The University of Texas on Monday formally approved preparations for its bid to manage the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
All nine members of the UT System’s Board of Regents dialed in by telephone to the special meeting, held in Austin and also webcast. Seven regents voted in favor of spending $4.5 million to prepare a bid, university spokeswoman Karen Adler said by email Tuesday.
In an August meeting of the regents, Daniel David, UT vice chancellor, said the university’s bid team needs the $4.5 million “to establish a secure bid preparation center, hire consultants who are experts in this type of bid, arrange for key personnel, think through and describe how we would execute the work, conduct considerable legal work, conduct due diligence, and conduct a myriad of other tasks.”
Outgoing Board Chairman Paul Foster and Regent James Weaver attended the meeting but abstained from the vote, said Adler. Foster said during the meeting that he wished to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
The Board of Regents called Monday’s special meeting because there were matters “of sufficient urgency to be considered prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board on November 8-9, 2017,” according to the notice of open meeting posted online.
The University of Texas has not identified any companies or institutions with which it might partner for its impending bid. The Energy Department expects to solicit bids for a 10-year laboratory management and operations contract — with a five year base and a five-year option — this month or next. The agency issued a draft solicitation in July.
When bidding opens on the next Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) contract, the University of Texas will go head-to-head with University of California: senior partner on incumbent LANL prime contractor Los Alamos National Security (LANS). The University of New Mexico has also said it is interested in the next management pact, though it has not said whether it would lead a bid or join one.