Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
2/27/2015
Already holding a dominant position among the Department of Energy’s science and energy labs, Battelle is eyeing a possible enhanced role in the nuclear weapons complex. Ron Townsend, Battelle’s executive vice president for global laboratory operations, acknowledged last week that Battelle—billed as the world’s largest private nonprofit research and development organization—is “intrigued” by the potential for contributing the nuclear security enterprise. Battelle currently is involved in the management of five DOE science and energy national labs: Oak Ridge, Brookhaven, Pacific Northwest, Idaho and the National Renewable Energy Lab. “We don’t have a significant presence in the weapons area, the national nuclear security arena. But we’re intrigued by that,” Townsend said during an interview at the Seventh Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit where he was assessing a potential fit with the challenges facing the National Nuclear Security Administration.
‘We’re Assessing Whether or Not We Ought to Aspire’
Currently, Battelle’s only involvement in the NNSA is as a “minor” member of Bechtel and University of California-led Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, the contractor that runs Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. “We’re responsible for work for others in the nonproliferation, counter-terrorism area,” Townsend said. “It’s a small role, but it’s an active role.” The Battelle executive said it’s premature to say Battelle is aspiring to a bigger role, adding, “We’re assessing whether or not we ought to aspire.”
Townsend said he’s confident that Battelle’s experience in managing the science and energy labs could bring value to the nuclear weapons work. “We believe that the best-practices principles that we’ve developed at other laboratories translate directly, and it’s a question of it is something we really want to do,” he said.
DOE Push for Public Interest Model a Potential Lure for Battelle
UT-Battelle, the partnership with the University of Tennessee, is currently negotiating a five-year extension to its Oak Ridge National Laboratory contract, which has been in place since April 2000. The next of Battelle’s DOE contracts due to expire is PNNL in 2017, NREL in 2018, Idaho in 2019 and then Oak Ridge again in 2020. The Brookhaven contract is an award-term contract with year-by-year extensions depending on the reviews.
On the NNSA side of DOE, Townsend didn’t cite any particular targets, but he didn’t place any limits on Battelle’s potential involvement. He also indicated that Battelle is a good fit for the NNSA’s apparent plans to incorporate public-interest or public-service types of contracts that harken back to the early days of the complex when companies partnered with the government for national security work. “We love it,” Townsend said. “Battelle embraced the public-service model before the public-service model was even known. That’s who we are. I think it’s a great idea.”