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Friday, Sept. 10, 1999
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Questions about reliability of polygraph tests and clearances dominate Tuesday meeting
Some Laboratory staff members told Department of Energy counterintelligence officials that results of studies on polygraphs tests should be subject to the same scrutiny that is common in the scientific world before tests are administered.
The sometimes contentious meeting was called so the officials could give Lab employees a technical briefing on how the polygraph tests will be administered. However, questions about the reliability of tests and assurances that staff members won't lose their security clearances because of the tests dominated the meeting in the Administration Building Auditorium on Tuesday.
Laboratory Director John Browne has noted that a polygraph examination program is in the Lab's future. "As an institution we recognize DOE's need to take this step and will support and implement the polygraph policy in its final form," Browne said. "I also recognize the very real and significant concerns of our employees. I encourage all of you to participate in the rulemaking process by providing comment on the proposed polygraph policy published in the Federal Register or by registering to provide input at the public hearing in Los Alamos Sept. 17. Through this process we have a chance to shape the program so it takes into account legitimate employee concerns yet still provides the deterrent effect that the Congress and the DOE want to achieve."
David Renzelman, DOE's polygraph program manager in the Office of Counterintelligence, and Doug Hinkley, director of DOE's Counterintelligence Evaluation Board, described the process used in DOE's polygraph testing program and discussed which types of employees might be required to take the tests.
Renzelman used a laptop computer program to show how heart rate, galvanic skin response, blood pressure and respiratory activity are affected when undergoing a polygraph examination.
"Internally, that's what the body displays," said Renzelman, pointing to the screen displaying a graph that measured responses. "This is a snapshot of your emotions when asked a question. That's all this is."
"It's not a witch-hunting thing," Renzelman continued. "We're looking for the great majority of people to pass the test."
Renzelman defined a false-negative result on a polygraph examination as a deceptive person incorrectly reported as being truthful.
He defined a false positive -- the topic that drew many questions from Lab employees in the audience -- as a truthful person incorrectly reported as deceptive by the examination. Renzelman said false positives are extremely rare.
Renzelman said that of the 7,461 polygraph examinations administered to federal government employees in the 1998 fiscal year, 110 exhibited "significant responses" to questions about national security. And all but four of the 110 were able to explain to examiners what was troubling them about the question, he said.
Renzelman also reminded the audience that Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has said that no adverse personnel actions will be taken against an individual based solely on physiological responses to questions about security.
Dick Burick, the Lab's deputy director of Operations, reiterated Browne's pledge to personally become involved when "unresolved issues" develop as a result of a Lab employees' response to polygraph questions.
Renzelman said all polygraph exams are videotaped and after an employee passes the test, the videotape is destroyed. The purpose of reviewing polygraph examinations is to determine whether additional testing is required," he said.
"We try to make this as nonconfrontational as we can," Renzelman added.
Renzelman said polygraph examiners are certified by both DOE and the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute, and must complete a 16-week course and a 16-semester-hour graduate-level course in administration of polygraphs. They also must belong to two national polygraph associations. Renzelman added that DOE's Albuquerque test center has been inspected and certified by DOE and DoD.
"If you have to take the examination, I would hope that you would give it a fair shot," said Renzelman.
Despite Renzelman's repeated assurances, many in the audience were skeptical, asking questions about the constitutionality of polygraph tests. One employee asked if he would have the same "Miranda rights" as someone who is being questioned about suspected illegal criminal activity, while another employee asked if an attorney could be present in the room when a polygraph test is administered.
Renzelman responded that an employee can consult with an attorney before the test and the attorney can watch a polygraph examination from an observation room.
"But you can't bring them with you to take the test. You're on your own," Renzelman said.
Another employee suggested that to allay some employee concerns about polygraph tests, the Lab and DOE should put in writing that employees won't lose their jobs as a result of false positives, that funding will be provided for polygraph studies to be published and that false positives won't be an issue when and if the Laboratory reduces its workforce.
Renzelman and Hinkley reminded those attending that a public hearing Sept. 17 in Los Alamos offers an opportunity to provide comments about DOE's proposed rule on polygraph examinations. Other public hearings on the issue are scheduled Sept. 16 in Albuquerque; Sept. 14 in Livermore, Calif., and Sept. 22 in Washington, D.C.
An all-employee memo on the scheduled polygraph hearings was issued Wednesday by Browne.
---Steve Sandoval
Bruce Matthews to leave for UC assignment
Bruce Matthews, director of the Nuclear Materials Technology (NMT) Division since 1993, has announced he is stepping down to take a two-year sabbatical with the University of California.
Matthews has just completed a special assignment on safeguards and security for the Director's Office. He will transfer to the Science and Technology Based (STB) Program Office until December when he will leave for a position in the Senior Scientific Manager Return to Research Program at one of the UC campuses.
"I have been managing NMT Division long enough to affect the changes required to ensure the future of TA-55 and the CMR Building, and I am looking for a change that affords career growth and new challenges, takes advantages of my experience, and, at the same time, strengthens interrelations between the University of California and Los Alamos," said Matthews.
"In order for the Lab to execute its science-based missions, we need to maintain our technological advantages, and that requires closer integration with the intellectual power resident at the science and engineering departments in the University of California," he said. "It also means that the Laboratory needs to attract the best students to replenish the aging workforce."
Matthews first joined the Laboratory staff in 1980, specializing in nuclear fuels in the old CMB (Chemistry/Metallurgy/Baker) Division.
He assumed the helm at TA-55 after the Tiger Team inspections and turned a once-troubled facility into a showcase for the Department of Energy weapons complex.
"Bruce provided the leadership to turn around the operation of the facility, won back the confidence of the DOE, and helped increase our credibility with the regulatory boards," said Sig Hecker, former Lab director.
Current Lab Director John Browne said, "We are in a position to capitalize on future nuclear programs as a result of Bruce's hard work and dedication. I would like to thank Bruce personally for the help he has given the Lab and me."
Matthews' goal in his new job is to develop an integrated, multi-campus set of research proposals in support of Lab programs in stockpile stewardship, threat reduction, environmental stewardship and supporting science missions.
--William Heimbach
Otowi Cafeteria closed today as a result of fire
Otowi Cafeteria will remain closed today as the result of a fire that occurred during the Thursday lunch rush.
The brief, relatively innocuous fire occurred Thursday at around 11:55 a.m. when a portable burner at the cafeteria pasta station malfunctioned, said Scott Bryan of Emergency Management and Response (EM&R). A burst of flammable butane gas used to power the burner escaped and ignited while a cafeteria worker was sautéing vegetables. The resultant orange-blue fireball scorched ceiling tiles in the facility. The fireball was hot enough to set off a ceiling sprinkler that was part of the cafeteria fire-protection system, but the cook was unhurt -- though he did complain of having singed hair.
Several employees in the area were sent to Occupational Medicine for a checkup after they complained of possibly inhaling fire extinguisher dust. The extinguisher was discharged by a cafeteria employee.
Dr. Jerry Williams, director of Occupational Medicine (ESH-2), said all six employees who reported to Occupational Medicine were evaluated and then released back to work without restrictions.
The ceiling sprinkler released about 3,000 gallons of water and flooded some areas of the cafeteria and the Otowi Building.
"Water penetrates this facility fairly easily, so we had a lot of water moving through the floor," said Otowi Facility Manager Steve McCleary of the Facilities and Waste Operations (FWO) Division. "But we didn't find much damage on the second floor."
McCleary had no estimates on the amount of damage caused by the fire and water.
Because of water penetration into the facility, the south wing of the Otowi Building was closed for the remainder of Thursday afternoon. Facility specialists were concerned that the water could seep into electrical lines and computer cables and create potential safety problems.
"The risk right now is nominal," McCleary said at the scene Thursday afternoon, "but we're taking no chances. We want to make sure that everyone has a safe environment in which to work, and we won't know that until we thoroughly check out the building."
Eppie Trujillo, special projects office leader in Procurement (BUS-5), said in light of the fire, investigation and cleanup activities, the Otowi Cafeteria would be closed Friday. The cafeteria may be open Monday.
Satellite cafeterias will still serve "fast foods" like hamburgers that can be prepared on site, Trujillo said.
People who need access to the Otowi south wing during the closure must contact McCleary at 7-8363.
The fire prompted response by Los Alamos Fire Department, Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico, Protection Technologies Los Alamos and EM&R. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
--James E. Rickman
Caltech professor will connect lab work to volcanology
How to simulate volcanic activity in the laboratory has been a puzzle for Laboratory scientists since the late 1970s, when one of the earliest studies in experimental volcanology was carried out here.
Bradford Sturtevant of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena will discuss how experiments can provide valuable insight into real volcanoes at a Director's Colloquium Tuesday at 1:10 p.m. in the Physics Building Auditorium.
The lecture will be open to the public, and will be shown on LABNET.
"The study of volcanic processes is difficult because the interiors of volcanoes are not accessible to direct observation, the flows they generate are hot and opaque, and the fluids of interest are complex," Sturtevant said.
"Since the LANL study, a large variety of flows, ranging from slow compositional diffusion to high-speed turbulent dusty gases, have been examined in the laboratory, and considerable new understanding has been gained," he said.
Twenty years ago, Laboratory scientists set off scaled-down artificial eruptions using energetic materials at Ancho Canyon Site and studied the resulting processes.
Sturtevant received his doctorate in Fluid Mechanics at the California Institute of Technology, where he has taught aeronautics for nearly 40 years, and is now H.W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics. He is currently researching sonic boom, hydrodynamic sources of earthquakes and harmonic tremor and the fluid mechanics of explosive volcanic eruptions.
--Kay Roybal
Former employee Button dead at 70
Lue Button, a former Laboratory employee and longtime resident of Abiquiu, N.M., died Aug. 15 at age 70. Button worked at the Laboratory from 1968 to 1990. She also was active throughout her life in various dog activities including obedience, conformation, search and rescue, and hunt trials with her strain of Von Knopf Weimaraners. She is survived by her husband, Donald Button, three siblings and three step-children. Friends of Button are invited to join a celebration of her life from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at East Park, located next to the Dog Obedience Club at 246 East Road in Los Alamos.
Diversity Office to move on Tuesday
On Tuesday, the Diversity (DV) Office will move into its new home above Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors in Los Alamos, 800 Trinity Dr., Suite H.
With the new office space, there also will be new phone numbers and a new mail stop. The new phone numbers are 7-5665 for the main number and the fax number will be 7- 6404. Individual Diversity Office phone numbers will remain the same. The office's new mailing address is Mail Stop M894.
In April, the Diversity Office split in order to provide better definition to two distinct yet equally important functions. The offices are now the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) and DV. OEO will ensure that the Laboratory is compliant with state and federal regulations and University of California policies regarding AA/EEO.
Don Bryson is acting DV director while the Lab searches for someone to lead the office on a permanent basis.
Managing diversity is the process of creating and maintaining an environment that naturally enables all participants to contribute to their full potential in pursuit of organizational objectives. The new Diversity Office not only champions a diverse workforce at the Laboratory: it is responsible for two of the six zeroes: ethics and people mistreatment. The office split will allow both functions to concentrate on their roles in making the Lab a better place for all, according to Bryson.
--Kathy DeLucas
PTLA training exercises Saturday
Members of the Protection Technology Los Alamos protective force will be conducting large-scale training exercises involving Protective Force personnel using simulated weapons all day on Saturday. An eight-mile stretch of Pajarito Road from the White Rock intersection to Diamond Drive will be closed to through traffice from 1 a.m. to 11 p.m. Laboratory staff working in the area should be aware that these exercises will be taking place and disregard them.
Polygraph 'hearing' set for Sept. 17 at the Lab
A polygraph "hearing" is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m. Sept. 17 in the Administration Building Main Auditorium. The sessions, which are open to the public, stem from the notice of proposed rulemaking concerning polygraph examinations that the Department of Energy published in the Federal Register on Aug. 18.
Requests to present and comments to the panel should be phoned in to Andi Kasarsky at (202) 586-3012 by Sept. 15. Each presentation is limited to 5 minutes to ensure that all persons have an opportunity to speak. Only those who have requested time will be allowed to speak during the hearing. Those with comments for the panel must get on the docket by Sept. 15.
The Federal Register notice and supporting information on public hearings can be found at http://home.doe.gov/news/fedreg.htm on the World Wide Web.
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Lab Counsel offers guidance on dealings with investigators The Laboratory Counsel Office has issued a memorandum that provides guidance to employees who might be asked for documents or interviews by investigators with the Federal Bureau of Investigation or U.S. Attorney's Office. Click here for the memo. |
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