Department of Energy contractors and subcontractors, including those in the National Nuclear Security Administration, can be indemnified from damages arising because of testing for COVID-19, under a determination published Tuesday by Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette.
The order also indemnifies contractors that plan to offer DOE computing facilities to scientists who want to model the spread of COVID-19, or research potential cures for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that broke out in Wuhan, China, last year.
The order relies on indemnity provided by Public Law 85-804. Along with the order, Brouillette provided a sample paragraph that can be used to incorporate that indemnity into existing contracts.
In part, that paragraph says that contractors and subcontractors can be indemnified against damages arising from “[p]articipation in tasks or activities by the Contractor or its subcontractors on or after March 13, 2020 through June 30, 2020 that is directed or authorized by the U.S. Department of Energy or the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration, including work for others, as an element of activities taken now and through June 30, 2020 in response to COVID-19, including but not limited to efforts to test for the presence of COVID-19, to provide equipment and resources to address COVID-19, and to develop treatments and vaccines for COVID-19.”
