Battelle won't compete for the management contract of Los Alamos National Laboratory, the nonprofit corporation said this week. The withdrawal of the Columbus, Ohio, research giant, which currently manages five Department of Energy (DOE) labs, is good news for the University of California (UC), which has managed the New Mexico facility since its inception 62 years ago. UC is expected to seek another term; other rumored players include Northrop Grumman and General Atomics.
UC's contract expires on 30 September, and DOE plans to release the official request for contract bids shortly. In the wake of complaints from Capitol Hill over the equity of the bid process, DOE recently changed the proposed contract language to require that the new contractor must create a new corporate entity and separate pension fund. The changes, which would dull UC's strengths, have been criticized by New Mexico legislators who want to preserve UC's generous retirement benefits.
Nevertheless, says a former Los Alamos manager, "at this stage UC is still the big entity."
