Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
1/30/2015
Los Alamos National Laboratory manager Los Alamos National Security, LLC, has a long list of issues to address as it looks to recover from its worst year since taking over management of the lab in 2006, and laboratory Director Charlie McMillan emphasized that the laboratory will take a measured approach to fixing many of the lab’s problems in an address to employees last week. During the all-hands address, McMillan emphasized that the lab must “maintain our focus and move forward,” but he noted that “risk management cannot paralyze us” and “tactical priorities cannot eclipse strategic objectives,” according to a copy of his presentation obtained by NS&D Monitor.
McMillan was not available for an interview with NS&D Monitor, but in a statement, he said the lab will “work to correct all noted deficiencies, but not without first ensuring that our corrections are sustainable. In other words, we must confirm that improvements to the quality and effectiveness of the Operations side of the house will translate to similar improvements across the Laboratory as a whole. This holistic approach will help ensure that the Laboratory remains a viable source of scientific solutions to address the nation’s most difficult and urgent national-security problems.”
McMillan Emphasizes Maintaining a Balance
McMillan’s comments reflect a sentiment at the lab that its work in support of its central mission, national security, remained sound despite shortcomings in other areas. The lab earned $6.2 million in fee for Fiscal Year 2014, just 9.7 percent of the $63.4 million in fee that was available under its contract, due to its role in the radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The lab was also docked for the continuing shutdown of the lab’s Plutonium Facility, “ethical lapses” by senior lab staff—a reference to former Deputy Director Beth Sellers, who is facing a three-year debarment from government contracting for not promptly disclosing her husband’s consulting agreement with the lab—and issues with the lab’s Earned Value Management System. The lab did not earn an award-term extension, and the NNSA revoked a previously earned one-year extension because of the “significant performance failure.” The LANS contract currently runs through 2017.
Because of the issues, the NNSA zeroed out $18.2 million in incentive fee that the lab earned, including $7 million out of $8 million available earned for nuclear weapons mission work (87 percent) and $6.4 million out of $8 million earned for broader national security mission work (80 percent). Lab officials viewed that recognition as a silver lining in a dark year. “Despite distractions, you delivered outstanding mission and science contributions,” McMillan said in the presentation to employees last week.
McMillan: ‘I Am Certain We Have the Right Plan for Moving Forward’
In the statement to NS&D Monitor, he said maintaining that performance was the lab’s top priority. “First and foremost, we will continue to advance successes in our scientific and technical work,” he said. “The coming year is not merely about sustaining our programmatic and scientific achievements; it’s about advancing them. The recent Performance Evaluation Report noted that the Laboratory’s scientific and technical work in 2014 surpassed its 2013 achievements, and we are striving to continue this trend of increasing scientific excellence.”
In his presentation, he said other priorities in FY 2015 involve completing readiness activities to prepare for the restart of operations at the Plutonium Facility and continuing to develop a strategy to maintain the lab’s plutonium capabilities into the future. He also said the lab is planning to restore its primary nuclear operations at Technical Area 55 and legacy waste disposal activities “so that we can accomplish our primary mission” while also working to support the transition to a separate Environmental Management contract for the lab’s cleanup work.
The lab’s Earned Value Management System is also undergoing formal review to establish a path forward for recertification, and readiness assessments and conduct of operations requirements will be completed to get the Weapons Engineering Tritium Facility operational. “I am certain we have the right plan for moving forward, an extremely talented and committed workforce, and an excellent set of strategic goals and priorities designed to address our nation’s national security challenges for years to come,” McMillan said in the statement to NS&D Monitor.
