UC still unsure on lab

New information regarding security lapses at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory has not led the UC Board of Regents to release
a decision on whether to submit a bid to continue the lab’s
management.

The two disks containing classified information reported missing
in July never existed, according to the Los Angeles Times, which
cited a report by the Department of Energy.

“The (information regarding) the missing disks confirms
what we suspected all along after doing our own
investigation,” said Chris Harrington, a UC spokesman.

Harrington said the UC wanted to make sure they were on the same
page as the Department of Energy and the FBI’s investigation,
and so refrained from making their suspicions public.

Meanwhile, UC officials have been preparing in case the regents
decide to bid.

“The final decision regarding competition will be made by
the University of California Board of Regents,” said UC Vice
President Robert Foley in a December statement. The UC has been in
charge of the lab since 1943.

This decision will be announced when the final request for
proposals comes from the Department of Energy, Harrington said.

The regents decision will take into account the “full
breadth” of the issues, Harrington added.

The University of Texas recently announced it would drop out of
the competition for lab management, and last August defense
contractor Lockheed Martin, which was considered a possible
management partner for the UC, also decided not to bid.

“The UC is continuing to hold discussions with potential
partners,” Harrington said, but added that it was
“premature to discuss” specific companies.

The only organization that has currently announced their bid for
management of the lab is Nuclear Watch of New Mexico, an
organization that works to inform the public on nuclear issues in
the Southwest, encourage greater safety and environmental
protection, and support checks on nuclear weapons
proliferation.

The organization is working in conjunction with two other
organizations, Tri-Valley CARES and the Coalition to Demilitarize
the University of California, to finalize their proposal, said
Scott Kovac, research director of Nuclear Watch.

“We’re mainly concerned with getting the place
cleaned up,” Kovak said. “The only way we’re
going to do it is by running the place ourselves.”

Kovak, who said that they are still looking for a
“compatible corporate partner,” is hoping for a
decision by the end of April. The contract for UC management of Los
Alamos will be up on Sept. 30 of this year. Nuclear Watch currently
monitors the safety and security of the lab, reviewing all of the
paperwork released regarding its operation, Kovak said.

Nuclear Watch’s ultimate goal would be to “phase out
or slow down” weapons production. But Kovak said that
“we realize the Department of Energy will want us to make
weapons.”

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