Los Alamos National Security

Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS LLC) is a private limited liability company (LLC) formed by the University of California, Bechtel, BWX Technologies, and Washington Group International. It currently operates Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration. It took over direct management and operation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from the University of California on June 1, 2006.

An agreement between the four LANS members established a Board of Governors that is charged with oversight and governance of LANS, LLC. The Board includes three individuals appointed by the University of California and three individuals appointed by Bechtel, as well as five independent Governors who are selected for their expertise and experience in fields pertinent to LANL operations. The Board includes an Executive Committee that consists of the six University of California and Bechtel appointees.

The President of LANS LLC, Michael R. Anastasio, reports directly and solely to the LANS LLC Board of Governors. The laboratory director is also Michael R. Anastasio.

LANS was formed during a period of doubt about whether the University of California would be awarded the management contract, after it was forced to compete for the contract for the first time since it had first began to manage LANL during the Manhattan Project as a result of numerous scandals and dissatisfaction with its management. LANS eventually was pitted against the University of Texas System partnered with Lockheed-Martin, and was awarded the LANL contract in December 2005.

In addition to LANS being reimbursed for the cost of operating LANL ($2.2 billion annually), LANS also receives a yearly fee for managing LANL of approximately $79 million from the Department of Energy.

In September 2007, director Michael R. Anastasio [http://lanl-the-rest-of-the-story.blogspot.com/2007/09/anastasios-rif-memo-sent-962007.html announced a possible layoff] of 2500 people based on predicted budget shortfalls of $350M for FY08. Critics of LANS, both internal and external have been predicting a major layoff since the contract to operate LANL was re-bid. The operating fee of approximately $79M and the gross receipts tax (LANL was formerly operated by UC as a non-profit) contribute approximately 1/2 of the expected budget shortfall.

A series of [http://lanl-the-rest-of-the-story.blogspot.com/ blogs] have been monitoring and discussing the management of LANL since then-director Pete Nanos shut the laboratory down in response to several [http://www.parrot-farm.net/~roberts/lanl-the-real-story/2004_12_01_lanl-the-real-story-archive.html alleged safety and security incidents] .

LANS Board of Governors

* Norman J. Pattiz (LANS Chairman), chairman of the Westwood One.

* Scott Ogilvie, president of Bechtel Systems & Infrastructure.

* John Fees, president and chief operating officer of BWX Technologies, Inc.

* Marye Anne Fox , chancellor of the University of California at San Diego.

* Joseph Mullinix, University of California’s senior vice president for business and finance.

* Craig Weaver, executive vice president of Bechtel Systems and Infrastructure, Inc.

* Dr. Sidney Drell, professor emeritus and deputy director at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.

* Richard Mies, retired commander of U.S. Strategic Command.

* Nick Moore, retired global chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

* Dr. William Perry , former U.S. secretary of defense.

* Nick Salazar is a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives.

Other Information

Bechtel is also a partner in the operations at the: Savannah River Site; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Pantex; Hanford Site; Y-12 National Security Complex; Nevada Test Site;

which collectively comprises the core of the United States' nuclear weapons design and production capability.

External links

* [http://www.lansllc.com/ LANS website]
* [http://www.bechtel.com/ Bechtel website]
* [http://www.srs.gov/ Savannah River Site website]