Purdue University, Bechtel Corp. Bid To Run Nuclear Lab

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue University is partnering with an engineering company to bid for a chance to operate a nuclear weapons research center in New Mexico.

University spokesman Brian Zink tells the Indianapolis Business Journal that Purdue is teaming up with San Francisco-based Bechtel in a bid to operate the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The contract is worth more than $2 billion annually and comes with the possibility of earning millions more in management fees. Bids to operate the lab were due late last year. The groups chosen to work the lab will begin operations in October.

The facility is located 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe and employs 11,200 workers. The lab was created during World War II to design nuclear weapons under the Manhattan Project.