Department seeks final bids for Lawrence Livermore lab: LIVERMORE: UC expected to try to keep its hold on the facility by gaining a new seven-year contract.

Byline: Betsy Mason

Jul. 15--The clock officially started for the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory contract competition Friday when the Energy Department issued its final call for bids. The contract is currently held by the University of California, which has run the lab without competition since it began in 1952. The contract will expire Sept. 30, 2007. Bidders for the new contract have 90 days to get their proposals to the National Nuclear Security Administration, the DOE branch that oversees the nuclear weapons complex. The NNSA plans to announce the winner of the new seven-year contract by spring 2007. UC has not yet said whether it will pursue the new …