An agreement between the four LANS members established a Board of Governors that is charged with oversight and governance of LANS, LLC. The Board includes three individuals appointed by the University of California and three individuals appointed by Bechtel, as well as five independent Governors who are selected for their expertise and experience in fields pertinent to LANL operations. The Board includes an Executive Committee that consists of the six University of California and Bechtel appointees.
The President of LANS LLC, Michael R. Anastasio, reports directly and solely to the LANS LLC Board of Governors. The laboratory director is also Michael R. Anastasio.
LANS was formed during a period of doubt about whether the University of California would be awarded the management contract, after it was forced to compete for the contract for the first time since it had first began to manage LANL during the Manhattan Project as a result of numerous scandals and dissatisfaction with its management. LANS eventually was pitted against the University of Texas System partnered with Lockheed-Martin, and was awarded the LANL contract in December 2005.
In addition to LANS being reimbursed for the cost of operating LANL ($2.2 billion annually), LANS also receives a yearly fee for managing LANL of approximately $79 million from the Department of Energy.
In September 2007, director Michael R. Anastasioannounced a possible layoff of 2500 people based on predicted budget shortfalls of $350M for FY08. Critics of LANS, both internal and external have been predicting a major layoff since the contract to operate LANL was re-bid. The operating fee of approximately $79M and the gross receipts tax (LANL was formerly operated by UC as a non-profit) contribute approximately 1/2 of the expected budget shortfall.
