The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management could issue a half-dozen major contract nuclear cleanup awards, collectively worth up to $35 billion, by the end of 2019.
The office’s ’s latest procurement schedule, dated May 10, outlines an ambitious schedule of contract deals this year. Environmental Management updates its timelines every few months and the target dates tend to be fluid.
Nevertheless, the agency hopes 2019 will be a big year. Three of the 10-year awards are expected by the end of August at the Hanford Site in Washington state, with a fourth Hanford award expected three months later.
Here’s a 2019 rundown.
- The Hanford Mission Essential Services, sometimes referred to as the “landlord” contract, is worth $4 billion to $6 billion. The Energy Department issued its request for proposals in September 2018, with bids submitted two months later. Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance is the incumbent. The contract covers a wide range of tasks, including emergency response, oversight of vehicle fleets, road maintenance, cybersecurity, and information management.
- Hanford Tank Closure is valued at between $10 billion and $15 billion. The RFP went out in February, with bids due in March. AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) is the incumbent in charge of overseeing and eventually closing 177 underground tanks holding 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste.
- A similar RFP and bid deadline occurred for the Hanford Central Plateau Cleanup Contract, which has an estimated value range of $7 billion to $12 billion. The business is now held by Jacobs subsidiary CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co., covering demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant and serving as prime contractor for waste management and environmental remediation near the Columbia River.
- A draft RFP went out in July 2018 for the Nevada Environmental Program Services Contract. The final RFP is expected by the end of July and the award anticipated in October. It is worth an estimated $250 million to $400 million. Navarro is the incumbent. The job includes decontamination and decommissioning at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) for DOE and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
- The Savannah River Site Paramilitary Security Contract in South Carolina is valued at between $600 million and $1 billion. Bids closed this month. The award could be out in October for the business now held by Centerra Group. The winner must protect the safety and security of employees, contractors, and the general public, along with providing cybersecurity.
- After the RFP was issued in February, and bids closed in April, an award is expected by the end of November for the consolidated Hanford 222-S Laboratory Management contract. It is valued at between $600 million and $1 billion. The former Wastren Advantage, since merged into Veolia, is the incumbent for laboratory analysis and testing services. Meanwhile, WRPS provides maintenance, support services, and other work under its tank management contract. The Energy Department is merging the work under one vendor.
Virtually all of the procurements will employ at least some aspects of DOE’s end-state contracting model, with its emphasis on single-award indefinite delivery/indefinite-quantity agreements, rather than traditional management and operation contracts in which a 10-year scope of work is agreed upon beforehand.
Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management Anne Marie White has said the agency will offer contractors increased fees for meeting schedule and completion milestones, while DOE will retain flexibility to alter the scope of the work.
