The cost of privacy

Many people, especially those in a weapons town, are 'private.' They have a number of parts of their lives that are sealed off from discussion with others. These private areas are not discussed with friends and are seldom discussed even with family.

By the nature and compartmentalization of work at LANL, over time these private areas expand and harden.

One of the most common areas of privacy is financial management. Another is interpersonal relationships.

For financial management, the average Lab employee's privacy habits have an actual but unexamined cost.

That cost is about $10,000 per person per year or $500,000 over a career.