z building with the group of about 25 scientists, who asked why they were earning only $125 a month, while technicians and other crafts workers were earning about four times that, despite the fact that the scientists did much of their own electrical and machining work.

"You know why we're here and those other individuals don't," Oppenheimer told the scientists, ending one of the shortest meetings in Laboratory history.

All the former directors and Hopkins took the audience on a tour of the Laboratory's many accomplishments during their respective tenures, from the side-coupled cavity for accelerators, the design and deployment of key new weapon systems, the original ideas for the Human Genome Project, the Beam Experiment Aboard Rocket for strategic defense, right up to today's quantum information systems.

One of Agnew's biggest accomplishments was changing the rules so that postdoctoral fellows could remain at the Laboratory after completing their fellowships; Hopkins talked about the first gene libraries and the establishment of such research powerhouses as the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and the Center for Nonlinear Studies and Center for Materials Science, all in 1980.

Hecker recounted quadrupling the number of post-docs and praised the outstanding computational efforts in the Applied Physics (X) Division to improve weapons safety; and Browne pointed to the tremendous progress in X-ray and proton radiography, the discovery of water on Mars and the effort in weak-interaction physics that led to solar neutrino mass measurements.

"I think this is turning out to be one of the fundamental physics measurements of this decade," Browne declared.

Browne and the other former directors stressed the value of the intellectual integrity fostered by University of California management of the Laboratory.

Agnew said he has always advocated strong international collaborations for the knowledge the Laboratory and the nation gain from other approaches to basic scientific problems, while Nanos said in a news conference following the forum that such collaborations are key because so many foreign nationals are among today's most talented researchers.

"We've learned from them and they've learned from us," Agnew said, pointing out that much of the fundamental science that underpins nuclear weapons research is unclassified.

"What one has to do today is just run faster than the other guy in the field of defense science," Agnew said during the news conference.

Hecker described the tremendous changes wrought by the end of the Cold War and their impact on the Laboratory. He recalled the shock of sitting down with a group of Russians at the Nevada Test Site steak house to celebrate the Joint Verification Experiment nuclear test in August 1988.

"They were there to observe our test," Hecker said, as if still astounded by the event.

--Jim Danneskiold

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