AECOM does not plan to be part of the next Los Alamos National Laboratory management team, a source said Thursday.
The Los Angeles-based engineering services giant is one of the junior industry partners on Los Alamos National Security (LANS): the incumbent lab prime now managing the the roughly 70-year-old nuclear-weapons facility under a contract worth more than $2 billion annually.
The other LANS partners are the University of California, Bechtel National, and BWX Technologies. Senior industry partner Bechtel has not commented on its plans for the follow-on contract, but is widely expected to bid. BWX Technologies has said it will be part of a bid, though it has not said whether it will lead or join a team. The University of California, which managed Los Alamos by itself for most of the lab’s existence, received approval in November from its Board of Regents to chase the follow-on contract.
An AECOM spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment Thursday.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in 2014 opted not to renew LANS’ contract after a barrel of radioactive waste packaged at the lab caused an underground radation leak at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. The incumbent’s contract is set to run out Sept. 30.
The Energy Department in October requested bids on a new Los Alamos management contract expected to cost more than $20 billion over 10 years, including options. Bids are due Dec. 11, with an award slated for April or May, according to DOE’s request for proposals. The winning bidder could take home up to $50 million in annual lab-management fees.
In September, LANS received a six-month extension of its DOE contract for legacy nuclear cleanup operations at Los Alamos. The extension is worth $65 million and keeps the contractor in charge of environmental management at the lab through March 30, 2018, while the department selects its next cleanup provider.
