March 17, 2014

BOEING BACKS OUT OF PLANNED BID WITH FLUOR FOR SANDIA CONTRACT

By ExchangeMonitor

Defense contracting giant Boeing, which made a big splash by jumping into the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration market last year when it announced it was teaming with Fluor to bid for the Sandia National Laboratories management and operating contract, has pulled out of the bidding for the potentially lucrative opportunity, a company spokeswoman has confirmed. “The Boeing Company has decided not to bid for the Management and Operations contract at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico,” Boeing spokeswoman Ellen Buhr said in a statement provided to NW&M Monitor. “Last year we announced plans to team with Fluor Corp. to pursue this contract, but after an exhaustive review we have decided to withdraw from this pursuit in order to concentrate on other business opportunities.”

Buhr did not elaborate on the reasons behind Boeing’s change of heart. Boeing announced in February of 2011 that it was teaming with Fluor to bid for the contract—and perhaps other NNSA opportunities—but Boeing declined to join any of the teams bidding on the Y-12/Pantex combined M&O contract and industry officials say the company grew frustrated with the slow pace of the Sandia procurement. NNSA has provided little public information about its intentions, announcing that it planned to compete the contract as part of a December notice that it was extending Lockheed Martin’s contract to run the lab through September of 2013. But nearly six months later, the agency has released few other details and does not appear to be close to releasing a draft Request for Proposals. “Their inability to predict and really understand the procurement schedule, that’s a signal to higher-ups that they don’t know what they’re doing,” an industry official told NW&M Monitor.

Boeing’s decision comes as a significant blow to Fluor, which for the second time in the last decade tried, and failed, to lure new blood into the DOE marketplace. Fluor had planned to team with DuPont in its bid for the Savannah River Site M&O contract in 2005, but DuPont pulled out of the deal. Fluor teamed with Newport News Nuclear and Honeywell and ultimately won the contract. Fluor is still expected to pursue the Sandia contract, and it will have no shortage of potential partners. The Sandia contract is drawing significant interest from most DOE heavyweights, including Bechtel, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell, Babcock & Wilcox, Northrop Grumman, URS, and Battelle.

Comments are closed.