Members of Congress are increasingly questioning whether the University of California system should be allowed to continue managing the Energy Department's nuclear weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M., following the disappearance of several sets of computer discs.

The University of California has run the lab since 1943. However, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham last year decided to open the contract to competitive bids following a series of problems at the top-secret lab, ranging from employee purchase card fraud to unsafe storage of plutonium-contaminated waste.

During the last eight months alone, the facility has lost track of three separate sets of computer discs containing classified information. Two removable data storage devices reported missing July 7 have not been found.

By autumn, DOE is expected to release a draft request for proposals for running Los Alamos after the University of California's exclusive contract ends in September 2005.

Twelve organizations, including weapons-maker Lockheed Martin Corp., the University of Texas System and CH2M Hill, have expressed interest in bidding on the contract. The 26-member University of California Board of Regents is also preparing as if it will compete for the contract, said Chris Harrington, a board spokesman.

While DOE has the final say as to who gets the lucrative weapons research contract -- which comes with dozens of government-paid fellowships and grants -- key congressional lawmakers are questioning the University of California's fitness to continue running Los Alamos.

"We look for somebody else to at least offer to run the labs, because I think clearly, if you're rated on performance, and if performance includes security, they get a zero, not an F -- they get a zero," charged Rep. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees lab funding.

Criticism is just a sharp on the other side of Capitol Hill.

"These repeated [incidents] certainly do not help the University of California as the Los Alamos contract competition moves forward," said Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), the influential chairman of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, which funds DOE's nuclear weapons complex. "It could be a factor, but that depends on the UC bid and who its partners are in that bid."

To strengthen their potential bids, both the University of Texas and University of California systems are exploring bid partnerships with the private sector, officials confirmed yesterday.

Officials from neither body would disclose who those potential partners are. However, the University of Texas system, which operates nine universities and six medical schools, is seeking an industrial partner with expertise in nuclear management, security and safety, said Randa Safady, UT's vice chancellor for external relations.

Harrington conceded that the fallout over the missing discs will affect the California system's chances at winning a new contract.

All classified work at the lab has been halted until DOE officials can complete an inventory of sensitive data. Abraham has appointed Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow and Linton Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration to oversee the inquiry (Greenwire, July 16).

Meantime, S. Robert Foley Jr., the UC system's vice president for laboratory management, has appointed an assistant to implement new lab security measures. Such steps include assigning individual responsibility for removable lab data, as well as implementing proper storage and transfer procedures, according to a July 14 letter Foley wrote to UC President Robert Dynes.

"We know that people will be looking at management performance, but we believe we're taking corrective actions," Harrington said.

"These actions are about the current management of the facility ... and we'd like to see them carry on over to the future," he added.

While House Energy and Commerce Committee members have vocalized a desire to legislate corrective actions at the lab, no legislation is pending, said Larry Neal, a spokesman for Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas).

However, the verdict is still out on whether political pressure will affect UC's chances, given the school system's track record, suggested Pete Stockton, a senior investigator with the Project on Government Oversight and a former DOE employee.

"Ideally, there shouldn't be political pressure on awarding contracts," said Stockton, whose watchdog group is neutral on the issue.

"If [UC officials] can come up with a better bid and can manage it better, then they should get it," Stockton added. "But they've dug themselves a big hole -- one where they haven't seen the bottom yet."