DOE sticks with Battelle to operate PNNL in Richland

The Department of Energy plans to keep Battelle operating its national laboratory in Richland for another five years, making 57 straight years for the contractor.

On Friday the DOE Pacific Northwest Site Office announced its decision not to open the contract to competition. It expires in September 2017.

“Battelle and DOE are already well-aligned with common interest in advancing PNNL’s pursuits and assuring the continuity of PNNL for the benefit of the local community, the region and the nation,” said Roger Snyder, manager of the Pacific Northwest Site Office.

Battelle is the partner that DOE wants to work with for another five years, he said.

DOE and Battelle Memorial Institute still need to negotiate the five-year contract extension.

Steven Ashby, PNNL director, said in a message to staff that he is confident negotiations will conclude and staff will be celebrating the extension before the end of the year.

“Battelle … appreciates the department’s confidence in our stewardship of the laboratory,” he said.

“When one looks at our sustained performance, I believe that we have earned and positioned ourselves for a contract extension,” Ashby told staff.

Battelle has consistently earned high grades in its annual evaluation by DOE. In most of the last eight years, it has ranked highest or tied for the highest overall performance among the 10 DOE Office of Science laboratories.

It has scored particularly well in categories in which its science and technology work is rated, including “mission performance.” But it has been consistently strong in all eight categories that are rated, Snyder said.

“Under Battelle’s stewardship, PNNL is increasingly contributing to the resolution of challenges facing our nation, our environment and the world in which we live,” Snyder said.

Extending the contract will give continuity to PNNL’s workforce. The national lab employs 4,350 people, with 3,900 of those based in Richland. Its annual budget is close to $1 billion.

Battelle, a nonprofit research and development corporation based in Columbus, Ohio, has developed a reputation for giving back to the Tri-City-area community, supporting science and math education, health and human services, and the arts. It has donated more than $26 million.

Its donations have include more than $4 million to help create the Reach museum and Delta High School. It also has been an important supporter of Washington State University Tri-Cities, helping establish it and creating the Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory on the Richland campus.

Negotiations to establish the contract extension will include work to modernize the contract, Snyder said. The description of work, for example, has not been updated for more than a decade to reflect current technology.

Ashby told employees that he does not see any insurmountable obstacles in negotiations for the new contract, “just a lot of hard work to nail down a formal agreement.”

Issues that will need to be addressed “center on the future of Battelle’s facilities, but also include our plans for increased academic engagement and greater diversity in our workforce,” he told staff.

DOE labs across the nation have moved toward increased collaboration with universities.

“Increasingly the types of research and work they do can’t be solved by one player,” Snyder said.

Both Battelle and DOE are interested in continuing to promote greater academic engagement with universities and colleges, such as WSU and the University of Washington, he said. The collaboration can strengthen all the institutions involved.

Unlike at most other national laboratories, DOE does not own all the buildings on the PNNL campus. Battelle will be looking at what facilities it owns that it wants to jointly manage, as both parties look to the future of the campus, Snyder said.

Both parties also are interested in diversity, which Snyder said encompasses not just demographic diversity, but diversity in education and background to provide a wide range of ideas and diversity of thought to solve the nation’s pressing problems.

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 12:55 PM with the headline "DOE sticks with Battelle to operate PNNL in Richland."