U.S. Gives Business Role in Los Alamos Bid

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON - Stung by security lapses at a leading nuclear weapons laboratory, the government will consider business and management ability as much as scientific expertise when selecting a new manager for the facility.

The Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration released a draft request for proposals Wednesday as it prepares for the first competition to run New Mexico's Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Los Alamos has been managed by the University of California since the lab's creation as a top-secret World War II project to develop the atomic bomb. But problems, including missing computer drives and sloppy fiscal procedures, led the department for the first time to call for an open bidding process last year.
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"The vision is we want world-class science, enabled by excellent operations, and really, really good business management," said Tyler Przybylek, chairman of the board of National Nuclear Security Administration officials who will evaluate proposals.
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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has encouraged the University of California to seek to retain its contract. Other possible bidders include the University of Texas and Texas A&M.

Federal officials also will seek bids on the two other labs that the University of California manages, the Lawrence Livermore nuclear weapons lab and the nonweapons Lawrence Berkeley lab. The school's Lawrence Livermore contract also expires at the end of September, but the Energy Department plans to extend it.

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