Management at Mission Support and Test Services (MSTS) did not receive a clear sense for why the venture secured the contract to manage and operate the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, incoming site manager Mark Martinez said Thursday.
“They didn’t tell us why we won, they just told us that we won,” Martinez told NS&D Monitor, two days after MSTS officially began the transition into its role, in close collaboration with current site manager National Security Technologies (NSTec).
The National Nuclear Security Administration announced in May that MSTS, a partnership between Honeywell, Jacobs, and Huntington Ingalls, would be the next M&O contractor at the 1,375-square-mile site, which supports U.S. stockpile stewardship, nonproliferation, and counterterrorism operations through work such as subcritical nuclear experiments and high-explosive test detonations.
The NNSA in August 2016 initially awarded the contract to Nevada Site Science Support and Technologies Corp., but revoked it within days upon learning the company had changed hands from Lockheed to Leidos. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency then reconsidered each of the five original bids before making the second award to MSTS in May. Two bid protests were filed but withdrawn in July, and MSTS received notice to proceed with its four-month transition on Aug. 1.
The contractor has announced Martinez and several others as the new site leadership, including John Benner as deputy site manager.
Martinez spent the last 23 years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, most recently as vice president and principal associate director for operations and business. He also worked as a senior test director, conducting the lab’s experimental activities at the Nevada site, among other related work.
NS&D Monitor spoke with Martinez about the transition process, ongoing work in Nevada, and his perspective on the site’s future mission. The interview below has been edited for clarity.
You previously played a significant role in Lawrence Livermore’s experiments at the Nevada site. How will that experience contribute to your new role as site manager?
I began working out here many years ago and as part of that, I developed a real affinity for – at that time it was called the Nevada Test Site – now it’s the NNSS. I was involved early on in some of the first subcritical experiments. I played a number of roles there, from a mechanical engineer, all the way up to a test director, and also was responsible for the tunnel build and commissioning of the JASPER [Joint Actinide Shock Physics Experimental Research] facility, and was involved with many of the early shots.
[Reporter’s note: The JASPER facility provides experimental means to certify the reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, namely by using a gas gun to create extreme laboratory conditions similar to those in nuclear weapons.]
They shot shot number 150-something yesterday or a couple days ago, and we were still obviously two digits when I left there, so it’s been nice to see that continue on and to grow. I was actually facility manager out here for a while too, at the JASPER facility, so I think my background’s pretty broad out here and it helps me to understand a couple things that are important.
No. 1, the work that’s done out here is absolutely vital to the nation, and to national security. I love the new rebranding, the Nevada National Security Site. I think that frames it perfectly. National security is what it’s about, and I am passionate about that. When I was first talked to about – was I interested in doing something else in my career – my answer was no until they told me it was involved out here. I said, well wait a second, maybe I am interested. The importance and the role that [NNSS] plays is increasingly important and vital to this nation, and to be able to be part of that and to help lead that effort is a privilege.
The second thing, and probably equally as important, if not more so, are the absolutely outstanding people that are out here. The resources, the capability largely circle around the people that are out here. And I’m already running across people I know and I’ve met in the past, and it’s just exciting, it’s wonderful. NSTec’s done a fantastic job. We want to be able to continue on with the great things that they’re doing. The site here is well run, and we’re looking forward to being able to contribute however we can in accomplishing the nation’s business.
The Honeywell team won this new contract on the second round of bidding. What changed to put Mission Support and Test Services on top?
All I would know is what happened with any adjustments we made. I was on both bids and we were disappointed when we didn’t win the first round. Then we got the second round. They didn’t tell us why we won, they just told us that we won.
Is there anything in particular to which you would attribute that award?
It’s got to be strength of proposal, the key personnel, small business – I mean, those are the major things they were looking at. While I can’t speak for the NNSA, let me just say that I am really proud of the key personnel, the people that we’re bringing on board: absolutely outstanding pedigrees, people of great accomplishment . . . just a fantastic group of people that are going to come out and contribute out here. And that had to help.
Tell me a little bit more about your agenda during the transition process. What exactly will transition activities entail over the next few months?
Basically, you’ve got to come in and understand lots of things, processes – you’ve got to figure out what the conditions are today, how you’re going to integrate those in. . . . There’s also the paper side, where you’re going to have to work in the existing contracts with other companies. Those things have to be brought in, put under [MSTS].
I’ve heard it said by many former transition authorities that probably the single most important thing we’re going to be able to do is make sure we make payroll on day one. We’re very interested in making sure we’re able to get the people in place and get them going. Now, having said all this, overarching all this is that today the [NNSS] is engaged in some very important activities. There are experiments going on – as I mentioned, a JASPER shot, the subcritical shots coming up. In all this we have to pay exceptional attention to making sure we’re not a distraction. In my role, I’ve got to watch that and make sure that we’re making good decisions on the other things.
Is there anything in particular that you do to ensure that none of those experiments are interrupted?
Yes, I’ve run nuclear facilities and the analogy I would say is that if you ever go into a nuclear facility, the best thing you can do is put your hands in your pockets. Figuratively, that’s what we’re going to do. We will observe things, because we need to see the processes . . . we’re going to own these processes once we’re done. But the direction to my team is, put your hands in your pocket. There’s going to be a time when you can ask questions, but it is not while the work is going on: that basic philosophy of observe, take notes if you’d like, but do not perturb the operations.
By the way, if you’re going to be observing, there’s protocol for that, and it’s a protocol that has already been established. NSTec has done a phenomenal job in preparing for this transition. I just couldn’t be happier. I’ve known [NSTec President] Jim Holt for many years, and the tremendous leadership on his part. Steve Lawrence, the [NNSA] field office manager, I’ve known for many years. They’ve just done a phenomenally good job in prepping. I wouldn’t say this if it weren’t true. I was actually very pleasantly surprised at how prepared they are. Part of this is that they have figured out how best to engage. They were the ones to say: you need to observe this. We didn’t have to come and tell them this. It’s somewhat obvious. But they had the protocols and procedures laid out and in place.
What exactly does your collaboration with NSTec look like in the transition process?
We just went through two days of briefings, which were NSTec and the field office, in a very open and collaborative way, opening the door and saying: this is who we are, what we’ve stood for, what we’ve been doing . . . as well as, here are the programs and processes and procedures that are in place, and here’s the program that’s being executed today. [Thursday] we were going through some site-specific training, and that’s about as far as we’ve gotten in the transition.
How much contact have you had with the site’s subcontractors, the national labs that are working there, and any other stakeholders? What is their role in the transition?
We’ve had virtually no contact with them in official capacities . . . yesterday at lunch I saw colleagues from Livermore. They came up and congratulated me. They’re out here busy doing things and they’re excited to see us and were congratulatory, so clearly there are those kinds of interactions, but nothing formal yet. We expect to have formal interactions in the not-too-distant future.
Are you at all concerned about the absence of permanent leadership at the NNSA? Does that create any kind of uncertainty for you all?
Those are two different questions. Of course, we want NNSA to be fully staffed and ready to go, and I think they do a wonderful job. [NNSA Administrator] General Klotz – I’m really, really impressed with what he’s doing. But does it affect us? Not really, in no way that I’ve been able to see at all in terms of making the decisions on who’s going to execute this contract, to getting started.
But I would say what’s most important right now for us is our strong relationship with NSTec. The nice thing about that is they’re wanting to be collaborative, they’re wanting to be open, but we also have personal relationships with these people. My deputy John Benner and myself, and others, have history and know the people, so it’s nice to not only have a formal connection, but to be able to have that personal connection too. You’re not introducing yourself to people. You’re coming in and saying, hey, how’s it been going the last little bit?
Do you foresee any changes in mission at the site or are there any new ideas or projects that you would like to highlight?
We would like the [NNSS] to be the place of choice for people to do high-hazard, high-consequence experiments. We believe it’s a test bed that could be used by many people, and we want to be able to make sure that as a user site, we’re able to accomplish those missions that the nation needs us to. Primarily, the national laboratories are growing. There are a lot of things happening with the [nuclear warhead] life-extension programs that will put demands out here. The homeland security work is a growing area, and both of those, just by themselves, represent opportunities for more work to be done out here.
Then there are the many other government agencies, DTRA [the Defense Threat Reduction Agency] and others, that I think can avail themselves more of the national security site. And like I said, its place, its capabilities, are unique. There’s no other place that you can do a lot of this work. Our job is to make sure that people can do that and take full advantage of the site in an effective and an efficient way. And I think as we do that, the programs will grow.
