I was made aware of the following late news by Idaho Academy of Science:

November 9, 2004

BATTELLE ENERGY ALLIANCE WINS IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY CONTRACT

The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that the Battelle Energy Alliance has been chosen to operate the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in eastern Idaho.

The 10-year management and operations contract is valued at approximately $4.8 billion. INL is a multi-program laboratory employing about 3,000 people.

The Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) is led by Battelle and consists of several team members, including BWX Technologies, Inc., Washington Group International, the Electric Power Research Institute, and an alliance of university collaborators. A national university consortium will be led by MIT and includes such nuclear engineering universities as New Mexico, North Carolina State, Ohio State, and Oregon State as well as a regional collaboration with the major Idaho universities-Boise State, Idaho State, and the University of Idaho.

"We are tremendously proud to be entrusted with the responsibility of operating the Idaho National Laboratory," said Battelle President and CEO Carl F. Kohrt. "INL is an outstanding laboratory and tremendous national asset. In our vision of the future, INL will be synonymous with international nuclear leadership."

Kohrt said the BEA team members have established several priorities for operating the laboratory.

http://www.battelle.org/news/04/11-09-04IdahoLabWin.stm