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TMCNet: Battelle receives contract extension from DOE

[October 04, 2008]

Battelle receives contract extension from DOE

(Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, WA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 4--The Department of Energy is giving Battelle Memorial Institute a four-year extension on the management and operations contract for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

The announcement Friday means that the Richland lab can continue private work under its "use permit" until September 2012 when DOE will issue a new contract.

The use permit was part of the original contract with Battelle in 1964. It allows use of laboratory resources for Battelle's commercial business. Battelle is a nonprofit research corporation based in Columbus, Ohio.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Battelle and DOE have agreed that the use permit will be ended or incorporated into the new contract in 2012.

It currently represents about 10 percent of PNNL's $760 million annual budget, and helps support several hundred lab jobs.

The extension comes a year after DOE said it planned to issue a draft request for proposals for a new management and operations contract for PNNL.

DOE officials wanted to eliminate the use permit, which they said gave Battelle an advantage over other potential bidders.

Getting rid of the use permit would level the field for all competitors in the bidding process and would bring the PNNL contract more in line with other DOE lab contracts.

PNNL is one of DOE's 17 national laboratories. Its 4,000 employees work on problems involving energy, national security, life sciences and the environment for the National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of Science and Department of Homeland Security.

Washington's members of Congress praised Bodman's decision, noting that it gives four years to resolve the use permit issue.

"This action acknowledges the many benefits of the 'use permit' and is a commitment to transitioning to a new tool or tools for developing technologies that can spin off and create new industries and jobs in our community, state and nation," said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., in a prepared statement.

"I'm pleased that DOE has finally recognized that keeping the 'use permit' in this contract means keeping jobs in the Tri-Cities and PNNL growing," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. "At a time when our economy is hurting, we can't afford to lose any of the competitiveness, flexibility or economic opportunity created by the 'use permit,' " she said in a statement Friday.

"We think it is an excellent step," said Gary Petersen, vice president at TRIDEC, who said the decision provides a four-year window to replace the use permit.

"And I certainly hope our community can be an active participant in developing this new mechanism," he added.

"This extension paves the way for the U.S. Department of Energy and Battelle to work together to build a stronger, more vibrant and relevant PNNL to meet the important science challenges facing this nation in a way that holds the promise of a bright future for the laboratory, its employees and the Tri-Cities region," DOE Under Secretary for Science Dr. Raymond Orbach said in Friday's announcement.

DOE's current contract with Battelle expires Dec. 31.

The contract extension will allow time for DOE to develop other mechanisms to replace the use permit and to plan and conduct competitive bidding for management and operations of PNNL. It also gives Battelle time to restructure business models and relationships with customers served under the use permit.

Hastings said that protecting existing lab jobs and allowing for the creation of new spin-off jobs is why he and Murray will watch closely that whatever DOE creates to replace the use permit will work.

"The department remains committed to continuing its efforts to develop new or improved mechanisms that would be appropriate for use at all laboratories to make it as easy as possible for industry to partner with our national labs to leverage their scientific and technological innovations," noted Orbach in a prepared statement.

Carl Kohrt, CEO and president of Battelle, said he expects the use permit can be phased out "with little or no impact on the laboratory and local community."

Jeff Wadsworth, executive vice president for lab operations at Battelle headquarters in Ohio, told the Herald replacing the use permit with a mechanism that all national labs can use for working together will be best for the nation.

"In four years we will be able to work more effectively together. We have been trying to come to a solution that doesn't damage PNNL and allows for innovations. The objective is to continue the superb work PNNL has been doing," Wadsworth said.

To see more of the Tri-City Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tri-cityherald.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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