The University of California, along with its three corporate
partners, has been awarded the new management contract for the Los
Alamos National Laboratory, the Department of Energy announced
Wednesday.
The UC has managed the lab since its establishment in 1943, but
its role in operating the lab was threatened by a series of
mismanagement troubles that led the DOE to open the lab’s contract
to competition.
After the UC Board of Regents voted to compete for the contract,
the university teamed up with engineering and management firm
Bechtel National, BWX Technologies and the Washington Group
International to form the Los Alamos National Security team, which
submitted the winning bid.
The UC-Bechtel management proposal won against a joint bid for
the lab by the University of Texas and defense contractor Lockheed
Martin. The new contract will be for seven years and includes
provisions to earn extensions of an additional 17 years.
DOE officials said the contract would be worth as much as $512
million.
UC President Robert Dynes said in a statement that he is pleased
with the DOE’s decision to award the contract to the UC-Bechtel
team ““ Los Alamos National Security.
Dynes said he believes the decision will not only benefit Los
Alamos, but also the nation, saying the UC can make a vital
contribution to the country by applying scientific excellence to
national security.
“We have performed this public service for more than six
decades, and this decision today allows us, in partnership with the
other members of the (Los Alamos National Security) team, to
continue to provide this public service to the nation,” Dynes
said.
The UC has been the sole operator of Los Alamos for over 60
years, but the DOE decided in 2002 to open the management contract
of the lab to competition once the UC’s current contract expired in
2005. This decision was due to mismanagement problems including
missing computer equipment and a UC audit that found $195,246 in
questionable transactions in a five-year period.
In an incident which served to further embarrass the UC, a disk
containing sensitive information was believed to be lost until
further investigation showed it had never existed. Safety incidents
including an eye injury to an intern were also reported at a
critical time when the Board of Regents was deciding on whether to
compete for the lab.
Tom D’Agostino, a selection official and assistant deputy
administrator for defense programs at National Nuclear Security
Administration said at a DOE press conference today that though the
UC has had problems in the past, the new UC and Bechtel-led
management called Los Alamos National Security will be able to
capitalize on the strength of each of its individual partners.
“We have in front of us, not the UC, but Los Alamos
National Security,” D’Agostino said in answer to
questions regarding the UC’s ability to manage the lab.
During the announcement of the new management team today, the
Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman said the contract will include
new measures for accountability and provide the lab with the means
to enhance its pioneering research. Bodman said it would also serve
to ease lab employees’ uncertainty of how their jobs could be
affected by the management change.
Bodman stressed that the new contract is not a continuation of
the UC’s old contract, saying the DOE is more concerned with
the future of the lab than its past.
"This contract marks a new approach to management at Los Alamos,
one that will benefit the national security of the United States
through superb science," Bodman said.
Despite Los Alamos’ recent scandals, including the loss of
classified data and safety problems, which jeopardized the
UC’s continued management of the labs, UC officials say the
university can still contribute much to the lab.
Michael Anastasio, director designate of Los Alamos, said in a
statement that the UC-Bechtel management team is committed to
ensuring that the tradition of scientific development for the
benefit of the nation continues well into the future.
“We are honored and excited that the Department of Energy
has selected our team and given us the opportunity to lead this
vital national security science laboratory,” Anastasio
said.
With the announcement of the contract winner, the UC must now
transition a new management team into the lab to prepare for the
terms of the new contract set to begin in June of next year. Dynes
said the UC and the lab’s new management team plan to minimize the
disruption of the work at Los Alamos during the process.