Texas A&M-affiliated team gets Los Alamos contract

By Lindsay Ellis - Updated 1:21 pm, Friday, June 8, 2018

The Texas A&M University System will help manage Los Alamos National Laboratory starting in the fall, a decision that marks a high-profile national win for the Aggies against the University of Texas System, its biggest in-state competitor which also put in a bid.

The Department of Energy announced Friday that a limited-liability company that includes A&M would receive the contract, estimated at $2.5 billion annually, to manage and operate the facility.

The company -- called Triad National Security LLC -- includes the University of California, part of the incumbent management team, and the research and development company Battelle Memorial Institute.

"I'm confident that Los Alamos' world-class workforce will continue to answer the nation's call under the direction of NNSA's new (management and operations) partner, Triad National Security LLC," said Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, NNSA administrator, in a provided statement. NNSA is the National Nuclear Security Administration.

A&M said it could not provide additional information on the team's plans until the NNSA gives it an official notice to proceed.

"We are committed to building on the legacy of world-class research, unparalleled innovation, and service to public good that have been the hallmark of the laboratory since it was founded in 1943," A&M Chancellor John Sharp said in a statement.

The five-year contract can be extended for five one-year options, according to the Department of Energy.

Challenges ahead

Managing Los Alamos won't be easy. On the 39-square-mile campus are high explosives and plutonium, global security operations with nonproliferation and counter-proliferation divisions, and ongoing technology and engineering research.

Los Alamos employs more than 11,400 people. The budget includes $1.43 billion in weapons programs and $248 million in nonproliferation.

UC managed the facility after World War II, and has continued to do so since the mid-2000s in collaboration with business interests in a private limited liability company called Los Alamos National Security.

But in 2015, officials announced that the current contract would not be renewed, the Associated Press reported, after a memo criticized the company for its failure to implement critical nuclear safety requirements.

Bids were due in December, and the current contract ends in the fall.

A&M's Marvin Adams, who helps directs its Institute for National Cyber and Security Education and Research, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

He said in an interview with ExchangeMonitor last year, however, that A&M's experience in high-hazard environments qualifies it to run the laboratory but called UC's experience unparalleled.

"Along with UC's record of experience, of course, comes a record of some failures," he said. "If you're a selection board, do you go with somebody who has experience but possibly questionable past performance? Or do you go with somebody who doesn't have that kind of directly relevant experience, but has better past performance in things that are arguably similar? Or, do you perhaps find somebody, some team, that combines some operational experience that you would consider highly relevant with past performance that you consider to be excellent?"

Greg Mello, who directs the Los Alamos Study Group which monitors nuclear laboratories and favors nuclear disarmament, said he was not surprised but still disappointed that a team including UC earned the contract.

"UC's mismanagement was the whole reason the contract was put up for bid," he said by phone.

Noting the fact that multiple entities are included in the new management company, he said that "more bureaucracy" would not lead to better management.

Terry Wallace, who directs Los Alamos National Security, said in a statement that the laboratory is in a "very strong position."

"We will continue to execute our mission fully, safely, and securely through this management transition," he said.

UT competition

A&M's Triad team includes in supporting roles the Texas-based Fluor Federal Services, an engineering, procurement and construction-management services company that has worked on nuclear operations, and a Virginia-based company providing environmental, nuclear and technical consulting and engineering services called Stoller Newport News.

Gov. Greg Abbott said the award associates Texas with national defense operations.

"I commend Chancellor Sharp and the Texas A&M University System for securing this contract that will provide significant opportunities for skilled workers trained in Texas to make lasting contributions to our national security," he said in a provided statement.

The A&M team's selection comes after UT rejected A&M's offer to partner on a bid. A&M Vice Chancellor M. Katherine Banks was unavailable for comment, a spokesman said.

A UT official said in a statement it was "honored" that its separate bid was among the finalists. UT had partnered with at least one unnamed corporation.

"We offer our best wishes to the NNSA's chosen contractor and thank our Board of Regents and numerous others who supported this endeavor," UT Deputy Chancellor David Daniel said in a provided statement.

A spokeswoman for the UT System declined to comment on whether it would protest the department's decision.

Lindsay Ellis writes about higher education for the Houston Chronicle. You can follow her on Twitter and send her tips at lindsay.ellis@chron.com.