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Lockheed Martin won't bid to run Los Alamos Lab
Associated Press, August 7, 2004

ALBUQUERQUE - A bid to run Los Alamos National Laboratory would be too costly for defense contractor Lockheed Martin, a company spokeswoman said.

Lockheed Martin had shown interest in a possible joint bid with the University of California to manage Los Alamos for the Department of Energy, however it has decided not to bid. Lockheed Martin already manages Sandia National Laboratories here and Knolls Atomic Lab in upstate New York.

The University of California currently manages Los Alamos National Laboratory. However, after a series of problems at the lab, the DOE decided to put the management contract, which expires in September 2005, up for bid for the first time in the lab's history.

The bid would cost too much money and would cause a diversion of company staff from its current federal lab management efforts, spokeswoman Wendy Owen said Friday.

Owen wouldn't say how much the company believed a bid would cost, but said, "It's a huge number."

Lockheed Martin's decision came before the DOE issued its formal request for proposals. It will detail what is required in the contract bids for Los Alamos, which is in the midst of a security and safety scandal.

A total of 23 employees have been suspended during a recent investigation. Most of the employees were suspended in connection with missing disks, while four were suspended as part of a probe into how a lab intern suffered a serious eye injury from a laser.

The disks were discovered missing July 7. The security lapse prompted a halt to nearly all work at the lab.

Although classified work remains idled, Nanos said that as of Wednesday about three-quarters of the lab's administrative office tasks were back in operation. In addition, an inventory of the lab's portable data storage devices, such as computer disks, was 90 percent complete.

Gov. Bill Richardson's office expressed disappointment in Lockheed Martin's decision not to seek the Los Alamos contract.

"They are a first-rate company who would have made an ideal partner to the University of California in a new management contract with the laboratory," Richardson said in a statement issued through a spokesman.

"Nevertheless, I am pleased Lockheed will retain its stewardship of Sandia Laboratories."

University of California spokesman Chris Harrington said the university had been talking to Lockheed Martin about a possible joint bid. Discussions with other possible partners continue, he said.

The University of Texas, Texas A&M University, CH2M Hill, Northrop Grumman, Burns and Roe and Washington Group-BWXT have also expressed interest in bidding.

Learn more :: Article Archive :: Lockheed Martin Won't Bid to Run Los Alamos