Positioning the Laboratory for continuing science and technology excellence directed at important national missions
FY 2024 was a year of building for future mission successes through new initiatives, attention to workforce needs, and expanding partnerships.
Strategic Leadership
In November 2024, NNSA extended LLNS’s contract to manage and operate the Laboratory through September 30, 2031—a five-year extension beyond the current expiration date in 2026. Jill Hruby, then DOE Undersecretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator, had announced in February 2024 NNSA’s intent to seek an extension. As Hruby remarked with the completed negotiations, “…we are now well positioned to deliver in a way that minimizes disruption to the workforce to enable focus in mission deliverables.” LLNL is providing NNSA with programmatic and technical leadership, delivering major successes, and broadly expanding partnerships in many facets of its national security mission and efforts to modernize the NNSA complex. The Laboratory is engaged in two nuclear warhead development programs (see Strategic Deterrence) and is collaborating with other NNSA sites to develop technologies and procedures that will accelerate the weapon design-to-production process. These efforts—and projects in mission areas ranging from nonproliferation and bioresilience to energy and environmental security—will benefit from El Capitan’s and Tuolumne’s immense computing capability combined with machine learning and advanced manufacturing. The same set of tools that promise to accelerate concept to product out the door apply to experiment design and scientific discovery. LLNL is also actively engaged in many process improvement pilot projects aligned with NNSA’s Enhanced Mission Delivery Initiative (EMDI) recommendations (see Safe, Secure, and Sustainable Operations).
At the recommendation of the EMDI, NNSA launched and completed development of its Enterprise Blueprint in FY 2024 with full participation of LLNL and other NSE sites. It is a 25-year roadmap for the development of essential infrastructure to support NNSA’s integrated priorities for capabilities to achieve needed capacity, resilience, and responsiveness. The Blueprint recognizes LLNL’s special role in manufacturing research and development and the critical need for enhanced-yield capability at the National Ignition Facility as part of strategic moderization. Livermore also issued its 2024 LLNL Strategic Direction document, which outlines how the Laboratory is moving forward in four “NorthStars”—Mission & Program Delivery, Science & Technology, Operations & Infrastructure, and People & Culture—in alignment with NNSA’s strategic vision.
Supporting a Changing Workforce
An outstanding workforce is Livermore’s principal strength. Recruiting, training, and retaining exceptional talent is a top priority. About 50 percent of employees have five years or less service at the Laboratory. A workforce transformation effort is under way to strengthen a shared sense of purpose and provide clear paths for personal development and career growth. To this end, LLNL launched in FY 2024 an improved performance management system that emphasizes setting development goals and career planning. Many efforts are focused on enhancing employees’ workplace experience by streamlining operations and improving office space (see Safe, Secure, and Sustainable Operations). Improvements in employee benefits include scheduled adoption in FY 2025 of a regional compensation framework that recognizes the cost of labor in the Livermore area is among the nation’s highest. The satisfaction of staff members to workplace quality is reflected in national recognition, such as 2024 Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Awards for “Best Places to Work” and “Best-Led Companies.”
In addition to extensive mentoring activities, an awards program recognizing excellent performance, and management initiatives to expand leadership training, many other opportunities exist for staff to enhance their careers. For example, since 2016 many postdoctoral fellows have participated in Research Slam!, a skill-building competition to see who can give the best three-minute presentation showcasing their work. LLNL postdocs won regional and national honors (see Workforce Recognition) this year.
For the last 10 years, LLNL has teamed with the University of California at Davis Graduate School of Management to host an annual National Labs Entrepreneurship Academy, which has taught more than 350 LLNL and and SNL/California scientists and engineers the skills to identify, design, and validate the market potential of innovations in order to successfully transition them to the private sector.
Future Site Development
Work continues on construction of the Digital Infrastructure Capability Expansion (DICE). The LEED gold-certified, 14,000-square-foot facility will provide an essential upgrade to LLNL’s networking and communications infrastructure and support future needs. A “topping off" ceremony was held in August 2024, and construction is scheduled to be completed at the end of FY 2025. The Laboratory’s Site Development Plan, issued in July 2023, lays out a 20-year roadmap for disposition and construction on Sites 200 (the main campus) and 300. The NIF Enhanced Yield Capability passed CD-0 (see National Ignition Facility). The National Security Innovation Center (NSIC), a five-building complex consisting of 1,000 offices and an auditorium, is planned for the center of the Laboratory. Another key project is the Vertically Integrated Prototype Realization Enclave Complex (VIPRE), where advanced materials and manufacturing methods will be developed that can be quickly transitioned to NNSA production agencies and industry partners. PRISM—Production Realization Infrastructure for Stockpile Modernization—will be the first component of VIPRE. In addition, EMDEC at Site 300 (see Strategic Deterrence) is undergoing expansion with modular buildings to support pilot-scale manufacturing capabilities.
LLNS Board of Governors Activities
The LLNS Board of Governors and its committees provide oversight to the Laboratory and delve into issues crucial to mission and mission-support activities. External review committees (ERCs), panels of independent experts including Board members, periodically met in FY 2024 to critically assess the quality of Livermore’s technical workforce and the effectiveness of research efforts in meeting mission goals and future national needs. Their reports, which provided DOE/NNSA with an independent validation of work quality, consistently affirmed the mission relevance and high impact of Laboratory research. LLNS also leveraged expertise in its parent companies to staff functional management reviews (FMRs), chartered on an as-needed basis, and to address other arising Laboratory needs. FMRs were completed in FY 2024 in topical areas ranging from welding safety and facilities maintenance to human resource initiatives. Recommendations provided by Board committees, ERCs, and FMRs have led to substantive responsive actions.
