Developments at Brookhaven National Laboratory

The Department of Energy has selected a new manager for Brookhaven National Laboratory. The new contractor is Brookhaven Science Associates, led by the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, for SUNY-Stony Brook; and Battelle Memorial Research Institute. The five year, $2 billion contract will be awarded in January. This action follows termination of the contract with Associated Universities Inc.

DOE announced the award on November 25. Alluding to congressional and community concerns about a tritium leak into local groundwater, Office of Energy Research Director Martha Krebs opened the news conference by characterizing the last few months as a “particularly trying time.” She announced that clean up is “ahead of schedule,” and the initiation of an Environmental Impact Statement. This year-long review will solicit input from the community and others. The first public meeting is on December 10.

DOE Secretary Federico Pena described the need to “rebuild community trust,” saying that the laboratory wants to “prove itself a good neighbor.” John Marburger, the laboratory’s new director (past president of SUNY-Stony Brook for 14 years) described the four goals of the new management: providing a new leadership team; continuing cutting-edge science; attention to environment, safety, and health issues; and “a solid and productive relationship with the community.” “We cannot operate a public facility without public support,” he said.

Many questions at this news conference, and a second one later in the day (see FYI #146 ) involved the reopening of the High Flux Beam Reactor. Comparing this decision with scientific inquiry, Marburger said that you “try to get all the facts in before you make a decision,” saying it would be “very foolish to make a decision” prematurely. He supports DOE’s review process, which calls for Pena to make an initial restart decision early next year.

Krebs was asked about congressional reaction to the selection of the new management team. She explained that while congressional budget deliberations usually do not go into the level of detail of a particular facility, DOE did “need agreement, good will, and the votes” of Members of Congress. “We pay attention,” she said, to the views of Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY) and Rep. Michael Forbes (R-NY), who were instrumental in preventing the use of this year’s budget to restart the reactor.

In a related development, the General Accounting Office released a report last month (RCED-98-26; http://www.gao.gov ) on the tritium leak and dismissal of Associated Universities Inc. GAO criticized both laboratory procedures and departmental accountability and oversight. Brookhaven was faulted for inadequate monitoring, failure to take the problem seriously, and delay in implementing agreements with county authorities. Regarding overall problems with departmental management, GAO concluded that “DOE’s efforts under way to address these issues are encouraging.”

Under the Environmental Impact Statement process that DOE has started, four alternatives will be analyzed: 1.) “permanently shutting down the reactor,” 2.) “resuming operations at the reactor,” 3.) “resuming operations and upgrading the reactor,” and 4.) “taking no action and maintaining the reactor in a shutdown and defueled condition.” Pena has a reputation as a strong manager, and DOE’s selection of the Brookhaven Science Associates in six rather than the customary eighteen months seems indicative of how he is responding to the problems at Brookhaven and within his department. Nevertheless, the next year will be, as Marburger cautioned, “a difficult one.”