New Mexico Business Weekly
January 17, 2013
Los Alamos management gets contract extension despite low score
- Gary Gerew
Federal officials gave the Bechtel-University of California group that runs Los Alamos National Laboratory $59.7 million for managing the lab in 2012 and also gave Los Alamos National Security LLC a one-year contract extension through a “one-time waiver” that was granted by the National Nuclear Security Administration, despite LANS’ failure to meet all the criteria for the extension.
LANS could have earned as much $74.5 million for the fiscal year and got 80 percent of that, according to the Albuquerque Journal. It was awarded $27.9 million in fixed fees and work for other entities and another $31.6 million as a so-called “at risk” fee based on performance.
The at-risk fee could have been as much as $46.5 million, but LANS got only 68 percent of the maximum. That was its lowest score since taking over the lab in 2006, according to the Nuclear Weapons and Materials Monitor.
LANS is supposed to earn at least 80 percent of the at-risk fee in order to win an “award term” extending the LANL management contract for an additional year.
That requirement was waived in this case by Neile Miller, NNSA’s principal deputy administrator, according to reports by both the Nuclear Weapons and Materials Monitor and the Los Alamos Monitor, according to the Journal.
A Dec. 7 letter from an NNSA official said Miller “expressed a desire to award LANS the (contract extension) award in recognition of LANS’ acceptance and accountability for problems” with a flawed security system at the lab and for “moving aggressively to correct the issues,” according to the Journal report.
January 17, 2013
Los Alamos management gets contract extension despite low score
- Gary Gerew
Federal officials gave the Bechtel-University of California group that runs Los Alamos National Laboratory $59.7 million for managing the lab in 2012 and also gave Los Alamos National Security LLC a one-year contract extension through a “one-time waiver” that was granted by the National Nuclear Security Administration, despite LANS’ failure to meet all the criteria for the extension.
LANS could have earned as much $74.5 million for the fiscal year and got 80 percent of that, according to the Albuquerque Journal. It was awarded $27.9 million in fixed fees and work for other entities and another $31.6 million as a so-called “at risk” fee based on performance.
The at-risk fee could have been as much as $46.5 million, but LANS got only 68 percent of the maximum. That was its lowest score since taking over the lab in 2006, according to the Nuclear Weapons and Materials Monitor.
LANS is supposed to earn at least 80 percent of the at-risk fee in order to win an “award term” extending the LANL management contract for an additional year.
That requirement was waived in this case by Neile Miller, NNSA’s principal deputy administrator, according to reports by both the Nuclear Weapons and Materials Monitor and the Los Alamos Monitor, according to the Journal.
A Dec. 7 letter from an NNSA official said Miller “expressed a desire to award LANS the (contract extension) award in recognition of LANS’ acceptance and accountability for problems” with a flawed security system at the lab and for “moving aggressively to correct the issues,” according to the Journal report.
Comments
No matter the outcome of any investigation over Miller's actions, and its impact on the future of the contract, a score of 68 would get a grade of D. Must be hard for parents that work at LANL to explain "Charlie math" to their children.
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NNSA's incentive 2007-2008 contact redesign, where over $300M a year deliberately wasted in both labs in fees, tazes and increased benefits costs compated to management under UC is much larger than any other single foolishness done by either lab. It raises the quesion, why bother? NNSA deliberately degraded performance and employee compensation for a little more "management control", which judging from this LANL evaluation at least is leading to poorer performance.
Eliminate waste? then can NNSA management of the labs. That is the truth of it.
http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2013-01-18/
How true! This comic strip appears to be exactly how LANS upper management sees their situation. What an amazing amount of scientific rot has taken place at this lab since the salaries and perks of these guys and gals in management started rising sky high with the LLC.... Shhhhh! Can't discuss that issue. It's corporate proprietary info, don't 'cha know.
January 18, 2013 at 11:21 PM
There's always one cockroach that will find it's way there, LLNS/LANS being a good examples.
So there's no competition, and if Lockheed pulled out there'd be no one at all trying to get that contract.
I can't imagine anyone wanting to take on LANL once Bechtel is done with it.
January 19, 2013 at 9:54 AM
By the time Bechtel is done with LANL, they will have eaten every organ and sucked all the blood, leaving nothing but a dead carcass, if that's even left.
It's been sad to watch this take place. I've even witnessed staff members break down and begin to cry when discussing the bleak situation at LANL under LANS. Any other management team would be better than LANS (aka Bechtel). Anyone. They've destroyed this lab.
January 19, 2013 at 7:03 PM
And the staff members "breaking-down" to cry are the scientists sitting at Hot Rocks for two-hour lunches planning which conference they are attending next. How do you think the LANL Weapon Engineers feel that were transferred (by Scott Gibbs and Bret Knapp) to the Facility Operations to mop floors, keep the bathroom fans running, and the toilets flushing?
"And the staff members "breaking-down" to cry are the scientists sitting at Hot Rocks for two-hour lunches planning which conference they are attending next. How do you think the LANL Weapon Engineers feel that were transferred (by Scott Gibbs and Bret Knapp) to the Facility Operations to mop floors, keep the bathroom fans running, and the toilets flushing?
January 19, 2013 at 8:16 PM"
People are not taking 2hour lunches at Hot rocks or planning their next conference. That is BS and you know it.
I am no friend of LANS. You can attack Knapp or Gibbs all you want but do not attack the workers at LANL, you just come off as so sad and bitter that you will strike out at anything and say nonsense. This just makes you look bad when you say things that are untrue.
The "I hate Knapp" guy sounds kind of obsessed and a bit crazy. Maybe he has a point about what happened to him but his continued public outbursts just make him look loopy and makes Knapp look good.
A different story is that a whistleblower gets to claim 25% of whatever the government gets back from a contractor that they report on. If the 10M that was paid back to the NNSA over the TA 55 fence security system is the basis, someone could have walked away with a cool 2.5M.
I have never been to HotRocks but I am sure that scientists spend three or four hours a day there. I don't know any scientists but I am sure they are going to conferences in Tahiti for weeks on end about ten times a year. I am sad, bitter, and jealous. I blame the world for my own personal failings.
January 21, 2013 at 5:05 PM"
Ya the all the problems with the labs come from the scientists always has been.
January 22, 2013 at 6:45 AM
Yep, do away with those pesky scientists and the labs will be much better places. Empty, but better.
January 22, 2013 at 4:56 PM
Yeah, he went from looking like young debonair Pierce Brosnan to a Donald Sutherland overnight. Humm, only his hairdresser and 9,560 direct employees know for sure. Come on Charlie, your old OK, admit it, what a con artist.
Charlie McMillan
Gonna drop the news today abut the LANL future and how great LANS is and so on. Not much will be said.
contract management process