WC Monitor
7/24/2015
Bidding Opens for Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Management Contract
The Department of Energy on Wednesday released its request for proposals for the management contract at the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) in Tennessee. The new management contract will be a cost-plus-award-fee deal. It will have a base term of five years and, according to the RFP’s executive summary, unlike previous contracts it will have a “a non-monetary performance incentive which allows the earning of up to an additional five years of contract term for exemplary performance.” The proposals are due by 2 p.m. Sept. 8. A source evaluation board has been established to evaluate those proposals, and Alutiiq LLC and 22nd Century Technologies will support the SEB activities.
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) has held the contract since ORISE was created by DOE in 1992, and before that it served as an Oak Ridge contractor for DOE – and its predecessor agencies – since 1946 (when ORAU was known as the Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies.) ORAU President Andy Page earlier said the organization plans to submit a proposal in hopes of keeping the long-held contract. ORISE performs multiple missions in support of the Department of Energy, as well as other federal agencies, and ORAU has traditionally leveraged its member universities to support science and educational initiatives.
There could be some twists in the upcoming contract. The RFP said the Oak Ridge-based institute will continue initiatives “to develop the next generation of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” In addition, ORISE will be asked to “promote DOE-funded research through peer review” and provide independent assessments of environmental cleanup activities. The Oak Ridge contractor historically has conducted epidemiologic studies of DOE’s nuclear workforce, and that role will continue on “long-term health outcomes” of current and former workers.
Also, the contractor will operate the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REACTS), which provides medical response for U.S.-based radiation emergencies, as well as incidents and situations across the globe. ORISE currently performs a number of roles, such as health communications support for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies, as well as various national security programs. Those activities, however, do not appear to be emphasized in the request for proposals. Bidders will be required to include their plans for small-business subcontracting as part of their proposals.
Nominations Open for New Sick Nuclear Workers Compensation Advisory Board
Although billions of dollars have been paid out over the past 15 years to compensate and provide medical care for employees made sick by exposures in the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, there have been continuing cries from sick workers and their advocates that the system is biased against the claimants. A new advisory panel created last year by executive order is intended to provide more independent input into the compensation decision-making process, as recommended by a 2010 Government Accountability Office report.
The U.S. Department of Labor this week announced that it is seeking nominations for the newly created Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health for Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness and Compensation Program. Part E provides for compensation up to $250,000 and medical care for those made sick by exposures to toxic chemicals and substances in the workplace. (Part B of the compensation program is for certain types of cancer associated with radiation exposures.) The advisory board can have up to 15 members.
The Labor Department said it intends for a third of the membership to come from the scientific community, with another third from the medical community and a third from the “claimant community.” The federal agency’s announcement included a statement from Leonard J. Howie III, the director of the department’s Workers’ Compensation Office. “The advice of the new board members on the technical aspects of this important program will be invaluable,” Howie said. Terrie Barrie of the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups (ANWAG), which fought to get more independent expertise added to the compensation program, said it’s important that sick workers have advocates on the advisory board. Nominations are due by Aug. 20, 2015.
