New Mexico Governor Urges University of California to Continue Managing Los Alamos Laboratory

The University of California should seek to renew its contract to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 13).

“If you pursue the competition strongly, I believe UC will win and the nation will be better off,” he told members of the university’s governing board, according to the Associated Press.

The university has managed the nuclear laboratory for 60 years on no-bid contracts, according to AP, but recent security lapses and claims of fiscal mismanagement caused federal authorities to call for open bidding when the existing contract ends in September 2005. University of California officials have not committed to making a bid.

Richardson recommended that the university seek an industrial partner to which it could delegate problematic tasks such as security and safety, leaving it free to focus on science and research.

Potential competitors for the contract include the University of Texas and Texas A&M, but Richardson said he did not expect there would be “too many takers.” (Michelle Locke, Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, Nov. 18).

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