Alion purchasing nuclear engineering services firm

Alion Science and Technology Corp. is acquiring Innovative Technology Solutions Corp., an engineering services firm that specializes in nuclear technology and systems and software development, Alion announced today.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ITS, an employee-owned company, was founded in 1994. The firm provides nuclear safety analysis, regulatory compliance support and modeling and simulation to the Energy Department and the commercial nuclear power industry.

"ITS Corp. is well regarded for its professionalism, superior depth of skills and hands-on experience," said Bahman Atefi, chairman and chief executive officer of Alion. "By combining our resources, we can now offer a broader array of engineering services to our existing customers and support a more diverse customer base."

Peter Mast, president and CEO of ITS, will join Alion and manage the new Innovative Technology Solutions operation.

Alion, also 100 percent employee-owned, is a research and development company that provides technology services primarily to high-level defense and government agency customers. The company was spun off as a standalone entity in early 2003; for more than 60 years before that, it was called the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute, or IITRI.

Based in McLean, Va., Alion has more than 1,600 employees in 35 cities worldwide. The company was No. 59 on the 2003 Washington Technology Top 100 list.