Editing University of California (section)

===National laboratories===
[[File:Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (52230758982).jpg|thumb|[[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] in the [[Berkeley Hills]].]]
The University of California directly manages and operates one [[United States Department of Energy National Laboratories|United States Department of Energy National Laboratory]]:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucop.edu/laboratory-management/ |title=Office of the National Laboratories {{!}} UCOP |website=www.ucop.edu |language=en |access-date=August 15, 2017 |archive-date=December 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207150243/http://www.ucop.edu/laboratory-management/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] (LBNL, or Berkeley Lab) ([[Berkeley, California]])

UC is a limited partner in two separate private [[Limited liability company|limited liability companies]] that manage and operate two other Department of Energy national laboratories:
* [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] (LANL) ([[Los Alamos, New Mexico]]) operated by Triad National Security, LLC.
* [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] (LLNL) ([[Livermore, California]]) operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC.

[[File:University of California Radiation Laboratory staff on the magnet yoke for the 60-inch cyclotron, 1938.jpg|thumb|Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory staff on the magnet yoke for the 60-inch cyclotron, 1938; Nobel prize winners [[Ernest Lawrence]], [[Edwin McMillan]], and [[Luis Walter Alvarez|Luis Alvarez]] are shown, in addition to [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]] and [[Robert R. Wilson]].]]
The '''Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory''' conducts unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines with key efforts focused on fundamental studies of the universe, quantitative biology, nanoscience, new energy systems and environmental solutions, and the use of integrated computing as a tool for discovery.

The '''Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory''' uses advanced science and technology to ensure that U.S. nuclear weapons remain reliable. LLNL also has major research programs in supercomputing and predictive modeling, energy and environment, bioscience and biotechnology, basic science and applied technology, counter-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and homeland security. It is also home to the most powerful supercomputers in the world.

The '''Los Alamos National Laboratory''' focuses most of its work on ensuring the reliability of U.S. nuclear weapons. Other work at LANL involves research programs into preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction and US national security, such as protection of the US homeland from terrorist attacks.

The UC system's ties to the three laboratories have occasionally sparked controversy and protest, because all three laboratories have been intimately linked with the development of [[nuclear weapon]]s. During the [[World War II]] [[Manhattan Project]], Lawrence Berkeley Lab developed the electromagnetic method for the separation of uranium isotopes used to develop the first atomic bombs. The Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore labs have been involved in designing U.S. nuclear weapons from their inception until the shift into [[stockpile stewardship]] after the end of the [[Cold War]]. Historically the two national laboratories in Berkeley and Livermore named after [[Ernest O. Lawrence]], have had very close relationships on research projects, as well as sharing some business operations and staff. In fact, [[LLNL]] was not officially severed administratively from [[LBNL]] until the early 1970s. They also have much deeper ties to the university than the Los Alamos Lab, a fact seen in their respective original names; the University of California Berkeley Radiation Laboratory and the University of California Radiation Laboratory at Livermore.
[[File:Lick Observatory Shane Telescope.jpg|thumb|[[Lick Observatory]], atop [[Mount Hamilton (California)|Mount Hamilton]] in the [[Diablo Range]].]]
The UC system's ties to the labs have so far outlasted all periods of internal controversy. However, in 2003, the U.S. Department of Energy for the first time opened the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] (LANL) contract for bidding by other vendors. UC entered into a partnership with [[Bechtel Corporation]], [[BWXT]], and the [[Washington Group International]], and together they created a private company called [[Los Alamos National Security, LLC]] (LANS). The only other bidder on the LANL contract was a [[Lockheed Martin]] Corporation-created company that included, among others, the [[University of Texas System]]. In December 2005, a seven-year contract to manage the laboratory was awarded to the Los Alamos National Security, LLC.<ref>{{cite news |last=Broad |first=William J. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/national/22alamos.html |title=California Is Surprise Winner in Bid to Run Los Alamos |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 22, 2005 |access-date=February 10, 2008 |archive-date=January 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121073208/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/national/22alamos.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On October 1, 2007, the University of California ended its direct involvement in operating the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Management of the laboratory was taken over by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, a limited liability company whose members are Bechtel National, the University of California, Babcock & Wilcox, the Washington Division of URS Corporation, Battelle Memorial Institute, and The Texas A&M University System. Other than UC appointing three members to the two separate boards of directors (each with eleven members) that oversee LANS and LLNS, UC now has virtually no responsibility for or direct involvement in either LANL or LLNL. UC policies and regulations that apply to UC campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California no longer apply to LANL and LLNL, and the LANL and LLNL directors no longer report to the UC Regents or UC Office of the President.