In the face of a legal battle over a contract award at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Department of Energy said Wednesday it will extend incumbent tank contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, for up to two more years.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management said in an online procurement notice it plans to extend the Amentum-led joint venture through Sept. 30, 2025. The current contract started in October 2008 and is valued at $10 billion. Without an extension, the deal would expire Sept. 30.
The DOE nuclear cleanup office posted the notice on the federal government’s System for Award Management at sam.gov.
In addition to Amentum, the other major partner in Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) is Atkins Nuclear.
It was an Atkins-led joint venture, Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance, that helped precipitate the incumbent’s extension by protesting the award of a follow-on tank farms contract in federal court.
In April, the Atkins team, which also includes Jacobs and Westinghouse, successfully got the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to put the brakes on award of the $45-billion Hanford Integrated Tank to BWX Technologies-led Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure, which also includes Amentum and Fluor.
The court remanded the procurement back to DOE for further action and the dispute could still end up back in court.
In the meantime, DOE buys time and ensures continuity in management of the underground radioactive waste left over from decades of plutonium production at Hanford.
“The proposed contract extension will allow for operations, projects, and activities necessary to safely store, retrieve, and treat Hanford tank waste,” DOE said in a statement emailed from a spokesperson Wednesday. “Additionally, the contract extension will support activities needed for the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste program to progress without interruption.”
The federal agency’s current target date is 2025 for the start of solidifying low-level radioactive tank waste into a glass form at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant built by Bechtel.
In addition to ramping up work prior for commissioning of the Waste Treatment Plant, the DOE notice stipulates WRPS will “perform design, engineering, environmental permitting, and operations necessary to complete the Test Bed Initiative.” This involves sending 2,000 gallons of tank waste to out-of-state to commercial sites for grouting and disposal as low-level radioactive waste.
“This is an opportunity to build on the last 15 years of progress,” WRPS President and Project Manager Wes Bryan said in a memo emailed to employees and viewed by Exchange Monitor. “Retrieving the site’s second tank farm, starting an upgraded Evaporator and Effluent Treatment Facility, and concluding the first treatment campaign through the Tank Side Cesium Removal System are within sight,” the WRPS manager added.
The Atkins group argued in court the BWXT-led venture failed to stay registered with sam.gov during the procurement process. The BWXT group also took aim at the Atkins group’s online registration, saying the rival joint venture incorrectly failed to list Atkins’ ultimate parent as a Canada-based company, SNC-Lavalin.
News of the extension was first reported Wednesday by the local Tri-City Herald in Washington state.
