U.S. Department of Energy to Compete Contract for Management and Operation of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

WASHINGTON , D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced today that it intends to seek competitive bids for the management and operations contract for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, Washington. The current five-year contract expires September 30, 2007.

“The competitive process is the best method to provide the American taxpayer an optimum management team for PNNL, one of our outstanding national laboratories,” Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Director of the DOE Office of Science, said.

Battelle Memorial Institute, a non-profit organization based in Columbus, Ohio, has managed the PNNL since its inception in 1965. Dr. Orbach noted that the decision to put the PNNL contract out to bid in no way reflects on Battelle’s performance, but is a prudent management decision.

Additional information about the competitive process for the contract to manage and operate the PNNL will be announced when appropriate.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory solves complex problems in energy, national security, life sciences and the environment by advancing the understanding of physics, chemistry, biology and computation.