Contracting in the national interest: Establishing the legal framework for the interaction of science, government, and industry at a nuclear weapons laboratory

Sandia National Laboratories, the nation's nuclear ordnance laboratory, is operated on a no-profit, no-fee basis by ATandT Technologies, Inc., as a prime contractor for the Department of Energy. This unique arrangement began in 1949 when President Harry Truman personally requested that ATandT assume management of the nuclear weapons laboratory as a service in the national interest. The story of how this unusual relationship came about makes for an interesting chapter in the annals of US legal and institutional history. This report describes the historical background, political negotiations, and prime contract provisos that established the legal framework for the Labs.