The competition to win the management contract for Los Alamos
National Laboratory will last a bit longer than expected, as the
Department of Energy announced last week it would not reach a
decision by its Dec. 1 deadline.
The competitors for the contract include two teams ““ one a
partnership between the University of California and Bechtel Corp.
and the other headed by the University of Texas and Lockheed
Martin. The UC has managed the lab since World War II, but the
Department of Energy put the management contract up for bid after
the lab incurred a series of scandals ““ including safety
problems and the loss of potentially sensitive data ““ last
year.
A statement released by the National Nuclear Security
Administration, which is heading the contract selection board, said
the board’s chairman “does not anticipate a significant
delay in the selection decision,” though no new deadline was
announced.
A posting by former lab employee Doug Roberts on a Web log he
started for Los Alamos employees called “LANL: The Real
Story,” said the contract decision would likely come by Dec.
9.
The winner of the contract will manage the lab for at least the
next seven years, with a possible six-year extension. The contract
will be worth $79 million next year, which is a large increase over
the previous annual reimbursement rate of about $9 million.
The delay came as a surprise to officials from both teams
bidding on the contract. Michael Anastasio, who leads the UC group,
said he thought the government should do what it feels is necessary
to ensure the lab is in good hands.
“We look forward to that decision whenever they will make
it,” he said. “So we wait.”
The UC team is keeping relatively quiet in the days leading up
to the contract announcement, but losing Los Alamos would be a big
blow to the university, as the lab has historically been a
significant draw for Nobel laureates.
Rod Geer, a spokesman for the Lockheed-Texas group, said the
team is anxious for the decision. “But we also know that DOE
and NNSA want to do this right,” he said.
The lab has been plagued in recent years by a series of
security, financial and safety scandals. Many lab employees are
anxiously awaiting the decision, which they fear could
significantly alter operations there. Both bid teams have set up
offices in Los Alamos to answer questions and address concerns
about the lab’s future.
With reports from Bruin wire services.