WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) has been selected to be the management and operating contractor for DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

“Livermore National Laboratory is a critical part of our nuclear weapons complex and has been for the last 55 years,” Secretary Bodman said.  “For the first time since the beginning of the laboratory a new contractor is coming to Livermore.  We look forward to working with LLNS as Livermore continues its vital national security work.”

LLNS is a limited liability corporation made up of Bechtel National, Inc., the University of California, BWX Technologies, Inc., and the Washington Group International, Inc.  The team also includes Battelle Memorial Institute, four small business subcontractors, and Texas A&M University.

Livermore is one of the department’s three premier nuclear weapons laboratories.  It performs sensitive national security missions, including helping to ensure that the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile is safe, secure and reliable without underground nuclear testing, and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.  The laboratory has been managed since its inception in 1952 by the University of California.

A Source Evaluation Board chaired by Walter Lips carried out the contract competition process culminating with their presentation of a report on their evaluation of the offers to NNSA’s Senior Advisor to the Administrator C.S. “Tyler” Przybylek, who made the decision as the selecting official for the contract competition.

LLNS proposed an approach to sustain exceptional science and technology and innovation at the laboratory, to implement enhanced business and laboratory operations, to deliver strong mission performance while also expanding the amount of work for customers outside of NNSA and the Department of Energy, and to be a leader in achieving the objectives of NNSA’s Complex 2030 Integration Initiative.  The LLNS team members will bring lessons learned and best practices to the laboratory from their experiences in managing a majority of NNSA’s weapons complex sites and a majority of the department’s national laboratories, as well as their private sector experience, with the goal of saving 20 percent in support costs in three years.

Activities to transfer the laboratory to the new contractor begin today.  LLNS will take over NNSA’s mission activities under the new contract starting October 1, 2007. The basic term of the contract is 7 years, and up to an additional 13 years can be earned through successful performance under an award term provision.  The contract includes a possible maximum fee of $45.5 million per year to manage the laboratory for DOE and NNSA work, depending on LLNS’s quality of performance.

Important goals of the new contract include the following:

• conducting research and development programs effectively and efficiently under disciplined project management procedures including use of an earned-value management system;
• demonstrating design and development capabilities to support the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) strategy;
• supporting stockpile and complex transformation in support of NNSA’s complex 2030 initiative including improved integration among the NNSA sites and increased enterprise-wide activities;
• completing construction of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and operating NIF as a national user facility to support NNSA missions as well as the needs of the broader scientific community;
• helping to deter, detect, and respond to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; advancing science through technological innovation, public and private sector collaboration, and technology transfer to enhance U.S. economic competitiveness and national security;
• managing and operating the laboratory facilities and infrastructure in an efficient, cost effective and innovative manner; supporting other Department of Energy programs; and,
• supporting non-DOE federal and other customers including the Department of  Homeland Security through a work-for-others program.

Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a separately organized agency within DOE 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.  Additonal information on the NNSA.

Media contact(s):
NNSA: Bryan Wilkes, (202) 586-7371
DOE: Anne Kolton, (202) 586-4940