Very High

Laboratory Director announces organizational changes

Laboratory Director John Browne on Thursday announced several organizational changes and related actions to strengthen operational support for continued scientific excellence and engage the Laboratory more effectively in strategic national security discussions.

Among the organizational actions announced are:

• Appointment of Joe Salgado, deputy director for business administration and outreach, as Principal Deputy Laboratory Director. In this capacity he will function as a Chief Operating Officer and will serve as acting director of the Laboratory in Browne's absence. Salgado will continue to head the BAO Directorate for the time being.
• Appointment of Steve Younger, associate Laboratory director for nuclear weapons, as Senior Associate Laboratory Director for National Security to guide and oversee the Laboratory's participation in strategic and long-term national security policy and planning. Younger will join the Director's Office to assist Browne in formulating strategic directions for Los Alamos programs in stockpile stewardship, nonproliferation and non-nuclear defense, and will represent the Laboratory in high-level interactions with the National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy, Department of Defense and the military services.

Younger also will continue to head the Nuclear Weapons Directorate pending possible further changes.

"Earlier this year I set before employees my expectation for the Laboratory in which the quality of our operations matches the quality of our science and technology," Browne said. "Key to this effort is the successful implementation of an integrated management approach at Los Alamos, and the actions I am announcing [Thursday] will help us strengthen and integrate management across the Laboratory.

"Today's announcement describes important and necessary steps toward the goal of integrated management and a more unified workforce. The end result will be an environment that better supports scientific productivity, which is at the core of this Laboratory," Browne said Thursday.

"In addition to establishing these two new positions, I have initiated a 45-day organizational review of the Nuclear Weapons Directorate," Browne said. "Recommendations from the review committee could lead to other changes in our organizational structure."

Browne noted that the Nuclear Weapons Directorate represents more that 70 percent of Los Alamos' budget and impacts nearly every part of the Laboratory. Successful implementation of integrated management in this organization is key to its success across the Laboratory.

The committee, chaired by Hans Ruppel, former associate Laboratory director for strategic and supporting research, includes representatives from the University of California's President's Council on the National Laboratories.

"I have tasked this committee to examine approaches for dealing with some of the significant management challenges facing the Lab's stockpile stewardship program while assuring effective alignment of our organization and activities with the needs and expectations of the NNSA," Browne said.

"I want to make clear to employees the importance of this activity. The committee's recommendations and our subsequent actions will have a major impact on the management and operation of the Nuclear Weapons Directorate and consequently on the Lab itself. In combination with the appointment of the Senior ALD for National Security, this effort will be a key factor in determining the strategic direction for the Lab for the next decade," Browne said.

The committee is due to report recommendations to Browne by July 15.

Among the Laboratory's other senior managers, Bill Press, deputy Laboratory director for science, technology and programs, will continue to oversee science and technology matters that relate to the Laboratory's technical direction, overall scientific quality, Laboratory Directed Research and Development, external reviews, scientific recruitment and interactions with the academic community.

"Bill and I will continue to work closely on ensuring that our scientific work is well supported and of the highest quality. We also will continue to evaluate and support new scientific directions for the Lab," Browne said.

Dick Burick, deputy Laboratory director for operations, will continue to have principal responsibility for facility operations, project management, safety and security matters. Burick also is the Laboratory's interface with external regulatory agencies.

Similarly, Associate Laboratory Directors Don Cobb and Tom Meyer retain their principal responsibilities for threat reduction and strategic and supporting research, respectively.

Browne also announced another initiative aimed at strengthening integrated management and operational performance. This is the creation of a blue-ribbon steering committee to oversee and coordinate two technical advisory groups for pit production and pit certification.

"Pit production and certification is one of our 10 institutional goals. It is imperative that we meet the goals and milestones of these programs on time, within budget and with the highest quality products and processes. The technical advisory groups and steering committee will review planning and execution in these programs to help ensure that we remain on track for success," Browne said.

The steering committee is chaired by Retired Adm. Robert Foley, former commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet and DOE assistant secretary for defense programs. He currently serves on the boards of a number of U.S. companies, including Department of Defense Proxy boards, and is an international business consultant.

Also on the committee are:

• George Emery, a retired vice admiral and former commander of the U.S. and NATO Atlantic Submarine Forces. He was president of Raytheon Technical Services Co., which provides technical, scientific and professional service to defense, federal and other customers, and currently serves as a consultant on energy and defense issues to a number of organizations.
• John Weaver, formerly president and chief operating officer of Hughes Aircraft Co. and corporate executive vice president of Hughes Electronic Corp. A retired rear admiral, Weaver commanded the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems.
• Richard Garwin, a physicist long employed at the IBM Research Center and now Phillip D. Reed Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has served on the President's Science Advisory Committee and the Defense Science Board.
• Sidney Drell, retired deputy director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, who since 1960 has provided technical advice to the U.S. government on national security issues, particularly nuclear weapons and their stewardship. He currently serves on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, Non-proliferation Advisory Panel and the JASONs group of scientific advisors.

Other members of the steering committee are Jim Stout, Steve Guidice and John Birely. Guidice and Birely also will chair the pit manufacturing and pit certification technical advisory groups, respectively.

--John R. Gustafson

ESH Director Erickson on KRSN Monday Denny Erickson, the Laboratory's Environment, Safety and Health (ESH) Division director, is scheduled to be on "The Morning Show" with Mark Bentley at about 7:10 a.m. Monday (June 4). Erickson and Bentley will talk about the Lab's upcoming "Safety Days" event June 21 in downtown Los Alamos. KRSN can be heard at 1490 AM.

The 1993 eruption of the Galeras volcano in South America. Photo courtesy of Andy Adams, Environmental Technology (E-ET)

Lab geologist to give talk Tuesday about surviving a volcano

Credits Lab safety training

In January of 1993, a volcano in South America erupted, killing six of 14 scientists and three tourists trapped inside. Because of mandatory Laboratory safety precautions, geologist Andy Adams of Environmental Technology (E-ET) says he was one of the lucky ones who survived.

In a special "Safety Days" presentation at 10 a.m. on Tuesday (June 5), Adams will recount the events leading to the tragedy. The unclassified talk will be held in the Administration Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3. It is open to L- and Q-cleared badge holders only.

Outfitted with Lab-required safety equipment, Adams says he had trouble keeping pace as the exploration team made its way into the Galeras volcano located at 14,000 feet in the Andes Mountains of South America. "Here I am, all dressed up with a hard hat, got a gas mask, safety boots, insulated coveralls and they're kind of tittering at me," he said referring to some other team members.

But he credits his use of that equipment and the stringent Lab safety requirements with saving his life. "The Laboratory provided me with the necessary training and equipment to make surviving a volcanic eruption possible," Adams said.

"It happened very quickly," Adams said in a recent appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America." There was "a huge bang, big hot rocks falling out of the sky . . . and a huge plume of ash and smoke coming out of the volcano," he said.

Adams will take the audience on a visual tour of several volcanoes including an active vent of the Kilauea volcano on the big island of Hawaii, Vulcon Pacaya located outside of Guatemala City in Central America, Satsuma Iwo Jima off the southern-most island of Kyushu, Japan, as well as Vulcon Galares in southern Columbia.

The presentation will be broadcast on LABNET Channel 9. For more information, contact Fran Talley of Public Affairs (PA) at 7-5225, or write to flt@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

-- Fran Talley

Colloquium will examine alternative medicine

Internationally recognized alternative medicine authority Saul Green will present a Director's Colloquium entitled, "Alternative Medicine: Fact or Fraud?" at 1:10 p.m. Wednesday (June 6) in the Physics Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3. The colloquium is open to the public and will be broadcast on Labnet Channel 9.

Green will address the growing appeal of various alternative medicine practices, such as chelation therapy, Chinese herbs, homeopathy, acupuncture, coffee enemas to "detoxify" the liver, oxygenation therapy and organic diets to "repair" the normal immune system to recognize and fight cancer.

Often, patients who are undergoing treatment like radiation, surgery and chemotherapy turn to alternative medicine in their desperation to escape unpleasant side effects. Green believes that, too often, entrepreneurs sell patients the false hope that their treatments can enable the patient to gain personal control over an innate healing process - while the patient's disease progresses with deadly, serious consequences.

Green is science editor of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council against Health Fraud and the American Council for Science and Health. Until his retirement in 1981, he was head of the Department of Biological Response Modifiers at Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York and Professor of Biochemistry at the Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.

--Chris Pearcy

Editor's Note: The news story below was provided to the Daily Newsbulletin by Monica Wenzel of the Environmental Stewardship (E-ESO) Office.

Wastewater Mobile Pretreatment means less money down the drain

The Mobile Pretreatment Unit (MPU), a trailer-mounted wastewater treatment unit, successfully completed its maiden run, confirming high expectations from Facilities and Waste Operations (FWO) and Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico for possible annual savings of more than $540,000.

"At least 15,000 gallons of wastewater that the Laboratory currently sends to Technical Area 54 for off-site disposal now can be treated and disposed of on-site through the [Mobile Pretreatment Unit]," says Ramiro Marquez, wastewater operator foreman for JCNNM. "The MPU can process it into routine sanitary waste or industrial effluent, which means it either meets the Sanitary Wastewater Treatment Facility (SWS) Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) or the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit criteria for effluents being discharged to outfalls. "We'll handle the waste for approximately $2 per kilogram." A recharge fee of $2 per kilogram compares favorably with the TA-54 recharge rate for New Mexico Special Waste, which is $5.92 per kilogram, he said.

Prime candidates for the Mobile Pretreatment Unit processing are liquid New Mexico Special Waste, waste that must be disposed of in an industrial landfill due to its characteristics, or sanitary waste that can't be directly discharged to the SWS because the waste characteristics do not meet the plant's SWS-WAC. A few of the sources that have traditionally generated candidate wastes are wastewater from secondary containment vessels, NPDES effluent, and sump waters that

• require pH adjustment
• contain high levels of suspended solids and certain dissolved solids
• contain non-aqueous-phase oil or grease
• contain trace amounts of organics
• are contaminated with antifreeze or boron
• consist of cooling tower blowdown that exceeds NPDES standards

The new device has the flexibility to treat batches of wastewater and function as flow-through continuous treatment of industrial effluent that is near or above NPDES outfall limits. The Mobile Pretreatment Unit processes wastewater onsite at the generator's facility or offsite at the TA-46 Sanitary Wastewater Treatment facility. Environmental Science and Waste Technology (E) Division wanted to address onsite treatment for liquid wastes that do not meet the SWS-WAC. The Environmental Stewardship Office (E-ESO) funded Infrastructure (FWO-UI) to contract for a custom-designed treatment unit from Clegg Industries of Victoria, Texas.

"ESO worked with FWO-UI and JCNNM-Utilities early on in the planning phase to determine what capabilities the MPU needed," said Patricia Vardaro-Charles, E-ESO project coordinator. "Mobility to make pretreatment convenient to generators was a main concern. Further, we had to design a unit that could handle some unique wastewater concerns," Vardaro-Charles said.

The technical solution, according to Vardaro-Charles, is a 1,100-gallon process tank, supported by subsystems to perform flocculation, precipitation, carbon dioxide sparging, pH adjustment, solids removal by settlement and oil removal. These treatment processes are the target now, however FWO-UI and JCNNM plan to expand the device's capabilities in treating more complex wastes by adding other subsystems, such as an activated carbon unit, an ion exchange column or a reverse osmosis unit.

Materials that cannot be considered for Mobile Pretreatment Unit processing are liquids containing Resource Conservation and Recovery Act components, mixed waste, or radioactive waste above drinking water standards.

For more information on the MPU's capabilities, call Marquez at 5-7884, or write to marquez_Ramiro_d@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

For more information on waste minimization projects, visit the Environmental Stewardship Office (ESO) at http://emeso.lanl.gov/index.html online.

For more information about the SWS WAC, go to http://labreq.lanl.gov/pdfs/ops/lig/lig4040003.pdf#acrohls=http://labreq.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/w3vdkhgw?DSP=XML;qryJHAuAGug_;ops-168 online.

For more information about the NPDES standards, go to http://www.esh.lanl.gov/~esh18/teams/npdes/npdes_permit2001.pdf online (Adobe Acrobat required).

Otowi motorcycle parking removal delayed

Removal of the motorcycle parking spaces located between the Otowi Building and the former Business Operations (BUS) Division Office has been delayed. Motorcyclists can continue to park in the spaces for the next couple weeks.

The Daily Newsbulletin had reported that the spaces would disappear this week as demolition work on the Sherwood Building and the former BUS Division office building gets into gear. However, a subcontractor involved with the demolition project reported to Steve McCleary, FMU-81 team leader, that work affecting the motorcycle parking spaces will be delayed - probably until mid June.

Motorcyclists wishing to have a dress rehearsal in seeking alternative parking spaces before the Otowi area disappears for real can seek motorcycle parking in the following nearby areas:

• The motorcycle parking area located directly west of SM-38, the Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico shops building;
• The motorcycle parking area located off of Bikini Atoll Road on the east side of the SM-30 and SM-31 warehouses.

Check the Daily Newsbulletin for updates on the motorcycle parking area, planned construction projects and upcoming road projects in the weeks and months ahead.

--James E. Rickman

Renewal Run check presentation

Tracy Ruscetti, left, of the Laboratory's Bioscience (B) Division presents a $2,000 check to Louis "Jerry" Atencio of Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico and a member of the Dixon Fire Department. The check represents the proceeds from registration fees of 248 runners and walkers who participated in the Renewal Run last month in Los Alamos. The Dixon Fire Department is a small, volunteer fire department that brought its two water trucks, a small brush truck and a tanker to Los Alamos during the Cerro Grande Fire. The trucks provided water to firefighters and helped save homes from the blaze. The Dixon Fire Department covers the area from Velarde to Pilar and shares emergency calls with the Velarde Fire Department. Their station is currently housed in a condemned building; fire money from the Renewal Run will go into their building fund for a new station. Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez, Public Affairs

On today's bulletin board
Commuter's Corner | Parking areas around TA-3 | Parking shuttle routes (pdf) or jpeg
"Genius of the Wright Brothers" talk scheduled at Lab Get Fit on Route 66 begins on Monday Laboratory geologist to give special "Safety Days" talk next Tuesday Critical skills courses available at UNM-LA Monday Family Nights begin at Mesa Public Library Register now for June Essentials of Supervision Fidelity Investments at Lab on June 19-21 Volunteer Opportunities New Class for Parents of Young Children Local meeting of the American Society for Quality Retirement reception for Harry F. Martz on June 15	ESD/PC Users Group to Sponsor Microsoft Office XP Launch Lost: key ring Los Alamos Dog Obedience registration on June 14 Family Strengths Network classes Badge posters to be distributed Found: young male Rottweiler YMCA accepting registrations for walking program Research Park parking lot 'Project Management Toolbox' scheduled June 12-14 Program development workshop scheduled for June 5 and 6 Golf Course Pool memberships available Employees leaving Lab must attend termination presentation