The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was created during World War II to design nuclear weapons as part of the U.S. Manhattan Project. It is located near Sante Fe, New Mexico. The LANL was the heart of the Manhattan Project. It collected some of the most famous scientists in the world to work on nuclear weapons. The LANL is now one of the biggest science and technology institutions in the world. It conducts multidisciplinary research in such fields as national security, space exploration, nuclear fusion, renewable energy, medicine, nanotechnology, and supercomputing.
Over a decade ago, there were serious concerns about management problems at LANL. The University of California formed a consortium with Bechtel and other private companies. The new consortium was named Los Alamos National Security LLC. It took over management of LANL. LANL produced plutonium cores for triggers for nuclear warheads up until 2011 when production was shut down due to safety problems and concerns about a lack of accountability.
In recent years, the LANL has mishandled plutonium. It accidentally shipped nuclear materials to other federal facilities in commercial cargo planes. Even worse, it added a new absorbent material to drums of liquid waste in order to solidify the contents. This was done in spite of the fact that a contractor had warned the Laboratory that the new absorbent might not be suitable for their needs. Drums with the new absorbent were shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico and stored in a room in the old salt mine. The new absorbent generated hydrogen gas which eventually caused one of the drums to explode which released radioactive materials into the environment around the Plant. The Plant had to be shut down for three years while the accident was investigated, and repairs were made.
Unfortunately, the new management did not resolve all the issues plaguing the LANL and federal officials cancelled the management contract in 2015.
In 2017, the National Nuclear Security Administration put out a call for proposals for a management contractor that would create a “security conscious culture.” Critics of the LANL said that such a culture was missing from the Laboratory. Friday, a NNSA administrator said, “The lab will continue to be a critical resource to ensure the future safety and security of the United States as we begin work on new endeavors, like the effort to recapitalize our plutonium pit mission.” There was a recent recommendation that LANL produce at least thirty plutonium cores for triggers in nuclear warheads.
The NNSA has just announced that it has chosen Triad National Security (TNS) LLC to manage the LANL. TNS is a consortium that includes the Battelle Memorial Institute, Texas A&M University and the University of California. The contract is worth $2.5 billion dollars for up to 10 years if all contract options are exercised. The NNSA said Triad was “the best value to the government when all factors were considered and will provide future stability.”
Let us hope that this management team will be able to solve the problems that have plagued previous attempts to properly manage the Laboratory.