U.S. ATLAS HL-LHC Upgrade Level 2 and Deputies-NSF only Management Mailing List

[Michael Tuts <tuts AT pmtuts.net>]

Hi NSF scope L2 and deputy,

 

Despite knowing the LS3 would be delayed by a year, NSF is now asking on a very short timescale for an assessment of the impact. There is one question posed where we can use your input on the impact of a 1 year delay of MREFC funding.

 

“Please also comment on the impacts, by Level 2 WBS, of the impacts if there were to be a one-year delay in the start of MREFC funding. Include the risks or standing army costs of engineer and technician labor, or other negative impacts of NSF funding delay. Im assuming the risk of losing key technical staff in your engineering pool that would otherwise move to other projects at the various universities is a big factor.”

 

Can you please provide an initial assessment for your L2 asap – note we are requested to provide an answer by 9am tomorrow (Friday)!

 

Thanks, PO

 

From: Coles, Mark W. <mcoles AT nsf.gov>
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2019 12:23 PM
To: Michael Tuts <tuts AT pmtuts.net>; Anders Ryd <anders.ryd AT cornell.edu>
Cc: Gonzalez, Saul <sgonzale AT nsf.gov>; Caldwell, C. Denise <dcaldwel AT nsf.gov>
Subject: VERY IMPORTANT
Importance: High

 

Dear Mike and Anders

 

Would each of you please send me, by 9AM Friday morning, your immediate assessment of the impacts on the ATLAS or CMS MREFC program of the CERN schedule delay? Please provide a summary, by level 2 WBS element, of what you believe this impacts to be, or if there are none.

 

Please also comment on the impacts, by Level 2 WBS, of the impacts if there were to be a one-year delay in the start of MREFC funding. Include the risks or standing army costs of engineer and technician labor, or other negative impacts of NSF funding delay. Im assuming the risk of losing key technical staff in your engineering pool that would otherwise move to other projects at the various universities is a big factor.

 

Please provide a summary description of the process that ATLAS and CMS, at the international level, will implement (or that you anticipate they will implement) to realign their construction programs, and any knock-on effects on NSF.

 

Please try to keep this at a concise summary level so that the whole response is about one page for each detector.

 

 

I expect to get a thousand hand wringing questions from various high officials within NSF about this, as they hate surprises. Obvviously you are having to react quickly to new information, so it will be important to emphasize where the NSF program is decoupled from other agency activities or the international schedule, minimizing impacts, and where a delayed start by NSF would nevertheless be damaging to NSF-supported scientists and their opportunities to participate in the HL LHC program.

 

Email if you have more questions. Our goal here at NSF is to put out a three page summary by COB Friday, one page from NSF internal evaluation, one page from ATLAS, and one from CMS.

 

The delay information we’ve seen here at NSF was blamed on the need for a long detector fabrication schedule. What is driving it?

 

Thanks

 

Mark