After many months of negotiations, the University of California announced on May 11 that it would partner with Bechtel National, Inc., a privately owned engineering, construction and project management company, in preparation for a competitive bid for the continued management of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
International nuclear management companies BWX Technologies, Inc., and Washington Group International will also join in the partnership. Together with a group of New Mexico research institutions, the coalition will form the Institute of Advanced Studies at the lab if the university decides to continue its management at a meeting later this week.
“This agreement brings together the expertise of the largest public research institution in the world with a seasoned team of contractors, led by Bechtel, to put in place a strong management and operations team that will ensure the continued excellence of the laboratory’s scientific mission,” UC President Robert C. Dynes stated in a press release.
The university has managed the lab since 1942, while also running the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The U.S. Department of Energy owns all three labs. Congressional legislation passed in 2003 mandated that the management and operating contracts for the labs be put up for competitive bidding. The University of California was recently awarded a new contract for the Lawrence Berkeley lab.
The current management agreement for the Los Alamos lab will expire on Sept. 30, 2005. The university approached Bechtel last fall about a possible partnership, according to UC spokesman Chris Harrington.
“We wanted to strengthen our management and operations, so we went to the best and went to Bechtel,” Harrington said.
If the UC bid is successful, current Lawrence Livermore lab Director Michael Anastasio will become the new director of the Los Alamos lab.
The university’s operation of the Los Alamos lab came under scrutiny after a series of safety and security violations in recent years. According to Bechtel spokesman Mike Kidder, the company will be able to help the university in management issues. Bechtel currently runs the Nevada Test Site, another energy research complex owned by the Department of Energy, and was also recently contracted by the government to help rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure.
“We certainly have world-class industrial and managerial experience that we could bring to the table,” Kidder said.
Although he declined to comment on the governance structure of the UC-Bechtel partnership, Harrington emphasized that it was “a partnership of equals.”
“The university will continue to do what it does best, and that’s science and technology, and the corporate entities will do what they do best, and that’s business, management, safety and security,” he said.
However, despite the new partnership, the UC Board of Regents will not officially vote on whether to make a competitive management bid until it reviews the Energy Department’s final “Request for Proposals” at its meeting this week.
“While moving forward to strengthen its management team, the final decision about whether to compete for the new Los Alamos contract will be made by the university’s Board of Regents,” UC Regents Chairman Gerald Parsky stated in a university announcement. “I know I speak for the entire board when I say that we take this decision very seriously and will weigh a variety of factors in the process, including the best interest of the university, the nation, the laboratory and our employees.”
If the regents do decide to make a competitive bid, the university may face some significant competition.
The University of Texas regents recently authorized its chancellor to partner with technology and defense giant Lockheed Martin in a joint bid for the Los Alamos lab. The UT regents also voted to appropriate $1.2 million to prepare the joint proposal.
“The work of Los Alamos is fundamental to our national security,” UT Board of Regents Chairman James R. Huffines stated in a press release. “The fact that the Texas system is being considered for this work is a tribute to our faculty and the research they produce.”
Defense contractor Northrop Grumman is also currently seeking an academic partner for a joint management bid.
The Livermore-based nonprofit Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment announced in January that it would partner with Nuclear Watch of New Mexico to make a bid for the Los Alamos lab as well. According to Tri-Valley C.A.R.E.S. Executive Director Marylia Kelley, the purpose of the bid would be to influence other competitors to include contract provisions that would reduce the amount of nuclear weapons research at the lab and to ensure the safety of its employees and community members.
“Tri-Valley C.A.R.E.S. isn’t surprised that the university announced a partnership with Bechtel,” Kelley said. “The University of California’s track record on basic managerial issues has really been quite weak, so we expected the university to bring in a corporate partner.”
Yet Kelley said she feels that bringing Bechtel on board will not help to alleviate some of the university’s past managerial problems.
“I think that the [problems] are deeply entrenched, and it’s going to take a new approach,” Kelley said. “I think that grasping a corporate partner that’s already involved in the nuclear weapons program is not going to solve the problems.”
