More days have passed than remain in astronomical autumn, which means Los Alamos National Security could soon announce the interim Los Alamos National Laboratory director who will replace the retiring Charles McMillan and run the site until the company’s contract expires Sept. 30, 2018.
McMillan, who has led Los Alamos National Laboratory for about six years, in early September announced his retirement effective at the end of 2017. Management and operations prime Los Alamos National Security (LANS), of which McMillan serves as president and CEO, said then its Board of Governors would announce a replacement in “late fall.”
A LANS spokesperson would not comment Wednesday about the search for a new director. McMillan was a principal associate director at Los Alamos before he took over as director. There are five principal associate directors at the lab now, plus two deputy directors in the chain of command above them.
One upcoming forum worth watching for an update — assuming LANS does not let the cat out of the bag before then — is the University of California Board of Regents meeting scheduled for next week in San Francisco. The university is the lead partner on LANS, and Westwood One founder Norman Pattiz chairs both the LANS Board of Governors and the Board of Regents’ national laboratories subcommittee.
The subcommittee is set to meet Nov. 15, though the official agenda does not include any discussion of McMillan, or his replacement.
It does, however, include official approval of the university’s long-simmering plan to bid on the next Los Alamos management and operations contract. The potentially decade-spanning deal includes a five-year base and five one-year options that cover more than $20 billion of work. The winner could nab up to $50 million in annual fees.
Besides the University of California, the University of Texas and Texas A&M University have said they are pursuing the next lab contract. Bechtel National, the senior industry partner on LANS, sent representatives to acquisition meetings at Los Alamos over the summer, but has not confirmed it will bid on the follow-up lab contract.
