Best-in-Class Team Prepares to Take INL to Next Level
Citing a record of success in revitalizing Idaho’s national laboratory through leadership, investment, and vision, Bechtel announced it has teamed with Best-in-Class industry and
university partners to win the management and operations contract of the Idaho National Laboratory.
“Each member of this exciting team has a track record that will strongly contribute to the Department of Energy’s vision of this Laboratory as one of the world’s leading institutions for nuclear energy and national security research and development,” said Craig Weaver, president of Bechtel’s Energy & Environment Group. “During the past four years, we have focused and grown the Laboratory to help solve our nation’s scientific and technical challenges.”
Team members include Bechtel, Entergy Nuclear, Honeywell International, and Texas A&M University.
Weaver noted that Bechtel’s tenure at the Idaho site has demonstrated the company’s ability to provide high quality science and technology products to meet our government’s needs in a safe, secure, and cost-effective manner, and to be an active and contributing participant in local, regional, and state endeavors that have improved the quality of life for Idahoans. “We
were committed to INEEL’s mission in 1999, and we staked our reputation on the Laboratory’s rise in stature and capability. This rise was achieved through the hard work of our staff and our management’s intense focus on partnering with the DOE and with the Lab’s other customers. The INL now needs a continuation of a singular level of priority from its contractor.”
Entergy and its affiliates own and operate 10 nuclear generating units at eight sites, making the Entergy system the largest nuclear power operator in the U.S. Northeast and one of the largest in the nation. “Every day we safely produce low-cost, affordable power for Americans without emitting any air pollutants. Entergy Nuclear has the proven reactor operational experience to complement DOE’s vision of a nuclear future,” said Gary J. Taylor, president and CEO of Entergy Nuclear. “The nuclear technology to be developed at INL is a key part of a national energy mix that is critical to America’s energy security, diversity, and energy independence.”
Honeywell’s well-deserved national reputation as a manufacturer of quality products and integrated system solutions has helped make life safer and more secure for people, industry, and governments in every corner of the world. “As a leader in the development of national security systems, Honeywell understands the practical applications of the technologies developed at DOE’s national laboratories,” said Dave Douglass, vice president and general
manager of Honeywell’s Air Transport operations in Phoenix and former president of Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, which operates the National Nuclear Security Administration’s businesses based in Kansas City, MO. “Our industrial and security knowledge, integrated with the impressive national security research and development program created at the Laboratory during the past four years, will result in significant contributions necessary to continue protecting America’s national security.”
With the fastest growing nuclear education program in America, Texas A&M University will have an immediate impact at the INL. “Texas A&M understands DOE’s goal of a premier applied research and nuclear engineering educational component for the INL,” said Benton Cocanougher, interim chancellor of The Texas A&M University System. “We also look forward to building upon the academic pursuits, compelling collaborations, and personal relations we have
established with Idaho’s major universities.”
Background on team members includes: Bechtel is the managing partner of Bechtel BWXT Idaho, which currently manages the INEEL for the U.S. Department of Energy. Bechtel engages in projects for major federal government customers including the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Bechtel’s ability to provide world-class engineering, construction, and
management services on large, complex, first-of-a-kind projects has made the company a leading contractor for both the U.S. Defense and Energy departments. Bechtel is the world’s leading engineer and constructor within the power generation industry, with experience that includes 150 nuclear power generation units worldwide. www.bechtel.com
Entergy Corporation, the parent of Entergy Nuclear, is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production, retail distribution operations, energy marketing and trading, and gas transportation. Entergy owns and operates power plants with about 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is one of the largest nuclear generators in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.6 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, and operates nuclear facilities in several states. Entergy has annual revenues of over $9 billion and approximately 14,000 employees. www.entergy.com
Honeywell is a $23 billion diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; turbochargers; automotive products; specialty chemicals; fibers; and electronic and advanced materials. Honeywell is one of 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is a component of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol HON, as well as on the London, Chicago, and Pacific Stock Exchanges. www.honeywell.com
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest and most complex systems of higher education in the nation. Through a statewide network of 10 university campuses, seven state agencies, and a comprehensive health science center, the A&M System educates nearly 100,000 students, conducts more than $500 million in research, and reaches another 11 million people through services each year. Texas A&M University, the flagship institution in the A&M System, enrolls 45,000 students and is in the top ten among U.S. universities in research. The Dwight Look College of Engineering has nearly 10,000 students. Texas A&M is also home to the largest and fastest growing nuclear engineering program in the country, with a current student
enrollment of about 204 undergraduates and 74 graduate students, and a faculty of 19. Graduate and undergraduate degrees are offered in nuclear engineering and radiological health engineering. Texas A&M University research facilities include two research reactors, seven accelerators, and a high-energy pulsed plasma laboratory. http://tamusystem.tamu.edu and www.tamu.edu .
