University of California To Manage LANL, Sources Say (NM-Los Alamos Labs)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | December 21, 2005 | AP

[CedarDave]

A team led by the University of California has won the contract to manage Los Alamos National Laboratory, sources say.

The Department of Energy is scheduled to make an official announcement at 2 p.m. today in Washington, D.C. (noon Mountain Time).

[CedarDave]

UC has managed the lab since day one, and their ineptness has been shown by the repeated security breaches in the last ten years. It was hoped by many that a private industry consortium would win the contract. But its business as usual, unfortunately.

[petitfour]

This bugs me because California schools are allowing illegal aliens to pay in-state tuition while out-of-state Americans are required to pay extraordinary $$$$$ to attend schools that receives mega-federal funding. It is not right. All federal contracts should be revoked.

[ckilmer]

Research at the US energy labs today is as important as it was in WWII. Alas, during WWII Stalin profited from the work at US labs almost as fast as the US did.

The sad thing is that the Chinese today will likely profit from the work at US labs almost as fast as the US does and for the same reason. Spies.

And the consequences will be almost as far reaching.

[CedarDave]

From an earlier ABQ Journal article:

Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is scheduled to announce the winner of the seven-year contract— worth up to $79 million dollars— today in Washington, D.C. The current lab manager, the University of California, has teamed up with engineering firm Bechtel National and other industrial partners in its bid to continue operating the lab. That team is competing against another academic-industrial alliance, led by defense contractor Lockheed Martin and the University of Texas.

[khnyny]

Seems you have to be a subscriber in order to read the article at the link you provided. Is there another link? Thanks.

[CedarDave]

Actually, that's the entire article for right now. Hear's a 300-work excerpt from the earlier story ( Today's the Day for LANL )

The wait is almost over for thousands of Los Alamos National Laboratory employees eager to learn who their next manager will be.

Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is scheduled to announce the winner of the seven-year contract— worth up to $79 million dollars— today in Washington, D.C. The current lab manager, the University of California, has teamed up with engineering firm Bechtel National and other industrial partners in its bid to continue operating the lab. That team is competing against another academic-industrial alliance, led by defense contractor Lockheed Martin and the University of Texas.

"Certainly the employees of the lab are anxious to know (the winner)," said UC/Bechtel spokesman Jeff Berger. "And it will be very good for them, I think, to have closure and to know how this process ends."

The process began in 2003 on the heels of a series of well-publicized security and management scandals. That's when former Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced that LANL's operating contract would be put up for bid for the first time in the lab's 63-year history.

Who will come away with the contract remained a well-guarded secret Tuesday, with spokesmen for both bidding teams and members of New Mexico's congressional delegation saying they had not yet been briefed. Gov. Bill Richardson, a former energy secretary who has publicly said he supports UC's bid, also said Monday he was unaware of which team the Department of Energy would name.

Details of the bidders' proposals have been kept under wraps since they were submitted in July. The confidential nature of the competition sparked months of speculation and uncertainty among lab employees, anxious to learn how their benefits will be affected by the management change.

[Amerigomag]

One thing is reasonably certain. The Nunez, Perata, Schwarzenegger cabal will reduce UC's General Fund allocations by the amount of the federal contract.

Another $79M freed up in the education budget to support Mexico's poor in their annual quest for a K-12 education at the expense of the California taxpayer. Fox will be proud of California's governance, standing tall beside him, toe to toe against the parochial nitwits in the Congress crying about a fence.