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The University of California, along with its three corporate partners, has been awarded the new management contract for the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Department of Energy announced Wednesday.

The UC has managed the lab since its establishment in 1943, but its role in operating the lab was threatened by a series of mismanagement troubles that led the DOE to open the lab's contract to competition.

After the UC Board of Regents voted to compete for the contract, the university teamed up with engineering and management firm Bechtel National, BWX Technologies and the Washington Group International to form the Los Alamos National Security team, which submitted the winning bid.

The UC-Bechtel management proposal won against a joint bid for the lab by the University of Texas and defense contractor Lockheed Martin. The new contract will be for seven years and includes provisions to earn extensions of an additional 17 years.

DOE officials said the contract would be worth as much as $512 million.

UC President Robert Dynes said in a statement that he is pleased with the DOE's decision to award the contract to the UC-Bechtel team – Los Alamos National Security.

Dynes said he believes the decision will not only benefit Los Alamos, but also the nation, saying the UC can make a vital contribution to the country by applying scientific excellence to national security.

“We have performed this public service for more than six decades, and this decision today allows us, in partnership with the other members of the (Los Alamos National Security) team, to continue to provide this public service to the nation,” Dynes said.

The UC has been the sole operator of Los Alamos for over 60 years, but the DOE decided in 2002 to open the management contract of the lab to competition once the UC's current contract expired in 2005. This decision was due to mismanagement problems including missing computer equipment and a UC audit that found $195,246 in questionable transactions in a five-year period.

In an incident which served to further embarrass the UC, a disk containing sensitive information was believed to be lost until further investigation showed it had never existed. Safety incidents including an eye injury to an intern were also reported at a critical time when the Board of Regents was deciding on whether to compete for the lab.

Tom D'Agostino, a selection official and assistant deputy administrator for defense programs at National Nuclear Security Administration said at a DOE press conference today that though the UC has had problems in the past, the new UC and Bechtel-led management called Los Alamos National Security will be able to capitalize on the strength of each of its individual partners.

“We have in front of us, not the UC, but Los Alamos National Security,” D’Agostino said in answer to questions regarding the UC's ability to manage the lab.

During the announcement of the new management team today, the Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman said the contract will include new measures for accountability and provide the lab with the means to enhance its pioneering research. Bodman said it would also serve to ease lab employees' uncertainty of how their jobs could be affected by the management change.

Bodman stressed that the new contract is not a continuation of the UC’s old contract, saying the DOE is more concerned with the future of the lab than its past.

"This contract marks a new approach to management at Los Alamos, one that will benefit the national security of the United States through superb science," Bodman said.

Despite Los Alamos’ recent scandals, including the loss of classified data and safety problems, which jeopardized the UC’s continued management of the labs, UC officials say the university can still contribute much to the lab.

Michael Anastasio, director designate of Los Alamos, said in a statement that the UC-Bechtel management team is committed to ensuring that the tradition of scientific development for the benefit of the nation continues well into the future.

“We are honored and excited that the Department of Energy has selected our team and given us the opportunity to lead this vital national security science laboratory,” Anastasio said.

With the announcement of the contract winner, the UC must now transition a new management team into the lab to prepare for the terms of the new contract set to begin in June of next year. Dynes said the UC and the lab's new management team plan to minimize the disruption of the work at Los Alamos during the process.