The University of California announced Wednesday an agreement
with a team of industrial partners to prepare for the competition
to manage Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Though the final decision of whether to bid for the lab will
depend on a vote by the UC Board of Regents, UC spokesman Chris
Harrington said the agreement is an aggressive step by the
university to strengthen its possible bid for a new contract. The
UC has managed the lab since 1942, but the Department of Energy put
the lab’s management contract up for bids after a series of
management problems.
The university will partner with an industrial team led by
Bechtel National, Inc., a privately owned engineering, construction
and project management company. International nuclear management
companies DWX Technologies and Washington Group International are
also a part of the partnership.
Harrington said the university and its industrial partners will
be equals in a team where science and technology are the dominant
forces in the lab.
“This agreement allows the UC to continue to do what we do
best, and it also allows Bechtel and the other partners to do what
they do best,” Harrington said.
Bechtel spokesman Mike Kidder said the company can add to the
scientific and technological excellence shown by the UC with its
management expertise from previous work done for the Department of
Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration ““
agencies that own the lab.
“The companies that we’re bringing together are best
in class and leaders in management, facility operations, safety and
security in nuclear operations,” Harrington said.
But despite preparations for a joint bid, the UC Board of
Regents is not expected to officially vote on the issue until after
reviewing the final Request for Proposals, which is expected to be
released by the DOE in the next several weeks.
Regents’ Chairman Gerald Parsky said in a statement that
while the UC is moving forward to strengthen its management team,
the regents will carefully review the final Request for Proposals
to ensure that science and technology remain the foundation of the
laboratory’s work.
“I know I speak for the entire board when I say that we
take this decision very seriously and will weigh a variety of
factors in the process, including the best interest of the
university, the nation, the laboratory and our employees,”
Parsky said.
Harrington said the decision to submit a joint bid was agreed
upon by Parsky and Regent Peter Preuss, a member of the
regents’ Committee on Oversight of Department of Energy
Laboratories.
The DOE opened the Los Alamos management contract to the public
for the first time in 2003 due to repeated mismanagement problems.
Since then, the UC has been preparing to bid without officially
committing to the competition. The UC’s current contract ends
in September.
The UC had been in talks with potential competitors, including
the University of Texas, for bidding partnerships before announcing
its agreement with Bechtel.
In March, the UC announced a scientific partnership to
collaborate on research and education programs with three New
Mexico institutions that would be formed if the UC wins a bid for
the lab.