Z refurbishment to advance machine’s capabilities Sandia’s Z machine has received approval from NNSA to proceed with a $61.7 million refurbish- ment. The project is called ZR, for Z-Refurbished. “The advance will support the weapons pro- gram and materials work not only at Sandia but at Liver- more and Los Alamos,” says Nuclear Weapons Senior VP Tom Hunter (9000), who managed the funding that made the new installation possible. “I give credit to the Sandia project team and NNSA for making this a reality.” Tom describes “a sense of excitement in the discoveries we will make in X-ray production, using these increased [electrical] current flows, for the nuclear weapons program, material science studies, and in our inertial confinement fusion program that plays a strong and complementary role to other NNSA investments like NIF [the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, Calif.]. This (Continued on page 5) Vol. 56, No. 21 October 15, 2004 (Continued on page 3) Managed by Lockheed Martin for the National Nuclear Security Administration THE INSIDE STORY — Richard Smith (6927, left) and Anatoly Abakumov, part of a Russian delegation attend- ing a Hazardous Environments workshop hosted by International Security Programs Center 6900, examine a weapon shipping cask. The glowing light in the photo is a coil of rope lights placed inside the cask to illumi- nate it. The five-day workshop addressed a wide range of issues around weapon safety in extreme environments. Presentations were made by both Russian and US attendees. (Photo by Randy Montoya) Story continues for world’s greatest provider of laboratory- generated X-rays Officials mark opening of WETL building at Pantex Open Enrollment is Oct. 20-Nov. 9 Changes this year to Health Care and Day Care Reimbursement Spending Account deadlines. See story on page 10 for details. Sandia signs LIGA pact with Argonne and Kansas City Plant 2 3 Bill Knauf wins New Mexico Distinguished Public Service Award Sandians are key members of ARG team in big Montana drill New rules for non-exempt-to- exempt movement described 8 12 Sandia’s Annual ECP/LEAP campaign begins Officials from Sandia, BWXT Pantex, and NNSA snipped a ribbon last week, marking the completion of the new Weapons Evaluation Test Labora- tory (WETL) located at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. The new $22 million state-of-the-art facility replaces the current 39- year-old laboratory, con- structed when some of the early nuclear weapons were first built. It will house more than $90 mil- lion worth of testing equipment that will con- duct systems-level, non- nuclear tests on nuclear weapons and compo- nents. WETL is the only US facility that performs these types of tests. “This is such an important facility,” said VP 2000 John Stichman, one of the “snippers” at the ribbon cutting ceremony. “It will have the capability to support data acquisi- tion technology so that we can not only tell whether a system works, but tell Will house $90 million worth of weapons-testing equipment By Chris Burroughs (Continued on page 4) RIBBON-CUTTING — Sandia VP John Stichman, middle, snips the ribbon at the ribbon-cutting cere- mony marking the opening of WETL last week. With him are, to the left, Martin Schoenbauer, acting assistant deputy administrator for Military Applica- tion and Stockpile Operations, and Mike Mallory, general manager of BWXT Pantex. CHEMKIN at 25: Chemical kinetics software is one of Sandia’s all-time major products If they could turn back time, Bob Kee and Jim Miller (8353) would publish a paper on CHEMKIN in a scientific journal. Both were so caught up in refining and using the new software as a tool to study flame chemistry that once the SAND report on it was published in 1980, they focused on publishing research results using CHEMKIN. Had a journal article been published, “it would have been one of the most cited papers in the combus- tion literature,” says Bob, now a chaired professor at the Colorado School of Mines. This is the 25th anniversary year for CHEMKIN, viewed by many as one of the most successful and enduring products to come out of Sandia. The Lab News (June 29, 1979) and the Combustion Research Facility News reported on its development in 1979. CHEMKIN’s usefulness as a tool for incorporating complex chemical kinet- ics into simulations of reacting flow is known the world over in the scientific and engineering community. It is the de facto standard for modeling gas- and surface-phase chemistry and is used in the microelectronics, combustion, and By Julie Hall Discover the joy of giving. ECP New Mexico begins Oct. 25; LEAP California now underway. See stories on pages 6-7. Russians, Sandians study extreme environments By Neal Singer
Transcript
Z refurbishment toadvance machine’scapabilities
Sandia’s Z machine has received approval fromNNSA to proceed with a $61.7 million refurbish-ment. The project is called ZR, for Z-Refurbished.
“The advance will support the weapons pro-gram and materialswork not only atSandia but at Liver-more and LosAlamos,” saysNuclear WeaponsSenior VP TomHunter (9000), whomanaged the fundingthat made the newinstallation possible.“I give credit to the Sandia project team andNNSA for making this a reality.”
Tom describes “a sense of excitement in thediscoveries we will make in X-ray production,using these increased [electrical] current flows, forthe nuclear weapons program, material sciencestudies, and in our inertial confinement fusionprogram that plays a strong and complementaryrole to other NNSA investments like NIF [theNational Ignition Facility in Livermore, Calif.]. This
(Continued on page 5)
Vol. 56, No. 21 October 15, 2004
(Continued on page 3)
Managed by Lockheed Martin for the National Nuclear Security Administration
THE INSIDE STORY — Richard Smith (6927, left) and Anatoly Abakumov, part of a Russian delegation attend-ing a Hazardous Environments workshop hosted by International Security Programs Center 6900, examine aweapon shipping cask. The glowing light in the photo is a coil of rope lights placed inside the cask to illumi-nate it. The five-day workshop addressed a wide range of issues around weapon safety in extremeenvironments. Presentations were made by both Russian and US attendees. (Photo by Randy Montoya)
Story continuesfor world’s
greatest providerof laboratory-
generated X-rays
Officials mark opening ofWETL building at Pantex
Open Enrollment is Oct. 20-Nov. 9Changes this year to Health Care and Day Care ReimbursementSpending Account deadlines. See story on page 10 for details.
Sandia signs LIGA pact withArgonne and Kansas City Plant
2
3
Bill Knauf wins New MexicoDistinguished Public Service Award
Sandians are key members ofARG team in big Montana drill
New rules for non-exempt-to-exempt movement described8
12
Sandia’s Annual ECP/LEAPcampaign begins
Officials from Sandia, BWXT Pantex, and NNSA snipped a ribbon lastweek, marking the completion of the new Weapons Evaluation Test Labora-tory (WETL) located atthe Pantex Plant nearAmarillo, Texas.
The new $22 millionstate-of-the-art facilityreplaces the current 39-year-old laboratory, con-structed when some ofthe early nuclear weaponswere first built. It willhouse more than $90 mil-lion worth of testingequipment that will con-duct systems-level, non-nuclear tests on nuclearweapons and compo-nents. WETL is the onlyUS facility that performsthese types of tests.
“This is such animportant facility,” said VP 2000 John Stichman, one of the “snippers” at theribbon cutting ceremony. “It will have the capability to support data acquisi-tion technology so that we can not only tell whether a system works, but tell
Will house $90 million worth of weapons-testing equipment
By Chris Burroughs
(Continued on page 4)
RIBBON-CUTTING — Sandia VP John Stichman,middle, snips the ribbon at the ribbon-cutting cere-mony marking the opening of WETL last week. Withhim are, to the left, Martin Schoenbauer, actingassistant deputy administrator for Military Applica-tion and Stockpile Operations, and Mike Mallory,general manager of BWXT Pantex.
CHEMKIN at 25:Chemical kinetics software is one ofSandia’s all-time major products
If they could turn back time, Bob Kee and Jim Miller (8353) would publish apaper on CHEMKIN in a scientific journal. Both were so caught up in refiningand using the new software as a tool to study flame chemistry that once theSAND report on it was published in 1980, they focusedon publishing research results using CHEMKIN.
Had a journal article been published, “it wouldhave been one of the most cited papers in the combus-tion literature,” says Bob, now a chaired professor at theColorado School of Mines.
This is the 25th anniversary year for CHEMKIN,viewed by many as one of the most successful andenduring products to come out of Sandia. The Lab News(June 29, 1979) and the Combustion Research FacilityNews reported on its development in 1979.
CHEMKIN’s usefulness as a tool for incorporating complex chemical kinet-ics into simulations of reacting flow is known the world over in the scientificand engineering community. It is the de facto standard for modeling gas- andsurface-phase chemistry and is used in the microelectronics, combustion, and
Sandia National Laboratorieshttp://www.sandia.gov/LabNews
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-0165Livermore, California 94550-0969Tonopah, Nevada • Nevada Test Site • Amarillo, Texas •Carlsbad, New Mexico • Washington, D.C.
Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated bySandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the US Departmentof Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
Published on alternate Fridays by Media Relationsand Communications Dept. 12640, MS 0165
Even though I’m a relative newcomer compared to the Sandianswho’ve given 40-50 years to Sandia’s national security work, thedeserted Coronado Club parking lot is a sad sight. The club was arefuge for decades — lunches, dinners, brunches, dances, swimming,tennis, after-work gatherings.
For some time, one of those after-work gatherings was the karaokebunch who got together in the north end of the dining room everyThursday evening — with easy access to the bar, it should be pointedout — and entertained each other with everything from Hank Williams toPink Floyd tunes. It was a goodtime bunch and they gathered for onelast party Sept. 30, the last night before the club closed for good.
They had a lot of fun and so did four of us scribblers who showedup to enjoy their fun and contribute to the club closure by helpingdrain the remaining beer keg and finish off the very chewy taquitos andwhatever those other little things were. Our little table didn’t stayfor the whole night, but before we left, one of the singers (with afine voice, by the way) sang Ol’ Blue Eyes’ My Way. He ad libbed thefinal line of the song and got a hoot from the group with a pointedzinger that made it clear the club’s closing was not their way.
When all is said and done, maybe it wasn’t anybody’s way, butthings change, whether you want them to or not. And whether we wantedit that way or not, the C Club closed. We hope the karaoke group willreconvene somewhere else, though. They’re a fun bunch.
* * *One other C Club note: When and where can we get Chef Hank Perez
back to work? At least long enough to teach somebody else how to makegreen chile stew?
Winter’s just around the corner, friends. Even if you’re not allthat crazy about green chile stew, there’s its indisputable therapeuticvalue to consider. And there’s a shortage of flu vaccine. Making theconnection?
* * *Regarding work-connected names, this from Frank Bacon (2564) is a
laugher:“In the early 1970s, I had a project to develop an intense
neutron source for use in cancer therapy. The neutron source was basedon accelerating a deuterium ion beam into a target containing tritium.For the project, I used an ion source to produce the ion beam which hadbeen developed at Oak Ridge National Lab, dubbed the ‘duoPIGatron.’This ion source was a combination of duoplasmatron and Philips Ion Gage(PIG) ion sources. I subsequently published a couple of papers on themodifications and improvements I made to the design of ion source.
“Robert Hamm at LANL heard about the work I had done, and he andI collaborated to adopt my design for an accelerator project at LANLthat he was working on. Unfortunately Robert left LANL to start his ownbusiness before he and I could collaborate on a duoPIGatron ion sourcepaper by Bacon and Hamm.”
Reader Service InformationThe Sandia Lab News is distributed in-
house to all Sandia employees and on-sitecontractors and mailed to all Sandiaretirees. It is also mailed to individuals inindustry, government, academia, nonprofitorganizations, media, and private life whorequest it.Retirees (only):
To notify of changes in address, contactCarol Wade, Benefits Dept. 3341, at 505-845-9705, e-mail [email protected], orMail Stop 1021, Sandia National Laboratories,Albuquerque, NM 87185-1021.Others:
To receive the Lab News or to changethe address (except retirees), contactMichelle Fleming, Media Relations andCommunications Dept. 12640, 505-844-4902, e-mail [email protected], orMail Stop 0165, Sandia National Laboratories,Albuquerque, NM 87185-0165. Employees:
To change the number of copies of theLab News your Mail Stop is receiving pleasecall Honario Anaya, Mail Services Team10268-4, at 844-3796. At Sandia/Californiacontact the Mail Room at 294-2427.Web Users:
The Lab News is on the Web atwww.sandia.gov/LabNews.
Sandia’s Bill Knauf (5001) has been awardedthe 2004 New Mexico Distinguished Public ServiceAward.
Bill, deputy director and chief of staff forNonproliferation and Assessments, received thehonor recently at the Governor’s award banquet.The award recognizes Bill not only for his work innational security at Sandia and his representationof the Laboratories in a number of communityactivities but also for his years of public sectorand military service.
On Sandia’s behalf, Bill has chaired theboards of the Albuquerque Business and Educa-tion Compact and Junior Achievement. He hasbeen instrumental in bringing the diverse inter-ests of the business and education communitiestogether and as a statewide leader in developingthe legislative agendas for these organizations.
He was also the founding chairman of theMiddle Rio Grande Business and Education Col-laborative (MRGBEC). Under his leadership, theorganization was presented with the NationalAlliance of Business Distinguished PerformanceAward as “Business Coalition of the Year.” Presi-dent Bush presented this award to MRGBEC in2003.
Bill continues to represent Sandia as a mem-ber of the Economic Forum. He has chaired theForum’s Education Committee, and is chair of theboard of New Mexico First — a bipartisan publicpolicy organization that works directly with NewMexico’s US senators and congressional delega-tion and Governor Richardson on numerous mat-ters impacting the state.
Before coming to Sandia in 1994, Bill wasvice president for Defense Programs and Albu-querque Operations of the Battelle MemorialInstitute. Before that he served in a number ofsenior-level appointed positions within the Stateand Energy departments in Washington.
Bill Knauf receivesNew MexicoDistinguished PublicService Award
BILL KNAUF receives his New Mexico DistinguishedPublic Service Award, joined by, from left, Dan Lopez,President of New Mexico Tech, and former governorsToney Anaya, David Cargo, Jerry Apodaca and GarreyCarruthers.
To Steve Hurd (8941) on the death of hisfather, George Hurd, in Paris, France, Sept. 5.
Sympathy
Q: A recent Feedback response indicated thatAlbuquerque Police Department would ticket driversusing the streets in the Willow Wood subdivision as athoroughfare. If a driver is obeying the speed limit,observing stop signs, and otherwise driving safely,under what ordinance can a citation be issued? Is itreasonable that I could get APD to ticket drivers whocut through my neighborhood to avoid traffic backupson major streets?
A: Sorry, it does seem following the speedlimit and driving safely would allow people totravel any street. However, one must obey all traf-fic postings or risk getting a ticket. The WillowWood subdivision is clearly posted and markedfor no through-traffic. You may be ticketed underthe city traffic code for not obeying the posting.
— Ed Williams (10864)
SANDIA LAB NEWS • October 15, 2004 • Page 3
CHEMKIN(Continued from page 1)
chemical processing industries. CHEMKIN enablesresearchers to investigate thousands of reactioncombinations to develop a comprehensive under-standing of a particular process involving multiplechemical species, concentration ranges, and gastemperatures.
It is likely the Combustion Research Facility’smost visible and far-reaching accomplishment,according to University of Utah professor and for-mer CRF Advisory Board member Adel Sarofim.“CHEMKIN has been the product of the CRF thathas found the greatest application among the com-bustion community, providing the CRF with highvisibility and good will.”
Now managed and distributed exclusively bySan Diego-based Reaction Design, CHEMKIN islicensed to about 350 institutions worldwide. How-ever, ascertaining the total number of users is diffi-cult because organizations may have multiple sitesand users, and the company offers otherCHEMKIN-based products, according to John Gar-rison, Reaction Design vice president of sales andmarketing. Some scientists also still use older ver-sions of CHEMKIN obtained when Sandia washandling distribution.
Reaction Design recently released CHEMKIN4.0, equipped with a new user interface that is a farcry from CHEMKIN’s early days as a collection ofFortran source code distributed on magnetic tapes.
Born out of necessityIn the mid-1970s, about the same time the
CRF was in the proposal stages, Bob began workingwith Jim on combustion modeling. They wereinterested in how elementary chemical kineticsaffected the structure of hydrogen-air diffusionflames. Bob, whose job was to implement thesemodels in software, was frustrated by inefficiencieshe attributed to the inability of chemists to “make
their minds up about reaction mechanisms.” Both recognized the need to handle increas-
ingly complex chemistry and transport phenom-ena in a general way, independent of the type offlame, and to be more efficient in developing newmodels for different combustion situations.
Bob’s idea was to compartmentalize the codeinto hundreds of task-specific subroutines, only afew of which are needed for any particular program.
CHEMKIN evolvesIn 1980, the year the CRF welcomed its first
visiting researchers, Sandia published theCHEMKIN manual. The software was shared withvisitors and collaborators interested in using it intheir research.
“By the mid-1980s, we were clearly in thesoftware distribution business, and the softwarewas having noticeable impact on combustionresearch,” he wrote in notes for a 1998presentation.
The original CHEMKIN team expanded, as theteam recognized the need to increase the sophisti-cation of numerical solution techniques and as
support and distribution needs grew. Its developersincorporated interactions between fluid mechanicsand chemical kinetics to make it useful in model-ing a flame.
In the late 1980s, as the interests of the groupwere moving increasingly to materials processingusing chemical vapor deposition techniques, MikeColtrin (1123) spearheaded the development ofSurface CHEMKIN to deal with elementary hetero-geneous chemistry at deposition surfaces. Mikehad done pioneering research in the developmentof detailed models of chemical vapor deposition.Later, Sandian Ellen Meeks, now a Reaction Designvice president, began working on plasma processes,which were incorporated into CHEMKIN.
By the mid-1990s, more than 1,000 copies ofCHEMKIN had been distributed internationally.The software was a mix of old and new code, oftencustomized by researchers for their own purposes.Sandia’s support costs were growing steadily. In1995, Sandia decided to license CHEMKIN for a feein accordance with DOE policies at the time. Twoyears later, Sandia licensed CHEMKIN to ReactionDesign, a company founded to focus on the appli-cation of chemical kinetics and reaction simulationto a range of industrial chemistry problems.
CHEMKIN’s futureWorking with Sandia, Reaction Design contin-
ues to enhance the capabilities and usability ofCHEMKIN while also providing technical support.Reaction Design and Sandia sponsor biennialworkshops for existing and potential users. Theworkshops provide opportunities for exchangingideas and exploring new directions in the applica-tion and advancement of CHEMKIN. The fourthworkshop was held in July in Chicago, prior to theInternational Symposium on Combustion.
The long-term production ofLIGA microystems for the stockpilemoved a step closer to realizationrecently with establishment of a syn-chrotron beamline for the X-rayexposure step at Argonne NationalLaboratory.
Sandia and the Kansas City Plantcollaborate on LIGA for defense pro-gram use, and they have been work-ing to establish an exposure capabil-ity and associated institutionalagreement for production purposes.
Such an agreement has beenreached with Argonne, and was cele-brated in July with a formal signingceremony. Participating wereArgonne Director Hermann Grunder;Argonne Associate Director J. MurrayGibson of the Advanced PhotonSource; Bruce Bunker, who directsthe Materials Research CollaborativeAccess Team; Kevin Greenaugh,director of the National NuclearSecurity Administration’s Office ofStockpile Assessments and Certification; JacqueHoisington, director of program management atthe Kansas City Plant; and Jill Hruby, director ofSandia’s Materials and Engineering SciencesCenter 8700.
“This agreement,” Jill said, “signifies both a newstockpile manufacturing option for the nation’sdefense programs and support for Sandia’s LIGAresearch and development expertise.”
LIGA, from the German acronym forlithography, electrodeposition, and molding, is amicrofabrication technique being perfectedthrough research and development at Sandia.
“LIGA has garnered interest from industryand the Department of Energy for applications ofmetal, plastic, and ceramic microsystems rangingfrom defense needs to communications,” saidMicrosystems Science and Technology Section8750 Deputy Director Glenn Kubiak.
These LIGA parts are plated in molds that arecreated by exposing polymethylmethacrylate (aplastic similar to plexiglass) to X-ray beams cre-ated by a synchrotron light source. Synchrotronsaccelerate electrons in a path to yield streams ofphotons wherever the path bends. The lightstreams are highly parallel and deeply penetrating,
permitting deep, parallel sidewalls inthe mold.
The agreement struck withArgonne on July 15 “provides amanufacturing capability for WarReserve components,” said DawnSkala, team leader in Dept. 8751.After a month of hard work to getthe capability under way, the firstsamples from unattended operationwere produced the day before theceremony.
Participants were able to seesamples that had been exposed onthe new beamline in June, said StanMrowka (8751). Exposed wafers havea subsequent month-long processingcycle; the first exposure at theAdvanced Photon Source took placeJune 19.
“It was a marathon lasting 27hours,” Stan said. With unattendedoperation, wafers can be loaded,scanned, and unloaded 10 to 20hours later. Establishing this capabil-ity involved modifying the beamlineto change the spectral characteristics
of the X-ray beam. This was carried out by a teamled by the Illinois Institute of Technology thatincluded Sandia and the Kansas City Plant.
“Everybody worked 24/7,” Stan recalled.“When people are enthusiastic and have a com-mon goal, it’s very nice.” He was selected toreceive an individual Employee RecognitionAward for earlier work done developing the LIGAcapability and ended up not being able to attendthe awards banquet in Albuquerque, which inci-dentally was the night of June 19. “Instead,” heremarked, “I was dining a la carte from theArgonne lab vending machine.”
Sandia, Argonne, Kansas City Plant establish LIGAagreement for synchrotron beam
EXPLANATION — Dennis Mills of Argonne (left) and Carlo Segre of the Illinois Instituteof Technology/Materials Research Collaborative Access Team (center) look on asSandia’s Stan Mrowka describes a LIGA mold of contact-spring patterns.
(Photo by George Joch, Argonne National Laboratory)
By Nancy Garcia
SNAPSHOT of user interface panels on CHEMKIN 4.0
SANDIA LAB NEWS • October 15, 2004 • Page 4
WETL(Continued from page 1)
how well it’s working.”Others participating in the ceremony
included Mike Mallory, general manager ofBWXT Pantex, and Martin Schoenbauer, actingassistant deputy administrator for NNSA MilitaryApplications and Stockpile Operations.
Money for the new facility came from a con-gressional project approval four years ago and fol-low-on appropriations.
WETL is part of Sandia’s Stockpile EvaluationProgram that monitors the reliability and safety
of the nuclear weapons in the stockpile asrequired by DOE and the DoD. This assessmentprogram, called “surveillance,” relies heavily ontesting and evaluation of samples from the stock-pile and contributes to the required Annual
Assessment Report to the President.Sandia has 80 people in its surveillance-
related departments. Eighteen work at WETLwhere they test nuclear weapons components,without nuclear materials, using equipmentdesigned and built at Sandia/New Mexico.
Annually the WETL crew conducts hundredsof tests on the different weapon systems in thestockpile, looking for anomalies. Some of thesetests are conducted at the coldest and hottesttemperatures for which the system is designed toverify proper operation in those conditions.
The new facility will not only allow for thistesting to be done in an environment bettersuited to modern technologies but also providesexpanded capability. It has modern office and labfacilities, a state-of-the-art video conference andtraining room, and new work areas. These workareas will allow the future integration of shock/
vibration testing as well as chemistry and explo-sives test laboratories.
WETL Manager Ted Frederiksen (2953), whowill be retiring at the end of the month, says themove from the old building will take about a yearand will begin sometime in the next few months.WETL, he says, has nine testers (testing equip-ment), and it will take six to eight weeks to moveeach one.
“The challenge will be continuing test capa-bilities between the two locations as we move thetesters to the new WETL,” he says. “We havecommitted to NNSA that we will maintain ourtest schedules during the move.”
He adds that “most of the equipment hasbeen designed to be flexible and will move easily.It’s all on rollers. We don’t anticipate much of aproblem since the equipment was built in Albu-querque and shipped here.”
The most difficult pieces of equipment tomove will be the 50,000-pound undergroundcentrifuge that simulates portions of a weapon’sflight environment. The first centrifuge wasmoved to the new building in April. The roofpanels had to be removed, and the centrifugewas lifted out in pieces. The new facility hastwo large skylights that allow for the centrifugesto be lowered into the building with a crane.The second centrifuge will be moved in thesame manner.
Bill Norris (2950), Level II Manager ofSandia’s Surveillance group, calls the newfacility “a real step forward” for the program.
“There will be no leaky roofs, open areas forbirds to come in [yes, that has happened], orsnakes to creep in [that happened too],” hesays. “It will be a good place to work that willbe flexible and allow for changes as tech-nologies change.”CONSTRUCTION WORKERS put finishing touches on the new WETL building.
“There will be no leaky roofs, openareas for birds to come in [yes, thathas happened], or snakes to creepin [that happened too]. It will be agood place to work that will beflexible and allow for changes astechnologies change.”
Bill Norris
Food, fun, facts at IES Mercado
THE IES MERCADO, held Oct. 6, was a terrific success, says Integrated Enabling Services team member JaneTardiff, citing the overwhelmingly positive feedback offered in a post-event survey. As one gauge of the event’ssuccess, Jane cites the fact that Gary Shepherd signed up some 300 new subscribers for a voice-activated e-mailsystem that enables traveling Sandians to check their e-mail even when they’re not near a computer. In thephoto above, Nydia Schmidt of Facilities talks to Security Police Officer Dwight Newell while Facilities colleagueJohn Zavadil looks on. At right, Sandians crowd the Mercado tent. (Photos by Bill Doty)
WETL EMPLOYEES STAND PROUD — All the employees of the WETL plant are joined by some executives outside thenew facility. It’s going to take at least a year for them to move into the facility. (Photos courtesy of BWXT Pantex)
SANDIA LAB NEWS • October 15, 2004 • Page 5
Z refurbished(Continued from page 1)
significant upgrade and investment will allow us tomove to a new level of insight of z-pinches andtheir relationship to fusion.”
Eight years ago, the Z machine startled the sci-entific world when a technical advance producedan increase in output that made a graph of X-raypower (Y-axis) over time (X-axis) rise the wayinvestors want their stocks to move: straight up.Output for Sandia’s pulsed power projects, whichhad increased only slowly for more than a decade,rose dramatically. For the Saturn machine, asmaller prototype similar to Z, output rose from 20to 75 terawatts. For Z itself, just coming on line, anexpected output of 50 terawatts rose to 150 tera-watts. Over the next two years, Z’s usable outputrose to 230 terawatts. This made the machinemore valuable as a data provider for nuclearweapons simulations and showed that z-pincheswere a candidate for peacetime fusion that wouldprovide electricity from, essentially, sea water.
Articles noting this change appeared in thepopular press ranging from the New York Times toEsquire Magazine, and from the Washington Post toScientific American. The photo of Z firing becamethe most widely published picture in Sandia’s his-tory, appearing (among myriad newspapers, mag-azines, TVs, and textbooks) as the centerfold of aNational Geographic issue celebrating “Machines ofthe Future” and even in a recent issue of the“men’s” magazine Maxim.
Theory and factLast year, Z researchers announced at the
March meeting of the American Physical Societythat Z had generated thermonuclear neutrons byimploding a small capsule filled with deuterium.This emission signaled that the machine hadjoined a select group of machines capable ofexecuting high-quality inertial confinementfusion implosion experiments.
The coming upgrade can only increase neu-tron emission, say Z researchers.
In the next two years, 36 new Marx generators(read, large capacitors) will be installed. Exactlythe size of their 20-year-old predecessors, thedevices’ newer technology will store twice theenergy as the original installation.
Thirty-six very rapid switches, formerlybathed in water and operated en masse by a singlesignal, will be upgraded to a system — oil-bathedfor greater insulation — which alerts each switchindividually when to turn on. Each switch con-trols the electrical current proceeding down one of36 transmission lines, thus enabling researchers to
shape the machine’s electrical pulse. The triggerupgrade and expected improvement in pulseshaping should make the already-overbookedmachine even more valuable to researchers fromSandia, LANL and LLNL, whose calculationsdepend upon shape-controlled electrical currentflows and X-ray outputs.
“This is a pretty significant engineering-and-logistics tailoring job,” says Ed Weinbrecht (1635),manager of the ZR project. “We have about a yearand a half to complete the design and fabricate theparts we need.” Plans then are to dismantle theaccelerator, move the oil-water separation wall tomeet the insulation needs of the very fast switches,and install new pulse power systems “in what willbe a hectic six-month period,” says Ed.
The overall Z architecture, looked at from theroof, resembles a wagon wheel. Marx generatorsform the outer rim of the wheel, power transmis-
sion lines imitate spokes, and a central vacuumchamber holding the target functions as a kindof hub.
ZR’s form will be unchanged, but the workingnumbers will be significantly different.
Instead of 18 million baseline amps bathingthe target, 26 million amps will make the journey.The X-ray usable peak emissions will rise from 230to 350 terawatts — more than 100 times the entireworld’s output of electricity for a few nanosec-onds. The [X-ray] energy output will rise from 1.6to 2.7 megajoules.
Says Doug Bloomquist (1630), “There will bemore data produced for classified experiments.The more energy-rich environment will bringhigher fidelity to nuclear test simulations.”
Jeff Quintenz, Director of Pulsed Power Sci-ences Center 1600, says the project has alreadyincreased the facility’s precision. “We’ve beenable to produce only the same pulse shape eachtime, when operating with a particular experi-mental configuration,” he says. “Withoutinvestment, experimentalists got what we had.Now we can dial a pulse; we have 36 switchesthat can be timed separately instead of 36 underone control.”
Less downtimeThe machine also is expected to be lower-
maintenance, with less downtime between shots.Current capacity is 200 shots/year, says Jeff; therefurbished machine will be capable of 400shots/year, if funding is available.
Finally, in terms of capability, Jeff says, “Z wasoriginally optimized to produce a 50-nanosecondshort pulse, with high voltage to accelerate[lithium] ion beams. When we converted to Z, wehad to live with a machine designed to drive ionbeams. The refurbishment is optimized for highcurrent to suit a z-pinch.”
Z-pinches employ high amperages to vaporizetungsten wires thinner than human hairs, creatingparticles imploding at a million miles an hour(500km/s). These, when colliding, give up theirenergy in the form of X-rays. Researchers also usethe intense magnetic field created by the currenteither to accelerate particles outward or test thestrength of materials.
A less obvious but no less important reasonfor the new upgrade, says Jeff, is “to exercise ourpulsed-power engineering capability so we don’tlose it.” The last big pulsed-power upgrade was forSandia’s Hermes III facility in 1988, he says.
The fall session of the nuclear weapons NewHire Orientation Program (NHOP) will beginMonday, Nov. 1. This acclaimed program consistsof presentations by Sandia managers and techni-cal experts, tours of the major facilities on Kirt-land AFB, and educational films, books, and dis-cussion groups.
A 14-topic subset of the program called“Nuclear Weapons 101” (NW101) is featured andhas been designated as a requirement for all per-manent technical new hires (technical staff andtechnologists but not limited-term employees orpostdocs) in these organizations: Divisions 2000,4000, and 14000 plus Centers 1600, 1700, 1800,9100, 9200, 9300, 9500, 9600, 9700, and 12300.New hires in other Sandia organizations and staff-augmentation personnel are welcome to partici-pate on a space-available basis.
The calendar for this six-week session alongwith other related information is available on theNHOP website, http://www-irn.sandia.gov/orga-nization/div2000/ctr2900/nhop/.
Managers or new hires interested in furtherinformation should contact Jeneane Taylor(2911) at [email protected] or by phone at845-9646.
Sandia established NHOP to bolster earlycareer development for new hires and maximize
their retention rate. New hires typically have lit-tle understanding of Sandia or nuclear weaponsprograms. Most spend from six to 12 monthsafter their arrival without a security clearance,which prevents them from engaging fully in thework of their home departments. This waitingperiod seemed an opportunity to orient themand help prepare them for duties in their homedepartments.
NHOP gives new hires unclassified basics onSandia’s capabilities and mission, engineeringprocesses, emerging technologies, the DoD/DOErelationship, the nuclear weapons complex, andnational security strategy.
The program offers two 13-week sessionsinterspersed with one six-week minisession eachyear. It includes presentations by senior manage-ment and tours of all the major capabilities atSandia (including California) and other sites suchas Los Alamos National Laboratory, the TrinitySite, the Kansas City Plant, Nevada Test Site,Yucca Mountain, and the Waste Isolation PilotPlant.
Managers can determine the level of partici-pation by their new hires.
Office space in Sandia Science and Technol-ogy Park Bldg. 10500 is provided for unclearednew hires enrolled in the program.
Nuclear weapons 101 (and more): New HireOrientation Program session begins Nov. 1
Joining art and scienceEric Liu, who writes that he is an
employee in California’s institutions ofhigher education, sent us this poem afterwatching a half-hour science show on theDiscovery Channel. He describes himself asone who, like many others, “has often beeninspired to dance along the blurry linesjoining art and science.” (The “dark horse”reference originated in a Sandia Lab Newsstory that described the Z machine as the“dark horse” in the race to fusion.)
sandia z machine
i am the dark horse accelerator.
i am the lightning wheel,counting three thrice times four.
i am the spool of thread implodingin the vacuum chamber of my heart.
i am the charge,i am the spark,i am the plasma pinch.
and for one trillionth of a second,i am a new born star.
—Eric Liu
(Photo by Randy Montoya)
When a child is born, parents are filled withjoy and excitement. Maybe this child will grow
up to be a doctor, a great athlete, or perhaps presi-dent. The health and well-being of this child are in
the parents’ hands. What happens when parentscannot provide for themselves or their children, andthey are homeless?
Cuidando Los Niños (Caring for the Children),a United Way Agency, many times comes to theaid of parents and their children. It acts as a
place of refuge andhope for the
childrenand offersparentsa newbegin-ning.Its mis-
sion is to provide licensed, therapeutic childcare thatmeets the special needs of homeless children and supportservices that enable homeless families to find a home andbecome self sufficient.
According to Kevin Gick, Cuidando Los Niños, thecauses of homelessness may be financial difficulty, sub-stance abuse, or illness. In most cases, it is domestic vio-lence. Being homeless isn’t just a matter of losingpossessions or the roof over one’s head. It is the demoral-izing loss of self-esteem and dignity for the victims, andthe emotional trauma suffered by their children — traumathat is likely to result in a new cycle of poverty, violence,and despair for the next generation.
Homeless children ages six weeks to five years oldattend the center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They can learnand play in a safe, nurturing environment. They enjoymultigenerational influences through volunteer grand-mas who come and rock the babies and tell stories to theolder children. During the day, they lead normal lives.
After 5 p.m., they return with their parents toshelters, motels, or doubling situations (wheremore than one family resides) where the fami-lies spend their evenings in transitional cir-cumstances until achieving more permanenthousing.
Cuidando Los Niños has three main pro-grams: the Children’s Program, Family Support
Program, and the Family Health Clinic.Children’s Program. Has responded to the special
needs of homeless children since 1989. The programincludes developmental assessments, play therapy, devel-
opmentally appropriate activities, cooking, and garden-ing. All areas of the curriculum focus on the children’sschool-readiness skills to properly prepare them to enterkindergarten at age five.
Family Health Clinic. Offers free immunizations,screenings, and routine examination to enrolled chil-dren. The clinic also provides general health assess-
ments and services to the adult members of thefamily. In addition, the clinic provides informa-tion, education, and referral services toenrolled parents.
Family Support Program. Assists parentsin attaining their goals, including housing, edu-cation, and employment. The program pro-
vides comprehensive individualized casemanagement, supportive counseling, life-skillsworkshops, and referrals to other resources to assistthe families in their quest for stability and self-suffi-ciency.
Cuidando Los Niños enjoys an outstanding 75percent success rate in assisting families in becom-ing rehoused and employed. To achieve this successrate, the agency provides transportation to andfrom the facility to parents for parenting classes
and to the children for the children’s program.Their van has more than 250,000 miles and ison its second transmission and third air con-ditioner, but they keep on trucking.
Cuidando Los Niños has a 52-childcapacity and a huge waiting list. All ser-vices are free. They must focus on thosewith the greatest need. For more infor-mation on Cuidando Los Niños, go towww.cuidandolosninos.org or call(505) 843-6899 in Albuquerque.
SANDIA LAB NEWS • October 15, 2004 • Page 7SANDIA LAB NEWS • October 15, 2004 • Page 6
This year’s Sandia/CA annual employee contribu-tion drive will be held Oct. 12-21. LEAP is a greatopportunity for employees to give back to the commu-nities. Through the employee contribution plan, youwill be able to select the agency closest to your heartand home.
Each center will be given their own informationalactivity event where you can mingle and meet withrepresentatives from local agencies.
— Lindsey Sancrant (8528)
“Most, if not all, of us have been blessed in life,” says Al Romig (5000). We havebenefited from good families, good education, and being born with the abilitiesneeded to succeed in today’s world. Not all people have been so fortunate, andUnited Way offers perhaps the most convenient way to help our fellow citizens whohave in fact not been so fortunate.”
This year’s Employee Contribution Plan (ECP) campaign motto is: Experiencethe Joy of Giving. (Contributions are tax deductible.)
The focus of this year’s United Way campaign is on the donor. Become thevoice of hope, the dignity of a proud man, or the shelter in the storm. Choose tohear the laughter or the hum of a happy child. Become a United Way Giver.
“One never knows when one will need help,” says Lenny Martinez (14000). “Igive hoping never to need it. But our family’s time came, not directly but indirectly.Through an agency called Healing the Children, a four-year-old little girl name Lucycame into our home while she healed. She had a heart no bigger than a big walnutwith a hole the size of a nickel. Thanks to Sandia’s ECP, United Way of Central New
Mexico, and many donated healing hands (physicians, etc.), Lucy has returned toher biological parents with a lifetime of love, mischief, and McDonald’s chickennuggets.”
This year’s ECP campaign is dedicated to the late Sandian Bill Hanson, whocontributed to United Way because he believed that by contributing to United Wayhe helped the most people. He did so even in the end when his family suggestedthat his friends’ and coworkers’ memory contributions go to United Way.
“I have given to United Way through the (ECP) since the day I started Sandia25 years ago and along with Lenny Martinez have been a VP co-champion of theprogram for the past several years,” says Al. “The ability to help the community inthis way is an aspect of Sandia life I sincerely appreciate. I hope you, too, will begenerous with ECP.”
“Giving without expecting payback,” says Lenny, “is perhaps one of the mostmeaningful expressions of humanity that I have the privilege of sharing withSandians.”
Initiatives at United Way of Central New Mexicoare relatively new. They differ from traditional pro-gram funding in that they use corporate donationsto create systemic change, through collaboration andpartnership, in selected issues having serious impacton our community. Here are three new initiatives.
United Way Initiative Against FamilyViolence — Its mission is to change the culture toeliminate tolerance for family violence. United Wayhas invited all facets of our community who touch thelives of victims of family violence to begin to look atways to build a better system of care relative to thisissue. Specifically, UWCNM will focus its own effortson community education as well as the business andfaith communities.
Family violence has accounted for 30 percent of allfemale and 5 percent of all male homicides in the USsince 1976. This initiative hopes to eliminate tolerancefor family violence in our community.
Fact — 40-60 percent of all men who abuse theirwives also abuse their children
Fact — 27 percent of all family violence homicidesare children
When it comes to little ones, we are allresponsible for Cuidando Los Niños
$24 or $l per pay period — three books for children learn-ing to read AND 26 meals for those who are homeless.
$48 or $2 per pay period — one night of shelter for fourhomeless people, including food, showers, clothing, and accessto other program services AND four books for children learningto read.
$100 or $4.25 per pay period — 52 meals for those who are
homeless AND one booster safety seat and one regular car seatAND canes for two individuals trying to walk on their own.
$500 or $21 per pay period — job mentoring and train-ing for eight women transitioning from welfare to the workforce AND an enriching summer experience for four physicallyor mentally disabled children AND counseling for three shel-tered survivors of domestic violence.
BEULAH HAYNES, a Cuidando Los Niños volunteer “granny,” comforts a child with warmth and love. Cuidando Los Niños offers child care forhomeless children. Cuidando has three main programs: the Children’s Program, Family Support Program, and the Family Health Clinic.Cuidando Los Niños has a 52-child capacity and a huge waiting list. All services are free.
Impact of your contributions to the Community Fund
Experience the joy of giving
Fact — 75-80 percent of all prison inmates comefrom violent homes
Fact — 25 percent of all women who are abused arepregnant
Fact — 50 percent of all homeless women arerunning from violent homes
Fact — 1/3 of all police time on the streets is spenton family violence incidents
Fact — Girls and women ages 16-24 are at thegreatest risk for family violence
Fact — In 2003, 15,000 police calls in theAlbuquerque area dealt with family vio-lence (1,800 kids were present when thosecalls were made.)
New Mexico Health InformationCollaborative — A new grant initiative from theAgency for Healthcare Services Research and Quality(AHRQ), a division of National Institutes of Health, isnow available to foster the development of commu-nity-based medical information sharing. Under theauspices of the Lovelace Clinic Foundation, a not-for-profit health services research organization (no legal orstructural relationship to Lovelace Sandia Health) has
The total includes $167,354 pledged by Sandia retirees, who are referred to as “Sandia’s secret weapon” in the annualECP campaign by VP Frank Figueroa (10000).
Three new initiatives at United Way of Central NMbeen approved for a “Connecting Communities HealthInformation Exchange” grant for $3 million over threeyears ($1.5 million from AHRQ and $1.5 millionmatching and in-kind locally).
The funding will establish the “New MexicoHealth Information Collaborative,” which will build adisease management data warehouse focusing on dia-betes, pediatric asthma, low back pain, and depression.
Social Entrepreneurship InitiativeLeadership — The National Center for SocialEntrepreneurs works with hundreds of nonprofitorganizations across the country to help them bet-ter accomplish their missions by increasing theircapacity to understand their markets and becomemore financially self-sufficient.
The National Center, in collaboration with localsponsors, will be conducting an intensive six-monthproject to guide a selected group of nonprofits in themetro area through an entrepreneurial process.
United Way Web site:http://www.uwcnm.org/
LEAP campaign in gearIn California
Stories by Iris Aboytes•
Photo by Randy Montoya
ECP campaign thisyear is Oct. 25-Nov. 12
Be the shelter in the storm
If your job requires you to know what’s being said in the news aboutSandia, the national labs, or federal agencies that oversee the labs, thenpour yourself a cup of Joe and log on to a relatively new online publicationavailable daily on the internal web or by e-mail.
The Morning Media Report (MMR), published by Media Relations andCommunications Dept. 12640, was begun early this year to provide Sandiadecision makers with a morning survey of news relevant to the Labs.
It’s all there — the good, the bad, and the ugly — says Janet Carpenter,the MMR’s editor, who arrives at her office sometimes as early as 5 a.m. torun online searches and scan some 30 online publications for articles thatmention the national labs or their oversight agencies.
“We search the Internet for breaking local and national news relevantto Sandia’s mission,” she says. “The news we publish is unsanitized soSandia’s upper management will know what’s being said, who’s saying it,and how they’re saying it.”
News about Sandia every dayBelieve it or not, there’s news out there about Sandia nearly every
day. A recent MMR contained articles mentioning Sandia in publica-tions ranging from USA Today, the highest circulation newspaper in thecountry, to the Daily Lobo, the University of New Mexico’s studentnewspaper. The Report also includes transcripts from local and nationalTV news reports.
The MMR typically comes out by 10 a.m. daily, sometimes later whenthe news is particularly heavy. It is not published every other Friday,Janet’s 9/80 day off.
The MMR online site doesn’t include a lot of bells and whistles. It isdesigned and organized to save readers time. But it does include links topast reports and it is searchable.
“It’s become increasingly important for employees to be aware of howSandia is being perceived throughout the country, including Washington,and what the issues are throughout the nuclear weapons complex thatpotentially can have an impact on our work,” says Dept. 12640 managerChris Miller. “The Morning Media Report web site also serves as an archivethat Sandians can draw on to help understand particular issues or events.”
To log on to the Morning Media Report, go to http://www-irn.sandia.gov/corpdata/media-reports/media-daily/index.html or selectthe “News Center” link from the Internal Web Homepage, then select“Morning Media Report” from the menu at right.
To receive daily e-mail notification when the MMR becomes available,or to report an article sighting than isn’t caught by the MMR staff, send ane-mail to Janet Carpenter ([email protected]).
To electronically search past issues of the MMR by keyword, visithttp://sandiasearch.sandia.gov/k2search/ SearchOnly.html.
— John German
Effective Nov. 1 a new process for Sandiaemployees to move from nonexempt to exemptpositions will be in place.
“The new process looks and feels differentfrom the previous process but shares the sameend objective — finding the best person for thejob,” says Charles Maheras, Manager of Com-pensation Dept. 3552. “It affirms the goal ofpromoting fully qualified employees intoexempt staff positions, streamlines andstrengthens the process, and returns the
decision to the line organization.”The new Promotion to Exempt Staff (PES)
process emerged in June from a Kaizen Event — aSix Sigma process for process improvement —composed of a team of people from across theLabs. The team evaluated the current process foreffectiveness, efficiency, and cost. It sought toimprove the process by which Sandia evaluatesand promotes nonexempt employees to exemptstaff and ensure that the process complies withfederal regulations.
Larry Clevenger, acting Human Resources VP,says the new process, which incorporates feed-back from key stakeholders and lessons learnedfrom the existing process, “returns the promotiondecision to the line organizations and incorpo-rates the appropriate checks and balances.”
While the selecting (hiring) manager —with feedback from a group of independentevaluators — makes the selection decision, thefinal promotion decision is made by the man-agement team, including the group manager(level II manager) and director and, in somecases, the vice president.
Under the new process, all exempt positionswill be filled through the post-and-bid process. Ina joint evaluation by line management and theHuman Resources Consultant and/or Compensa-tion, positions will be reviewed for compliancewith the Fair Labor Standards Act exemption cri-teria prior to posting the job.
The new process also requires the candidateto prepare a Candidate Information Package,which has been streamlined from what wasrequired under the previous promotion-in-placeprocess. It places the responsibility for preparingthe package with the candidate. Nonexempt can-didates who bid on exempt positions are encour-aged to prepare this package in advance in orderto be prepared in case they are among the finalists
for a posting.The candidate’s package is then given to two
or three evaluators who will provide feedbackfrom the perspectives of a subject matter expert, aPES Committee member and cross-division repre-sentative. These evaluators will review the pack-age and provide the selecting manager with theirassessments of the candidate’s ability to competewith peers at an exempt level.
The requirement for a panel interview nolonger exists under the new process. However,should evaluators need additional information orclarification, they can talk with the candidate,either by phone or in person.
The new process has several other benefits.It is more similar to the process used to hire
an external applicant. It also gives the candidateincreased responsibility to identify the steps takento prepare to work at the staff level and providesan opportunity to demonstrate this knowledgethrough the candidate statement.
In addition, the new process gives theselecting management team the decisionresponsibility and authority, and posting thesejobs ensures a company perspective to select thebest person to meet the current and futureneeds of Sandia.
Sandians can get answers to questions andguidance or process support from divisionhuman resource consultants, the division busi-ness managers, or compensation staff. TheCompensation Department will be responsiblefor monitoring the process, record keeping, andreporting.
More information will be available duringPES information sessions in October and throughthe PES Web site which will be linked from theCompensation Homepage at: http://www-irn.sandia.gov/HR/Compensation/comphome.htm.
— Chris Burroughs
SANDIA LAB NEWS • October 15, 2004 • Page 8
Sandia establishes new process for promotion to exempt staff
Sandia’s new Morning Media Report supplies dailywork-related news coverage
MORNING MEDIA MAVEN Janet Carpenter scours the information universeevery day seeking Sandia-related stories. (Photo by Randy Montoya)
It’s all there — ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly,’ says Janet Carpenter
Make a Difference Day is the nation’slargest day of volunteering with two millionvolunteers participating annually — a celebra-tion of neighbors helping neighbors. Created byUSA Weekend Magazine, Make a Difference Daytakes place on the fourth weekend in October.In New Mexico, we volunteer two days — Friday,Oct. 22 and Saturday, Oct. 23. A variety of proj-ects have been chosen for Sandia volunteers,contractors, family members, and friends tocomplete.
Encourage coworkers to join you and worktogether in a different setting giving back to ourcommunity. Sign up to help with one of theprojects and join your colleagues to “make adifference” on Oct. 22 or 23.
Sandia volunteer sign-up forms are availableat the Make a Difference Day Web site on theinternal Web at www-irn.sandia.gov/hp-ele-ments/announce/2004-makeadifference.html
If you have questions or comments, callDarlene Leonard at 844-8024 or e-mail her [email protected].
2004 Make aDifference Day(s)
SANDIA LAB NEWS • October 15, 2004 • Page 9
‘Forms guy’ Dave Barton retiring after 41 years and 92,000 miles
“I graduated from high school in Phoenix,Ariz.,” says Dave Barton (96121), “but did notlearn a thing.” Today that same Dave Barton iscontemplating his retirement from Sandia onOct. 29 after 41 years at the Labs where he isreferred to as the “forms guy.” He is the man whodesigns and updates ubiquitous documents forinserting information without which the Lab’sadministrative gears would grind to a halt.
Dave’s inability to take tests was recognizedby his commander when he joined the Air Forceafter high school.“He knew I had an I-can-do attitude andthat I could do it,”says Dave. His com-mander sent Dave tothe Army Corps ofEngineers draftingschool in Washing-ton, D.C. “He hadcompassion on me,”says Dave.
Dave did notdisappoint him. Hedid well.
His Air Forcecareer brought himto Kirtland, where hefell in love withAlbuquerque anddecided to make ithis home. After fouryears in the Air Force,he came to work atSandia. While in theAir Force, Dave hadprepared himself tocome to Sandia bytaking classes at UNM.
His first job at Sandia was in the mailroomwhere he worked for 28 days. He was thenassigned to the Electrical Drafting Section for 14months. After that Dave charted weapons devel-opment activities for 10 years in the ElectricalDrafting Section.
In 1974, Dave became the corporate formsdesigner, using a drafting board, India ink pens,and an old IBM Selectric composer. In 1981 hebegan using a text-editing system with a photo-typesetter to design forms using code. For the firsttime in his Sandia career, he was able to keep upwith his workload. Using the drafting board had
been very slow, and changing forms was difficult.In the early 1990s, Dave began using PCs to
create forms for printing. Over the next four yearshe used various forms-design software, but theforms were still paper to be completed by hand ortypewriter. “Dave has seen the change in forms,”says his replacement Carolyn Lucero (96121),“but his desire to give the customer good servicehas not changed.”
Today there are more than 600 corporateforms on the Internal Web. The counter registers900,000 hits, the number of times the page hasbeen accessed by Sandians since 1996. Dave doesnot claim to be Brad Pitt, but he is confident thathe is a popular guy on the Web, or rather hisforms page is.
DAVE BARTON adding to his 92,000-mile journey towork at Sandia. (Photo by Randy Montoya)
By Iris Aboytes According to Dave, some of the most popu-lar forms throughout the years have been theemployee/non-employee expense voucher, thebusiness card request form, the purchase requisi-tion, and the dental/medical expense form. Theforms that have received the most negative feed-back are the PMF and the expense vouchers.
“Dave is always upbeat, cheerful, and nice tobe around,” says Myra O’Canna (9612). He haswonderful rapport with his customers whichinclude all levels of Sandians.” Dave was awardedCertified Form Systems Professional status inJune 1999 (Lab News, Oct. 6, 2000).
“Whenever someone is in need, Dave doesnot hesitate to help,” says Laura Martinez (9612).“His astounding faith and belief in the power ofkindness is truly inspiring. With each newacquaintance, Dave has a new friend.”
He has always ridden his bike to work, nowabout 92,000 total miles. He is on his fifth bike.“Some of them did not work so well,” he says.The bike I am riding now is the best bike I havehad. My friend found it in a dumpster right hereon Kirtland and gave it to me.” He worked on ita little and says it is a great bike. Upkeep on hisbikes has traditionally cost about $10 to $20 ayear.
“I have felt very gratified working at Sandia.People at Sandia are wonderful to work with —better than I deserve,” says Dave. “I feel that I ampart of a big family. Besides computers, thebiggest change I have seen at Sandia is the age ofnew employees. They are so young — they usedto be so old.”
In retirement, Dave plans to keep on doingsome of same things he does now. He will bepicking up kids for Sunday school in the churchbus, just like he has the last 35 years.
Dave is contemplating familiarity with auto-mobiles — fixing them that is. He used to do itwhen younger. “I took my truck to get repaired,and it was expensive,” he says. “I just might takeclasses to become a mechanic.”
“Dave is an others-first kind of person,” sayshis friend Mark Forster (14131). “He puts himselflast and others first. He is also that kind of personin his personal life. Dave is hard-working, soft-spoken, artistic, will try anything, and can scoopa mean bowl of ice cream.”
With a sparkle in his eyes, Dave says one ofthe things he looks forward to doing when heretires is visiting his new grandson, Anthony, inSouth Dakota. “He lives on a farm,” says Dave.“I look forward to having Anthony show me howto drive a tractor. Kids grow up fast these days.”
(Pho
to b
y Ra
ndy
Mon
toya
)
Rainy Days
Q: Given that it is compensation time again, Iam curious about a certain practice and its purpose.Our VP takes a certain percentage off the top of theraise package each year (last year it was over onepercent I think) and I am curious as to what it isused for and if this is a standard Sandia practice? Inthe years of small raise packages this often meansmany people get a less-than-rate-of-inflation raise.When you get a higher than average PMF review buta small raise, this can have a discouraging effect onmany people. Since PMF is not related to the raiseone gets and it is lowered by one percent or so rightfrom the start, I’d like to think that we are all bene-fiting in some way by this practice.
A: On an annual basis, approximately 90 to98 percent of the base fund is spent during thecompensation review. On a 3.5-percent com-pensation review fund, these holdback esti-mates are less than half of one percent. The pur-pose of creating a division holdback varies bydivision, but uses include: using some duringcompensation review to meet lower organiza-tion needs, addressing salary inequities, or hold-ing funds for future adjustments that arerequested by the line. In years when the com-pensation increase fund is small, the amount ofholdback may be less, but it is still dependentupon division needs.
— BJ Jones (3500)
Q: The Sandia Daily News is great but it wouldbe more useful if it had a search engine. Any chanceyou will be adding this feature?
A: The Sandia Daily News is currently explor-ing with the Search Engine Team the possibility ofhaving a corporate news search option. Mean-while, try your search in SearchPoint, Sandia’sCorporate Search, which debuted Aug. 31 2004. Itsearches eight Sandia information resources.
— Howard Kercheval, Editor, Sandia Daily News (12640)
To Rhoda (8224) and Kevin Whipple,fraternal twin sons, Waylon Edward and WilliamEverett, Sept. 10.
Besides com-
puters, the
biggest change
I have seen at
Sandia is the
age of new
employees.
“They are so
young,” says
Dave. “They
used to be so
old.”
Paula Painter20 8514
SANDIA LAB NEWS • October 15, 2004 • Page 10
California photos by Bud Pellitier
John Wheeler30 8231
Al Du Charme35 8512
Robert Armstrong20 8961
Chuck Hartwig34 8940
Ed Diemer30 8511
Douglas Vrieling15 8512
Kenneth Wilson30 8770
Arthur Ortega25 8242
Reimbursement Spending Accounts (RSA)for Health Care and/or Day Care
Editor’s note: The information presented hereabout reimbursement spending accounts was providedby Sandia’s Benefits organization.
Would you like an easy way to save on yourtax bill? Will you be paying for medical or daycare expenses of $100 or more next year? Thenwhy not take advantage of Sandia’s RSA benefitthat allows you to set aside money on a pre-taxbasis through payroll deductions? The RSA allowsyou to reduce your reportable income for the pur-pose of federal, Social Security (FICA), and, inmost cases, state taxes.
All regular, limited term, post-doctoral, andfull-time, year-round faculty sabbatical employ-ees may participate in the RSA Plan in 2005 byenrolling during the Benefits Choices 2005 OpenEnrollment period (Oct. 20 through Nov. 9). Thisyear you no longer have until Dec. 31 to makeyour final RSA annual election. You mustmake this decision by Nov. 9. Changes at othertimes during 2005 may be allowed for qualifyingevents if the change is consistent with and onaccount of the event (e.g., birth or marriage toincrease amount of contribution and divorce orloss of eligible dependent to decrease amount).
Be conservative in determining your annualelection amount because any amount remainingin your RSA at the end of the plan year must beforfeited per IRS rules.
Health Care RSAYour annual election amount in the Health
Care RSA (HCRSA) can be any whole dollaramount from $100 to a maximum of $4,000 peremployee. Your total HCRSA annual electionamount is available for your use at the beginningof the 2005 plan year. The money in the accountmay be used to pay for eligible out-of-pockethealth care expenses for you and your eligibledependents. Out-of-pocket health care expensesinclude over-the-counter medicines and drugs toalleviate or treat (current or imminent) sicknessor injuries; doctor or prescription drug copays;
medical or dental deductibles; amounts over thedental Type B Schedule coverage; or expenses foradditional eye exams, extra pair of prescriptionglasses, or prescription contact lenses.
Day Care RSAYour annual election in the Day Care RSA
(DCRSA) can be any whole dollar amount from$100 to a possible maximum of $5,000 (per fam-ily per calendar year). The $5,000 maximum isavailable to single employees or to marriedemployees filing joint federal tax returns. Marriedemployees who file separate federal tax returnsare limited to an annual maximum of $2,500each. In either case, your election cannot exceedyour or your spouse’s earned income. If yourspouse is attending school full time you candeem his or her income to be $250 a month ifyou have one eligible dependent, or $500 amonth if you have two or more eligible depen-dents. You can be reimbursed for expensesincurred for services rendered only up to the cur-rent balance in your DCRSA. With the DCRSA,you are reimbursed for expenses incurred to haveyour child (under age 13), your spouse or othereligible dependent (who is physically or mentallyincapable of self care and resides with you at least8 hours each day) cared for while you are atwork. The caregiver may be a licensed day carecenter, a relative whom you don’t claim as anexemption on your federal income tax return, oryour child who is at least age 19.
Debit CardNew enrollees for the RSA 2005 Plan Year
will be provided with a debit (“mbi Flex Conve-nience®”) card. This debit card is an alternativereimbursement method. You may also file paperclaim forms for reimbursement. Use whichevermethod is more convenient. You should retainall RSA claims documentation with your taxrecords as PayFlex may request substantiationfor your claims according to IRS guidelines.
Please read carefully the agreement thataccompanies your debit card. The agreementdescribes your responsibilities when using yourdebit card, the immediate notification require-ment for lost or stolen cards, and the reportingof unauthorized usage or errors to PayFlex Sys-tems.
More RSA InfoFor more information on the HCRSA and
DCRSA, refer to Sandia’s RSA Summary PlanDescription (SPD). The RSA SPD can be found athttp://www.sandia.gov/benefits/spd or by callingthe Benefits Customer Service Center (845-2363).
A PayFlex representative will be at Sandia’sRSA Open Enrollment meeting on Oct. 20 inAlbuquerque and videotapes will be available atyour Benefits Customer Service Office. Instruc-tions for enrolling in the RSA are available inyour Benefits Choices 2005 Open Enrollmentbooklet available at http://www.sandia.gov/benefits/oe.
Example of potential tax savings based on the 2003 tax rate for a Single Head of Household:
Less FICA tax (7.65%) $(3,825) $(3,481)Less federal tax $(8,201) $(7,076)Income after taxes $37,974 $34,943
Potential tax savings $1,469
Income after taxes $37,974 $34,943Less health care expenses $ (500) $ (0)Less day care expenses $(4,000) $ (0)Spendable income $33,474 $34,943
Note: This is an over-simplified example. It omits exemptions and deductions. It does not takeinto consideration the federal tax credit available for day care. Each participant will have a differentsavings result depending on that participant’s tax bracket, filing status, etc. To be certain you use themethod that gives you the most tax savings, you should consult a tax advisor.
In partnership with technology.
SANDIA LAB NEWS • October 15, 2004 • Page 12
Sandians play role in nuclear weapon exerciseWeapon experts analyze burnt debris, gather data
John Hoffman (12345) gave good news fol-lowing an explosion involving a fuel tanker anda military transporter carrying a nuclear weapon.
“The weapon has burned itself out,” he toldmembers of the media and others during an after-noon mock news briefing. “Without the explo-sive, the weapon is effectively nonfunctional.”
John, serving asa senior scientificadvisor, was one of650 participants in anuclear weapon acci-dent response full-scale exercise titledDiligent Warrior 04.The three-day exer-cise was sponsoredby the DefenseThreat ReductionAgency (DTRA), andheld at the 341stSpace Wing, Malmstrom Air Force Base in GreatFalls, Mont.
John, serving as part of DOE’s AccidentResponse Group, said the high explosive thatencapsulated the warhead’s plutonium pit likelywas consumed in the fire.
His next step in the exercise was to assist theAir Force and the National Command Authorityon a transportation plan to remove the remainsof the nuclear weapon.
The exercise was designed to test and validatenuclear weapon accident response proceduresand to test the contingency plans and proceduresif a similar situation ever occurs. Federal, stateand local agencies participated in the exercise,including DTRA, Air Force Space Command, FBI,DOE/NNSA, DOD, National TransportationSafety Board, Environmental Protection Agency,and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
ScenarioThe exercise began early Monday, Sept. 13,
when a simulated fuel tanker collided with a mili-tary transporter carrying a nuclear weapon. Theweapon involved was simulated as part of a re-entry system for a Minuteman III IntercontinentalBallistic Missile.
In the scenario, the drivers of both truckswere killed instantly and eight individuals weretaken to the local hospital for radiation and med-ical evaluation. A passenger in the military vehi-cle was treated for a broken arm.
The next couple of days focused on therecovery of the weapon, clean-up of the accidentsite, public reaction, and other issues.
The site of the accident was cordoned offduring the investigation and a detour was createdfor traffic.
About 25 anti-nuclear protestersdemanded answersabout the wreckageand were met byhundreds of militarypolice to ensure thatthey did not get closeto the wreckage site.Three protesterscrossed the line andwere taken down byforce.
A temporaryclaims office wasopened for anyonewho felt they wereentitled to a claim.
In addition, Air Force chaplains were avail-able to provide moral support to those affected bythe accident.
Several news conferences and briefings wereheld throughout the exercise, in which all playerswere able to interact with mock media. A newspa-per documented the media and joint informationcenter interactions.
The exercise does not reflect an increasedlikelihood that a real accident might occur.
Organizers maintain the highest nuclearsafety standards, and continue to apply stringentprecautions to prevent an accident.
Sandia’s roleSeveral Sandians
participated in theexercise as part of theAccident ResponseGroup. They includedRamon Pacheco(2112) as well asHans Oldewage,Erica Sanchez, RalphCarr, Al Horvath, andRichard Stump (allfrom 12345).
They workedclosely with otherofficials in determin-ing the condition of
the weapon, and helped render the device safe.John says the exercise helps validate that
effective plans, policies, and technical proceduresare in place to respond to real-world eventsinvolving nuclear ordnance.
(Michael Padilla, a member of the Lab Newsstaff, participated in the exercise playing a newsreporter.)
JOHN HOFFMAN
STAYING CALM — An airman tends to a victim during Diligent Warrior 04, sponsored by the Defense ThreatReduction Agency. (Photos by Marcus Wilson, DTRA)
SMOKE OUT — Emergency responders extinguish the fire at the mock accident.
ANALYZE THIS — Players analyze the mock crash site.
By Michael Padilla
FIELD TESTS — Players conduct various tests at theexercise site.
