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University of California Wins Los Alamos Contract
The University of California will continue to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the U.S. Energy Department announced yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 21). The university had operated the nuclear weapons research facility since the 1940s, but a series of security and safety problems in recent years forced it to compete for a new contract. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said yesterday that the team led by the university and engineering firm Bechtel Corp. had beaten the rival group of the University of Texas and Lockheed Martin for the seven-year contract. “This is a new contract, with a new team, marking a new approach to the management of Los Alamos. It is not a continuation of the previous contract,” Bodman said. The contract is effective June 1 and could be extended up to 20 years, the Associated Press reported. “The new contract will put in place concrete measures of accountability, ensuring that the tax dollars spent at Los Alamos are well spent,” Bodman said. University of Texas Chancellor Mark Yudof said he did not plan to appeal the decision. “I wish them well. It’s in the nation’s interest that they do well,” he said. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas), however, demanded that the Energy Department provide additional documentation on the selection process. “I have minimal hope and no belief that UC can reverse its record of consistent failure,” Barton said. Los Alamos employs 11,000 workers and is among three major sites for maintenance of the U.S. atomic arsenal and production of weapons parts, AP reported. The UC-Bechtel team made accountability on security measures a priority in its proposal, DOE officials said. Federal oversight of the facility is not expected to ebb under the new management group, AP reported. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said he believes Bechtel will lead management of Los Alamos, while the university would focus on conducting scientific work. “Getting another corporate entity involved was essential to restoring confidence on the part of many, and I think that’s why they were teamed up as they were,” he said (Heather Clark, Associated Press/Albuquerque Journal, Dec. 22).
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