Austin American-Statesman E INSIGHT Contact: metrodesk@statesman.com; 512-445-3851 Subscribe: statesman.com/subscribe rf NUCLEAR RESEARCH‘Sunday, November 5,2017 al EDITORIAL Ai RELEASE NAMES ies OF CITY MANAGER statesman com; 512-645-3851 CANDIDATES E2 com/subscribe NUCLEAR RESEARCH | Cherenkovradaton -ablve glow thatemisfrom te core of areactor uring nuclear feson~stkeasonicboom.but wthight. The Unersty Siesta apenaupts se smilln onabidtoimanage\os amos Nora aboratois Ine Mere coment UT System’s Los Alamos lab bid has big potential UT could reap millions in research, "seu nio compo. hatonalsecny appara | gain prestige as a security partner. “fimmp high powered rivals, inch Te spheres of radioactive ByScott Squires ‘The reactor produces radi- that give nuclear weapons their Reporting Texas ation for experiments such as. annihilative power. neutron activation analy Italso conducts advancedCherenkov radiation —a blue glow that emits from the core of a reactor during nuclear fission —Isilkea sonic boom, but withlight. The University of Texas System will spendup to $4.5 milion onabid to manage Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico. : UT System’s Los Alamos lab bid has big potential UT could reap millions in research, —wespons program. thelab positon sas part of the U.S. manufactures bomb compo- _hational security apparatus. i ii i nents such as plutonium pits But the UT System has some gain prestige as asecurity partner. ihe mipeinicsiedhem!, high powered fats, incline spheres ofradioactive metal___Texas A&M University, whose ByScott Squires ‘The reactor produces radi that give nuclear weapons their regents voted Oct 19 to pursue Reporting Texas ation for experiments such as annihilatve power the contract, the University of eutron activation analyz italeo conduct advanced New Mexieo.and possibly oth Inanondescript building and nuclear forensics, used to research intoawide range institutions in North Austin, Mike Wha" detectillegal nuclear weapons of field related to muclear ‘Whoever wins the job would | ley punches illuminated but- testing defense and deterrence win considerable prestige but tons on an analog control ‘That work could be boosted. including detection of le also inherit some headaches. panel. A large monitor above significantly, if UT's ambi. gally trafficked nuclear weap- For years, Los Alamos has the console displays green. tions toexpand its nuclear pro-onsand the development of been plagued by high-profile bars that inch higher, indicat- file beyond research succeed. materials that can withstand missteps In 201, scientists ing the growing intensity ofthe In September, the Univer extreme conditions, The lab’s _ shirked safety protocol by cot nuclear fision reaction occur- sity of Texas System approved _work includes research in lecting highly reactive pluto ‘ing inthe next room. spending up to $4.5 million on fields related to national secu- nium rods for display ina pho increasing power ‘0900 aid tomanage Los Alamos rity, suchas lean energy and to-op. The lab has also been kilowatts,” Whaley announces National Laboratories, the leg: bioscience. cited forthe improper ship into amicrophone on the desk. endary faclity in New Mex Ifthe UT System wins the ment and disposal ofradioac Whaley isassistantdiree-ieothatin the 1940s developed contract, the university could tive waste, and public breaches torofthe Nuclear Engineer. whatphysicisJ-Robert Oppen- benefit rom what experts say _of classified information. In ing Teaching Lab, the nuclear _heimer called “the destroyer of could be tens of millions of September, Director Charles research reactor and labora-__ worlds" ~ the atomic bomb. dollars in additional research ‘McMillan abruptly said he tory at the University of Texas Los Alamos, near Santa Fe, is opportunities. A successful JH. Pickle Research Campus. the nucleus of the US. atomic bid tomanage the lab would Los Alamos continve. 7—e———O OOOO Los Alamos continued from} would resign by year’s end. So why would the UT ‘system want to inherit a lab that has been dogged by safety and security issues of nuclear propor- tions? “Ultimately, it’s in the national interest,” said David Daniel, the system's deputy chancellor. “This isan opportunity to bring ‘our people and our know- how to Los Alamos, and at the same time, to serve the nation.” ‘Questions about the nation’s nuclear capa bilities are particularly urgent, now that Presi- dent Donald Trump has expressed an interest in vastly increasing America’s nuclear arsenal, even as he continues his fire-breath- ing rhetoric against North Korea and its nuclear hubris. Whether or not the US. eventually increases its arsenal ~ international treaties cap the U. stockpile at around 4,000 nukes - plans to modern- ize the nation's nuclear ‘weapons are already in carly stages. President Barack Obama commit- ted the United States to upgrade and modernize its arsenal, which could cost up tot trillion over the next three decades. ‘But managing the lab will involve research that goes far beyond the nuclear arsenal. “There's lots of other projects going on other ‘than Just weapons research,” said former Los Alamos employee Erich. Schneider, now a UT-Aus- tin nuclear engineering professor. The lab focuses on everything from mate- rials science and fluid ‘mechanics to biological and environmental science research. “There's a cross-disci- plinary interchange at the lab,” Daniel said. “This is how synergism works.” Ifthe UT System wins the bid, itwould manage alll aspects of the lab’s day- to-day operation including personnel, equipment and services for five years, at ‘which point it can renew the contract for another five, The lab has 1,200 employees. ‘The system made a failed bid to operate Los ‘Alamos in partnership with Lockheed Martin in 2005. The system also teamed with Texas A&M in 2016 in an effort to run San- dia National Labs, another Department of Energy facility that manufactures the non-nuclear compo- nents of U'S. weapons. ‘The University of Cal- ‘fornia System ran Los Alamos in its early days of designing and testing ‘nuclear weapons, and all. through the Cold War. But it almost lost the contract in 2003 when two workers ‘inhaled plutonium after a sudden chemical reaction. Following that incident, the Department of Energy announced it would for the first time place man- ‘agement at Los Alamos up for bid. UT jumped at the chance, but UC hung on by Joining forces with a team ‘of managers from the pri- vate sector. ‘That riled engineers and policy experts, who ‘warned the lab’s problems ‘would only continue. They ‘were right “They had their prob: Jems, they spent a bunch ‘more money, and they still hhad the same problems,” said Scott Kovac, opera” tions and research director at Nuke Watch, a nuclear ‘weapons watchdog group in New Mexico, “Privatiza tion ofthe contracts has not seemed to help at al.” 1m 2015, a year alter an improperly packaged drum of waste from Los ‘Alamos burst ata New Mexico disposal site, the Department of Energy opted not to renew the private consortium’s con- fract. Now, the National Nuclear Security Admin istration, the DOE agency that manages the bid, is looking for anew man: ager, In its draft request for proposals, the NNSA said itis looking for acon- tractor to implement a “culture change,” and operate the lab with fewer sifety incidents "Whoever gets the con- tract, in NNSA’ opinion, is whoever has the most experience dealing with ‘these huge projects, and for the east amount of profit,” Kovac said. The agency is evaluating pos Sible contractors on past performance, key person: he, smalF business partic- pation and cost, according to the proposal Now, the UT System sees an opportunity to reclaim Los Alamos’ legacy of aca demic leadership. “We know how torun these big complex orga- nizations, and we believe thatthe best way to instill a culture of responsibil ityis to have a single entity directing operations atMike Whaley, assistant director of the Nuclear Engines Pickle Research Campus, powers up the lab's reactor. The reactor produces radiation for experiments such as neutron activation analysis. 5 the lab,” Daniel said. “We don’t want to run the lab by committee, we want to run itlike a campus.” Unlike its last attempt, the UT System is the driv ing force behind the bid. But it will seek partners, and who they are could ‘matter greatly in whether its bid succeeds. Although the UT System declined to say who those part: ners might be, other enti- ties that could join ranks for emerge as rivals include General Dynamics and MAG Aerospace, as well as the University of California System and Bechtel, one of UC's partners currently running the lab. But Daniel says that the UP System can offer some thing that its private-sec tor opponents can’t: When the lab faces challenges, it ccan reach into its massive organization — its eight universities, six health institutions, and almost 90,000 faculty and staf — to find experts. Unlike the lab’s current ‘management, they have “superb track record,” Daniel said. “It’s about tak ing responsibility and hav- ing an understanding that leaders have to be held accountable.” Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is now secretary of the Department of Energy, but whether that will bea factor is hard to tell Perry isan A&M alumnus. The UT'System played down the Perry angle. Running the lab could steer big research dollars to Austin, but a change in who's in charge could come even sooner, and with a direct impact on UT's teaching lab. NETL Manager Tracy Tipping predicted a sue ing Teaching Lab at UT's J.J SQUIRES /AEPORTING cessful bid could mean lots of opportunity for UT's research community “There's a lot of dol Jars at stake here,” Tip: ping said. Los Alamos ‘operates on a yearly bud- get of around 82.5 billion. Between 5 and 7 percent of that budget — up to Si million — is allocated for lab-directed research and development projects. ‘That means that ifthe UT System ran the lab, it would be easier to set up contracts for UT graduate and faculty research, as vwell as internships and job ‘opportunities. Although the formal call for proposals has not been issued yer, the Depart ment of Energy will start the bidding process, “any day now," Daniel said “We're in a very busy mode, but we're prepared to drop everything.