UC may vie to manage lab

Top administrators at the University of California said the
university may compete for the contract to manage the Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory in the event of the lab being put up
for bidding.

However, the final decision will not be made until the U.S.
Department of Energy releases its official request for proposals in
2004.

Livermore is one of three national labs the UC manages.
Livermore and Los Alamos are primarily nuclear technology labs and
Berkeley is a science and engineering lab that works on
non-classified projects.

The Department of Energy will put the Los Alamos labs up for
bidding in 2005, although they have not yet determined if Livermore
will be up for bidding as well.

University President Robert Dynes and retired Adm. Robert Foley
made the announcement on Monday ““ Foley’s first day as
the UC vice president of laboratory management ““ when they
discussed the future of lab management with Livermore
employees.

The UC is preparing as if it will compete for the Los Alamos
national lab, said Chris Harrington, a UC spokesman for the
labs.

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham decided last spring that
the UC should have to compete for the lab contract after widespread
mismanagement issues were uncovered. The university has held the
Los Alamos contract since 1939.

The mismanagement issues at Los Alamos included abuse of
government purchase cards, and missing computers and other
equipment. A UC audit released in February found $195,246 in
questionable transactions from October 1998 to June 2003.

After the mismanagement was revealed at Los Alamos, the UC
revamped the management of the labs and made a series of changes to
their business practices.

The changes included the appointment of Foley as vice president
of management for all three labs, and Pete Nanos as director of the
Los Alamos lab. Security at Los Alamos has also been upgraded.

Because the UC has managed the three labs uncontested for over
60 years, there are no established criteria for choosing a
bidder.

“It is premature to even speculate on details (of the
proposal),” said Kevin Rohrer, a spokesman for the National
Nuclear Security Administration.

The Department of Energy’s request for proposals will
inform bidders of the criteria for the contract. Most of the
possible competitors, including the UC, have been unwilling to
commit to bidding for the labs until the criteria are known.

Potential competitors could include other universities such as
the University of Texas, and corporations such as Lockheed Martin
and Bechtel Corp.

Former UC president Richard Atkinson outlined the UC’s
position toward bidding for the labs in a May 1 statement, saying
the UC wants to compete for the contract, but the criteria for
competition and the appropriateness of the UC competing for a
government contract must be evaluated before a final decision is
made.

A favorable proposal for the UC would include continued emphasis
on scientific research — which the UC considers its strong suit —
rather than other aspects of national defense, as well as freedom
from liability and intellectual and scientific freedom clauses,
Harrington said.

In an effort to make the UC competitive with private firms,
Foley will be meeting with some private corporations to explore a
possible partnership for the first time in the labs’
history.

“The UC continues to look at all of its options to ensure
that it is fully prepared to bid,” Harrington said.

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