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Laboratory Deputy Director for National Security John Immele, recounts some of the many recent successes of the Threat Reduction Directorate (ADTR) during his colloquium, "National Security Perspectives," on Tuesday in the Metropolis Center Auditorium at Technical Area 3. Because so many people were turned away due to space limitations, Immele plans to repeat his forward-looking overview of the Laboratory's stockpile stewardship and threat reduction programs within a few weeks. Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez, Public Affairs

Immele: Future national security needs demand comprehensive planning by Laboratory

Shifts in U.S. policy will challenge the Laboratory to improve in planning and project management, but the fundamental value of Los Alamos' technical work will remain, said Deputy Director for National Security John Immele in a colloquium Tuesday in the Metropolis Center Auditorium at Technical Area 3.

"People know that they can trust what Los Alamos says in science and national security," Immele declared.

But continued success will depend on comprehensive planning for future facilities and programs that support the Laboratory's main mission of stockpile stewardship, especially those investments that will provide the greatest reduction in uncertainties about the nation's aging nuclear weapons, Immele told the packed auditorium.

Immele's high-level review of "National Security Perspectives" provided a look ahead and an assessment of nuclear weapons and threat reduction programs at the Laboratory in the light of Los Alamos' strategic goals. It is the first in a series of colloquia by deputy and associate directors that complement the state of the Laboratory talk delivered by Director G. Peter Nanos last month. Immele plans an encore presentation at 1:10 p.m., April 21 in the Administration Building Auditorium, because the Metropolis Auditorium was filled to capacity and more than a hundred staff were turned away.

Immele said the Bush Administration's New Triad and Nuclear Posture Review reaffirm the long-term need for an effective nuclear deterrent that is likely to require new capabilities. But those policies also call for improved non-nuclear strike and missile defenses, which may lead to a lowered profile for nuclear forces and a shift in emphasis for the national laboratories. Although the goals of stockpile stewardship haven't changed much, consensus is lacking on long-term strategies for the program, he said.

However, the Laboratory's emphasis on its first strategic goal of building predictive science capabilities that cut across the entire institution puts Los Alamos in the right position to solve many national security problems, and improve the nation's ability to analyze strategic decisions.

"Our job is to tell the truth and to give the country technical options," Immele said.

One of the keys to developing the New Triad is responsive infrastructure that meets the National Nuclear Security Administration's strategic planning guidance. For the Laboratory, Immele said, that means working within what will probably be flat budgets to build and maintain the capability to fix stockpile problems, replace aging components, adapt current stockpile weapons to new challenges and ensure the nation could return to nuclear testing within 18 months.

Immele recounted some of the recent successes in national security programs and in such areas as sensor development and devising new strategies for detecting and monitoring materials that could be used in weapons of mass destruction.

"It's a real privilege to stand before you and talk about our achievements," he said.

Among areas where he recommended the Laboratory play a stronger role are threat assessment, sensors that improve global situational awareness and so-called horizontal integration: providing a quick assessment of vast amounts of intelligence data.

Answering questions about potential organizational changes, Immele said he believes the emphasis in coming months instead will be on better project management, impressing the Laboratory's customers and making accurate predictions of performance and then delivering on those predictions.

-- Jim Danneskiold

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