Is LANL saving dough or skirting scrutiny?
Congress isn't exactly falling over itself to pour money into Los Alamos National Laboratory, so LANL is looking elsewhere to fund big construction projects. LANL critics say the nuclear weapons lab is simply looking for a way to skirt congressional scrutiny.
The lab is seeking bids from private developers to design, finance, build and operate a massive new science complex -- about 450,000 square feet of office and light laboratory space that would house some 1,600 scientists who are now spread across the lab's 40-square-mile property. The winning bidder will own the facilities and lease them to the lab. This kind of third-party financing isn't uncommon in the federal government, but it will be the first time LANL has used it as a funding mechanism, according to lab spokesman Kevin Roark.
"It's pure economics. It saves money," he told the New Mexico Independent Wednesday. "We think it's a promising method for improving infrastructure and getting out from under some of our unbelievable building costs."
But lab watchdogs say it's also a way to sneak past Congress. LANL tried in 2006 to build the science complex using alternative funding, but the deal fell apart after the group Nuclear Watch New Mexico filed a Freedom of Information request that revealed the plans, under which the U.S. Postal Service would have helped LANL fund or find third-party funding for the project. In return, the Postal Service would have received a parcel of land for a new Los Alamos postal annex. The Postal Service eventually backed out of that deal, but Nuke Watch's concerns about third-party financing at LANL remain.
LANL is rebuilding its facilities "on the sly" and obligating taxpayers without Congress' blessing, said Nuclear Watch Executive Director Jay Coghlan.
"It's not even in the (Department of Energy) budget and it doesn't have the advice and consent of Congress," he said.
Among the nation's three weapons laboratories and the Nevada Test Site, LANL's facilities are the oldest -- about 35 percent of them are more than 40 years old and nearly 60 percent are in "fair, poor, or failing condition," according LANL's request for proposal.
"We have world-class scientists who are working in clearly substandard facilities," Roark said.
The new complex would consist of three buildings -- two containing laboratory and office space, plus a 1,500-space parking structure. Research at the complex will focus on fundamental science across a broad range of disciplines, Roark said.
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