DOE Selects Management Team for Livermore

The University of California will continue to have a role in the operation of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California under a management contract announced yesterday by the U.S. Energy Department (see GSN, Oct. 30, 2006).

The university for decades was the sole manager of Livermore and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.  However, it was required to submit new bids for both nuclear weapons laboratories following a series of safety and security breaches at Los Alamos.  In both cases, the university joined teams that successfully pursued management contracts at the laboratories (see GSN, Dec. 22, 2005).

The Energy Department said yesterday it would pay $297.5 million over seven years to the team consisting of the university, Bechtel National, BWX Technologies and other public and private entities, the Los Angeles Times reported.  The group, operating under the name Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC, is largely identical to the consortium that won the Los Alamos contract.

The winning group put together an offer than was better and cheaper than the bid from a team led by defense contractor Northrop Grumman, according to Energy Department officials.  The department said a third offer from two watchdog groups, which sought to convert Lawrence Livermore into a “center for civilian science,” was not a reasonable response to the bid request, the Times reported (Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, May 9).

“Livermore National Laboratory is a critical part of our nuclear weapons complex and has been for the last 55 years,” Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said in a press release.  “For the first time since the beginning of the laboratory a new contractor is coming to Livermore.  We look forward to working with LLNS as Livermore continues its vital national security work.”

Management transfer activities began yesterday, and the new contract goes into effect on Oct. 1.  It includes a provision for an extension of up to 13 years following the initial seven-year term, the department said.

Priorities under the new contract are expected to include:

— “demonstrating design and development capabilities to support the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) strategy.”  The department selected Livermore to develop the first new nuclear warhead in decades (see GSN, May 3);

— supporting the Complex 2030 program to update the U.S. nuclear complex, including through “improved integration among the [National Nuclear Security Administration] sites and increased enterprise-wide activities”; and

— promoting deterrence, detection and response to proliferation of unconventional weapons (U.S. Energy Department release, May 8).

Watchdog groups immediately blasted the announcement.

“Obviously, past performance means nothing to the officials at the Department of Energy,” Peter Stockton, senior investigator for the Project on Government Oversight, said in a press release.  “It is ridiculous that after years of security breaches and safety debacles DOE would decide that the best way to fix these problems is by hiring the same incompetent contractors.  This decision truly fits the definition of ‘insanity’” (Project on Government Oversight release, May 8).

“It’s DOE conducting business as usual,” said Marylia Kelley, head of Tri-Valley CAREs, in a press release.  “The networks of nuclear weapons ‘good-old boys’ who have done so much damage to the nation’s budget, security and environment are in charge of both research labs.”

Tri-Valley CAREs had joined with several entities to form the Livermore Lab GREEN team that unsuccessfully sought the management contract (Tri-Valley CAREs release, May 8).

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