The wait to find out who will run Los Alamos National Laboratory is almost over.

The Department of Energy announced will reveal the winner of the contract to operate the lab Wednesday at 12 p.m. in Washington.

The news will come through a press conference with Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman.

The announcement was originally scheduled for Dec. 1, but was put on hold to give the National Nuclear Security Agency more time to review the paperwork.

The delay has put a lot of stress on Los Alamos employees, who are feeling relief right now, said Doug Roberts, a retired Los Alamos scientist who operates a popular blog on the problems at the lab at www.lanl-the-real-story.blogspot.com.

"It's been hanging for such a long time that people are just ready for it to be over," Roberts said.

Two teams are vying for the $79 million-a-year operating contract to manage the lab. The contract runs for seven years.

They are:

University of California and Bechtel Corp.

UC has managed the lab since it was founded in the 1940s. It is the nation's largest university system and also operates Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories. Bechtel is an international engineering, construction and project management company with $17.4 billion in revenues in 2004. UC and Bechtel would split lab management duties 50-50, with the help of minor partners.

Lockheed Martin and the University of Texas.

UT is the nation's second-largest university system. Lockheed is the lead partner in the deal, with UT heading up the academic component of the team. Lockheed is primarily an international defense contractor with strengths in information technology, systems integration and training. It also runs Sandia National Laboratories. Lockheed reported 2004 sales of $35.5 billion.

If the Lockheed-UT partnership wins the bid, C. Paul Robinson, the former director of Sandia National Laboratories, will become the new director at Los Alamos. He plans to be in the town shortly after the announcement if his team is chosen, said spokesman Don Carson.

Jeff Berger, the spokesman for the University of California team, said he wasn't sure where Michael Anastasio, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will be for the decision. Anastasio will lead the lab if UC is chosen.

The University of California on its own has operated the lab for the past 62 years, but a series of scandals including missing classified material which turned out to be an accounting error and fraudulent use of purchasing cards led to the NNSA's decision to put the lab's operating contract up for bid for the first time in its history.