Lockheed eyes Los Alamos lab job

Lockheed Martin has re-entered the competition to manage Los Alamos National Laboratory federal nuclear-weapons lab in New Mexico, company spokesman Don Carson said today.

The company dropped out of the running last August because "it would not have been a good business decision," Carson said. "Since then, the Department of Energy has made significant changes to the draft [request for proposals] and it looks like something we can do, and do well."

The draft RFP made changes in the responsibilities for the existing pension plan, for example, Carson said. The final RFP is expected in April.

Los Alamos, which has a budget of about $2 billion a year, has been operated by the University of California since the lab was created in the 1940s. The management contract was put up for bid in 2003 following a series of security breaches and management problems.

Lockheed Martin already operates Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque as well as the Nevada Test Site.

Asked about rumors that Lockheed may be negotiating with the University of Texas for a partnership to operate Los Alamos, Carson said, "We're not ready to talk about who we're looking at as partners."