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We drive by its headquarters near Ohio State University, attend events in the hall named for it in the Columbus Convention Center and go to the park that bears its name, but few of us know what Battelle really does. The research institute's stock in trade has always been smarts. The company that opened in Columbus in 1929 as Battelle Memorial Institute brought the world Xerox copiers, compact discs and the coating for M&M's. But it's what we don't hear about -- the hundreds of contracts for national security, energy and health research -- that drives its revenue to new heights. Battelle grew its annual revenue from $921 million in 1998 to $4.6 billion last year by winning contracts to manage seven national laboratories, boosting its national-security work and focusing a lot of research power on energy and health science.

"After months of failed negotiations, members of the local unions that represent bus drivers, maintenance personnel, dispatchers, and the United Steel Workers, held an informational picket to let the community know about issues they have with Battelle Energy Alliance, the company who operates the INL. This coming Monday, the contract between the company and the unions will end at midnight. Negotiations have been taking place since April, but so far, no resolution has been met. A lack of communication, loss of seniority rights, and problems with labor relations are all reasons the group says they're picketing today. The main issue for the bus drivers is one proposal from Battelle would force them to take a four and a half hour mid-day, unpaid break. "

The U.S. Department of Energy has upheld a 2008 decision in favor of an Idaho National Laboratory employee who claims he was mistreated after filing a whistleblower complaint against the company that operates the lab. The agency issued its ruling Tuesday in the case of Dennis Patterson, a former 27-year employee at INL. Patterson, was the former manager of employee concerns and business ethics for Battelle Energy Alliance, the contractor that runs INL. In his 2006 case, Patterson accused Battelle of retaliating against him repeatedly after he filed a whistleblower complaint with the Department of Energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy has decided to retain the contractor charged with running the Idaho National Laboratory nuclear and research complex near Arco. INL officials announced Monday that the DOE has determined it will allow Battelle Energy Alliance to complete the duration of its 10-year contract to run the federally owned complex through September 2014. The decision was made pursuant to a special assessment mandated by Battelle's 2004 contract. A clause in the contract required the DOE to review the contractor's performance by Sept. 30 and then decide whether to reduce the term of the contract.

The US Department of Energy on Wednesday said it would use $44 million to fund 71 nuclear energy research and development projects. The funding will go to 31 universities and fund projects for the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative, the Next Generation Nuclear Plant, Light Water Reactor Sustainability, as well as Investigator-Initiated Research, according to DOE. "As a zero-carbon energy source, nuclear power must be part of our energy mix as we work toward energy independence and meeting the challenge of global warming," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement. "The next generation of nuclear power plants -- with the highest standards of safety, efficiency and environmental protection -- will require the latest advancements in nuclear science and technology." Chu has voiced his support for nuclear energy since becoming energy secretary in January, but the administration's decision to stop pursuing a national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain has led some to charge that DOE no longer supports nuclear power. The $44 million in funding announced Wednesday will be provided over three years and the project contracts will be awarded by Idaho National Laboratory contractor Battelle at the end of September.

Gerald Boyd, the Dept. of Energy's Oak Ridge manager, spoke at a safety meeting a couple of months ago, and he made a comment that Oak Ridge likely has a bigger base of contractors and subcontractors than other other DOE site in the country. I don't know whether that's the case, and Boyd acknowledged that he didn't know it for sure. But it makes sense, given the diversity of operations in Oak Ridge and the scale of the work taking place.

A Utah-based nuclear services company has been awarded a contract from Battelle Energy Alliance to manage waste from Battelle's lab operations at the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho. EnergySolutions, of Salt Lake City, will treat, package and transport radioactive, hazardous and industrial waste from several INL facilities, including the Advanced Test Reactor site and the Materials and Fuels Complex. Company spokesman Mark Walker says the $19 million contract will run for five years, with work beginning this summer. Approximately 20 workers will be employed under the contract.

DeNuke Services announced that it received a blanket ordering agreement for support of environmental compliance and waste management at ORNL. The BOA with UT-Battelle is for one year, with four one-year options, according to John Coffman, president of DeNuke. "It's primarily providing technical personnel to support their EM (environmental management) and their cleanup program -- health and safety, waste management, project oversight," Coffman said.

The Department of Energy has given a team led by Lockheed Martin notice to proceed as the Hanford mission support contractor. The notice to proceed indicates that no protest will be filed on the contract award made late in April to the Lockheed team, Mission Support Alliance. The losing bidder for the contract, Computer Sciences Corp., or CSC, has reached an agreement with the Mission Support Alliance to become a major subcontractor on the team and will not protest the award. "We're still working the details out," said Joe Wagovich, spokesman for Lockheed Martin. The transition from outgoing contractor Fluor Hanford to Mission Support Alliance is expected to begin before the end of the month, although the start date has not been set. The transition will last 90 days and then Mission Support Alliance, led by Frank Figueroa, will take charge of support services at Hanford. Mission Support Alliance was first awarded the contract valued at $3 billion over 10 years in September, but CSC, which had teamed with Battelle, protested the award to the Government Accountability Office.

SCIENTISTS in 'nuclear free' Manchester have claimed victory in a north-south battle to control nuclear research. A group of experts led by Manchester University will take charge of Britain's nuclear research labs, beating a rival bid from Imperial College London. The move follows attempts by the government to put a private group in charge of the country's six research facilities. Manchester's consortium, which includes nuclear safety firms Serco and Battelle, has now been named as the government's preferred bidder. The group will be responsible for maintaining the laboratories at Sellafield in Cumbria and Preston and facilities in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

"The Department of Energy no longer will automatically seek bids for management of national laboratories, including Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and may instead renew agreements with current contractors. In a new policy statement, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said that the practice common under the previous presidential administration of routinely opening the lab contracts to competition often did not have the expected benefits of saving money and improving efficiency. Under Chu's leadership, the decision on whether to open management contracts for competition will be decided case by case. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland has been operated by Battelle since 1964, but DOE decided to open the management of the lab to competition in 2007."

"As noted earlier this year, one of ORNL's oldest facilities was demolished in the first phase of Recovery Act cleanup work. After the wooden superstructure was demolished (by Clauss Construction under a subcontract to UT-Battelle), the World War II-era hot cells were "weather-proofed" to prevent the spread of rad contamination until they can be dismantled and removed. In the top photo, you can see that the hot cells -- where materials from the historic Graphite Reactor were once processed -- have been encased in a gray protective sealant, awaiting future work. One lab official reportedly referred to them as ORNL's "Stonehenge." "