WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Energy's (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has issued a final Request for Proposals (RFP) for the competitive selection of a contractor to manage and operate the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) located in Livermore, CA. The current LLNL management and operating contract expires on September 30, 2007.

NNSA issued a draft RFP in May 2006, and solicited comments from potential bidders, LLNL employees and retirees, government officials and other members of the public. NNSA also conducted a Pre-Solicitation Conference and one-on-one meetings with potential bidders during May and June. The final RFP issued today contains revisions based on the comments received by NNSA.

The final RFP includes provisions to reward excellence through performance incentive fees, contract award term extensions, and reinvestment of cost savings into contractor directed research and development. Potential offerors have 90 days to submit proposals after release of the final RFP. NNSA anticipates announcing an award by the spring of 2007.

The final RFP describes the criteria NNSA will use in selecting a future contractor. Key criteria include the potential contractor's management approach to conducting world-class science and technology; achieving excellence in laboratory operations and business operations; the organizational structure for managing the laboratory and the naming of key personnel, including the proposed laboratory director; and past performance.

Proposals will be evaluated and assessed against the criteria contained in the final RFP by a Source Evaluation Board (SEB), a panel of career NNSA officials chaired by Walter Lips, senior source evaluation advisor. The SEB will submit its evaluation to the source selection official, C.S. "Tyler" Przybylek, senior advisor to the administrator. Przybylek will make the contractor selection decision.

The final RFP is available online at www.doeal.gov/llnlCompetition/RFP.htm.

LLNL is a multi-program laboratory, funded at approximately $1.7 billion annually by NNSA, other DOE programs, other government agencies and private industry. Its principal mission is to strengthen and enhance national security by applying world-class science and technology to stockpile stewardship and the global threat from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. The contractor will be required to provide the intellectual leadership and management expertise necessary and appropriate to manage, operate and staff the laboratory, and to accomplish the missions assigned by NNSA.

Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; works to reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Media contact(s):
NNSA Public Affairs (202) 586-7371