LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — The $2 billion contract to manage one of the federal government's premier nuclear weapons laboratories will be up for grabs after 2017.
The National Nuclear Security Administration has decided not to grant an extension of Los Alamos National Security's contract to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Members of New Mexico's congressional delegation say the reasons cited by the National Nuclear Security Administration include a serious safety incident involving a worker. They also involve expensive waste-handling mistakes that led to the indefinite closure of the federal government's only underground nuclear waste repository.
The current contract expires in September 2017.
Lab Director Charlie McMillan told employees in an email last week that the lab's latest review was better than the two previous years but not good enough to ensure an automatic contract extension.