Despite a string of security lapses and allegations of fraud and mismanagement, the University of California has been awarded the contract to continue managing the Los Alamos laboratory that built the atom bomb, the Energy Department said Wednesday.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced that a partnership of UC and engineering giant Bechtel Corp. had prevailed over a rival team made up of the University of Texas and the defense contractor Lockheed Martin. The contract is valued at $512 million over seven years, with a provision to extend it to 20 years.
