24 Hour Operations

It's three o'clock in the morning at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. There's no alarm going on. No emergency. No headlines. On the surface it seems like nothing is happening. And that's exactly the point. You just assume when you come to work that everything's working. We have other people that actually make that happen. It's the work you don't hear about. It's the people you don't hear about. Projects where success is measured by how invisible the outcome is.

Across miles of buildings and disciplines. Beneath Fusion Ignition This is where for the first time. Scientists were able to create a fusion reaction that generated more power than it took in. Exascale computing officially home to the world's Fastest supercomputer. Planetary Defense. A spacecraft intentionally crashed into an asteroid. This is a first for humankind. And thousands of other interconnected systems. This is the story of the people who keep the science running around the clock.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is hiring. If you're passionate about tackling real world challenges in science, engineering, business, or skilled trades, There's a place for you at the last. Right now, positions are open for a senior labor relations advocate, operations cybersecurity manager, and a senior database administrator. These are just a few of the more than a hundred exciting roles available.

At Lawrence Livermore, you'll work on projects that matter, from national security to cutting-edge scientific advancements. Join a team that values innovation, collaboration, and professional growth. Explore opportunities at llnl.gov forward slash careers, where your next career move could make history. From national security challenges. Computing Revolutions. Discover the innovations that are shaping tomorrow. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is not a single building.

It's closer to a small city than the Nearly 10,000 employees spanning over 7,500 acres. Roads, gates, utilities, power systems, offices, labs, all contributing to world-changing innovation. Like any city, when most of the lights go out at night, it's quiet. But look closer. There's a system that never really sleeps. It appears invisible because that's the

content and it keeps the lab running so the science can continue. We do this by providing the people, places, processes, services, and things needed to accomplish work safely and securely. While being mindful stewards of the environment. Cynthia Rivera is the principal associate director for operations and business at Lawrence Livermore. Our mission in operations and businesses. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Security Mission and World War II.

That mission includes more than 2,000 people. beside conventional hours. Most people don't even think about this. Our janitorial staff Come in pretty early in the morning, and they're also coordinating the trash pickup that starts at midnight. Our landscapers and grounds crew.

have to come in or stay late when there's going to be a major storm because they need to clear the drainage areas. They need to be sure that before the storm the site is ready. And then after the storm, they're there if there's trees. Ready for the rest of the staff to be on site. You don't see them during the performance. But without them, the curtain never goes up. It's not as dramatic as center stage, but it's essential for the show to go on.

For Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the show is life changing. Cutting edge movement for the world. And every instrument has to be ready. Things happen, pipes break, our maintenance mechanics technicians and health and safety technologists. In the event something goes wrong, there's some kind of equipment failure or something. They're there. It's not easy to do those kinds of shifts and it requires that kind of dedication and willingness to

be able to accommodate that over a period of time. It's not all big moments of setup, repair, or preparation. In some areas, it's thousands and thousands of small things. Our shipping and receiving team. They make sure that the packages get to where they go, either receiving them or sending them out when they need to, and it's amazing how much volume they take care of. It can look as simple as someone arriving at their normal gate for work. A badge gets scanned, a name gets checked.

But sometimes that name isn't cleared. Occasionally people think it'd be fun to go take a spin around the lab. They don't actually get on the lab. They're stopped by security. The lab's protective force. Security has the Predominant 247 operations across the site. They monitor access points. They respond to alarms. They keep track of what's normal and what isn't. But they're not the only incident response team. Looking for a career that challenges and inspires?

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is hiring for a nuclear facility engineer systems design and testing engineer, and a senior scientific technologist, along with many other roles in science, technology, engineering, and beyond. At the lab, every role contributes to groundbreaking projects in national security, advanced computing, and scientific research.

All within a collaborative, mission-driven environment. Discover open positions at llnl.gov forward slash careers, where big ideas come to life.

Evacuation update. Twenty percent unaccounted for. Operations to engine three. We've got employees in that zone that haven't checked in. What's your status? We're inside. I've got Over. Bay Area News is asking for a statement. Send them to media relations. No response on the safety check-in. Engine three to our. All personnel safe and sound. Great work, everybody. Alright, let's go grab some lunch. Lunch? This wasn't a disaster.

It was a drill. We're not a normal business. We're not a normal operation. We're not a normal government organization even. That's Robert Scribb, head of the emergency management department at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. We have a lot of things here. Our national ignition facility, the NIF, does amazing work in fusion energy.

They do a lot of their work at night. So it's really important that we have people monitoring alarms and we have our fire department here on scene. This is the scale emergency management plans for. Not a single room. A mini city with two locations and a lot of real estate. It can go from that lovely evening in the firehouse to

Responding to something rather significant. A lot of people don't realize during work hours, after hours, they're responding to a lot of alarms. It all starts with the plan. The drill set in place for any population. The two most significant ones that we often prepare for are wildfires. One official says firefighters are facing every The other one we've got to do. Exercising for is earthquakes.

We have a lot of things that would be impacted by that, so we prepare for those with a lot of really realistic exercises. Robert's goal is to make these exercises as realistic as possible. To do so, he gathers over sixty five people from various divisions in the lab's emergency operations center, or EOC, all working together as the hypothetical scenario unfolds.

It's Lawrence Livermore's version of the White House Situation Room. We have a field operations component, so we will involve Our fire services here on site will involve our Protective Force Division, which is our security side of the house. Will involve our building evacuation teams. So there'll be an onsend component usually with one of our exercises. And then we have the emergency operations center. We will manage that incident.

moment that we bring in the realism of it through whatever our objectives are to achieve that. The more realistic the exercises are, the more ready for an actual event the site will be. We actually did a drill this year that was really great where we had a news media operation come in from one of the other laboratories. They came in and acted as though they were the media. They brought their cameras in. They put the camera right in your face.

And they started asking everyone tough questions. Well that's how the real world would be. Then there's the employee alert system itself. complete with safety checks at every level. We have an emergency notification system and it is what we use to notify either individuals or groups. or the entire operations. We can send messages out to everyone on this campus, all 10,000 people, in a matter of seconds. And the alert doesn't just ping you to let you know something dangerous is happening.

It also is the key to marking staff as safe. But if you don't submit a response, It's relentless. If we need to get accountability, it will keep calling those devices until it gets a response that you're good. And that is the ultimate goal. Life safety is always number one. Buildings can be replaced, equipment can be replaced too. But the people are the priority.

The people are both the center of the mission and the core of its success. People that you might not think of would be Our emergency response teams for local emergencies, the volunteers like our community emergency response. team or cert, the FEMA national level organization cert teams that many communities have. We have one for the site as well. And it's about a hundred and thirty five people now of volunteers who are trained.

There's also a group large enough to support three shifts at the operations center. Employees who all have regular jobs in the lab but have taken on the extra responsibility of assisting in a crisis. That all hands on deck mentality that makes Lawrence Livermore's emergency response organization. We have a very common sense of the same. And that's what brings the team together. And it takes us all. It's recognition.

It takes the person who's there at midnight and it takes the thousands of people that are there during the day to make it all happen. A promise built long before an emergency ever. Through drills, coordination, and invisible text. This place shines. When you walk around here. to the people and you find out what they're working on it's brilliant for making

continue, but you're surrounded by the smartest people in the world. And that to me is unique. You don't get that in other organizations. Brilliance is what I would describe it as. Every morning the lab comes back to life. Cars are lined up at the gates, badges scanned, lights on. Seemingly nothing is happening. And that's exactly the point.

Thank you for tuning in to Big Ideas Lab. If you loved what you heard, please let us know by leaving a rating and review. And if you haven't already, don't forget to hit the follow or subscribe button in your podcast app. with our latest episode. Thanks for listening. Looking for a career that challenges and inspires? Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is hiring for a nuclear facility engineer, systems design and testing engineer, and a senior scientific technology.

Along with many other roles in science, technology, engineering, and beyond. At the lab, every role contributes to groundbreaking projects in national security, advanced computing, and scientific research. all within a collaborative, mission-driven environment. Discover open positions at llnl.gov forward slash careers, where big ideas come to life.