By Jennifer Talhelm/
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The teams competing for the federal contract to run Los Alamos National Laboratory officially went head to head Tuesday.
The two major contenders for the contract to manage the lab — one a group headed by the University of California and engineering company Bechtel Corp.; the other headed by defense contractor Lockheed Martin and the University of Texas — turned in their management proposals.
The hundreds of pages of bid materials and the decision of who will run the lab for the next seven years now are in the hands of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The department will hear oral presentations in August. It is expected to announce a winner by Dec. 1.
The bids mark a major change for the lab, where scientists developed and tested the first atomic bomb 60 years ago. The victor would get up to a $79 million annual fee and would play a key role in the future of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile.
"Putting a contract up for consideration for the first time in 60 years is major undertaking,'' said Anson Franklin, a spokesman for the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration. "It's also major undertaking because it's so important.''
The University of California has run the nuclear weapons lab for the federal government since the lab's inception in 1943. But its management was questioned after a series of security and fiscal lapses, which prompted the DOE to put the contract out to bid.
The bid process has worried lab employees and others in the Los Alamos community. Some have bitterly criticized the University of California's leadership, while others fear involving private corporations would hurt the lab's ability to recruit top scientists.
As it prepared a bid to hold onto the lab, UC teamed up with Bechtel Corp., Washington Group International and BWX Technologies Inc.
Michael Anastasio, who is leading the UC-Bechtel team, said Tuesday his group's bid emphasized that the university system's decades of scientific experience would be enhanced by its partners, who are experts in management, safety and security.
"My focus has been to build the best team that's going to address all the myriad of challenges that face Los Alamos,'' Anastasio said.
The University of California group — now called Los Alamos National Security LLC — also announced plans to open a Los Alamos office to work with community members as the bids are being considered.
Lockheed and the UT system are joined by the engineering and consulting firm CH2M Hill Corp. and Fluor Corp., a construction and engineering company.
A major element of the Lockheed-University of Texas bid was a new limited liability corporation — the Network for Science & Technology Education and Research — which officials said would provide scientists, researchers and other academic resources to support work at the lab.
New Mexico universities would be invited to join the network if Lockheed-UT wins the contract.
"A national lab of this importance requires a national community of scientists and engineers to support it,'' said Mark Yudof, chancellor of the University of Texas system. "Our network of scientists is going to help drive even better science at Los Alamos.''
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