DOE MAKES IT OFFICIAL: FIVE-YEAR EXTENSION FOR UT-BATTELLE AT ORNL

摘要

Deciding that it wasn't likely to find a better contractor to run Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Department of Energy last week formally side-stepped a competition for the Office of Science lab by awarding a five-year extension to incumbent contractor UT-Battelle. Energy Secretary Steven Chu made the long-expected announcement March 23 during an all-hands meeting at the laboratory, providing more evidence that the Department has abandoned its policy of mandatory lab competitions, which have proven to be expensive and have largely failed to generate signifi-rncant change. After competing a handful of laboratory contracts and drawing little interest, especially for Office of Science laboratories, the Department clarified its policy on competition earlier this year, maintaining a preference for full-and-open competition for lab contracts while retaining the option to hand out extensions, especially when it's clear that there won't be competition and the Department is happy with the incumbent contractor's performance. That approach is favored by the contracting community-and Chu, whose previous experience as the director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory provided impetus for the changes-and largely drove the decision on ORNL, Chu said. "[The decision to extend] is totally due to this is a very well-managed laboratory," Chu said last week. The contract will run through March 31, 2015, and has an annual value of more than $1.4 billion, DOE said.