Editor's Note: This opinion is published with permission of the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Albuquerque Journal. It originally published in the Sunday Albuquerque Journal North.
Last week, the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration issued the final Request for Proposals for the competitive selection of a management and operating contractor for Los Alamos National Laboratory. This is the first time that the department has opened the contract for competition in the 62-year history of the laboratory.
This historic competition and the process leading up to it have created a great deal of anxiety for laboratory employees- an unfortunate byproduct of the uncertainty created by change. But I believe that this change will serve the best interests of the laboratory, its employees and the nation.
Los Alamos has a rich history in science, technology and national security because it has drawn many of the best and brightest minds in science. Its continuing success is due to 12,000 hard-working and dedicated employees who serve with honor and distinction. Many of these people have made significant personal and professional sacrifices to work for our country at Los Alamos.
Los Alamos plays a unique role for our nation, a role that is unmatched and irreplaceable by any other facility. Because Los Alamos and its mission are so critical to national security, because its contributions to science and technology are virtually unmatched, it is essential that the laboratory's business practices match the excellence of its science.
From the first days of the nuclear age, Los Alamos has been at the forefront of our national defense. Their work helped us win World War II. Their skills helped us win the Cold War. In the post-Cold War world, weapons developed at Los Alamos- the W88, W76, and W78 warheads and the B61 bomb- constitute approximately 60 percent of the nation's nuclear deterrent and about 90 percent of the on-alert deterrent.
Thus Los Alamos also plays a critical role today in maintaining the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile by ensuring its safety, security and reliability. The United States hasn't built a new nuclear weapon in more than a decade. As our current stockpile ages, NNSA's national laboratories must be able to certify that the weapons can still meet their original design capabilities.
They accomplish this through a program, called Stockpile Stewardship, that uses some of the world's fastest and most powerful computers, lasers and exotic machines to help replicate the forces of nature that we see in the nanoseconds of a nuclear explosion- but without resorting to an underground nuclear test. Many of these one-of-a-kind facilities were designed and built at Los Alamos.
The laboratory's nuclear expertise protects America in other ways. Its scientists volunteer to serve on quick-response teams that deploy to detect any potential attempts to use radiological or nuclear materials in terrorist acts. Los Alamos plays an important role in keeping this nation safe by developing new technology and science to keep us ahead of potential opponents in an unpredictable world. Its scientific and technical ingenuity is admired and used around the world. During the past year, Los Alamos supplied personnel to the Iraqi survey group and to the detection of improvised explosive devices in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The lab also provided technical leadership and support to key nonproliferation initiatives in Iraq, Libya and North Korea. Los Alamos staff contributed to international nuclear security by playing a central role in the safety analysis and design of a new nuclear materials storage facility in Russia, and they developed technology that will help this country eliminate enough plutonium for thousands of nuclear weapons.
Los Alamos scientists provided the United States with technical leadership, scientific breakthroughs, expert analysis, and modeling and simulation capabilities. The lab brings state-of-the-art tools to bear on challenges in the intelligence, nonproliferation, counter-proliferation, homeland security, and defense communities.
Many people do not hear about much of this national security work because it is classified, but everyone in the business of national security is well aware of the laboratory's achievements. And there's much more to come. Los Alamos is positioning itself to be a more modern and responsive laboratory to help the nation meet the many challenges of the 21st century.
Our goal is to enhance Los Alamos' missions by finding the best management the United States has available. Los Alamos will continue to have a very important future as it attracts and retains the best and brightest minds in the scientific community. We are fortunate to have so many fine people working at such an important lab. Its best days lie ahead.
Brooks heads the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
