Contracts & Procurement

The Department of Energy yesterday awarded a $6 million contract to Synergy Solutions, Inc., an 8(a) small disadvantaged business, for technical and administrative support at the Denver Federal Center’s Building 55. The firm fixed contract has a five year performance period. Building 55 is used for operation of the DOE Office of Environmental Management Consolidated […]

The Department of Energy has launched its procurement for a follow-on contract for the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Facilities Project at the Paducah and Portsmouth sites, releasing yesterday a sources sought and a draft performance work statement. B&W Conversion Services, LLC, is currently operating the facilities under a contract set to expire on Jan. 1, […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Echoing preliminary findings by the Congressionally appointed advisory panel on National Nuclear Security Administration governance, acting NNSA Administrator Bruce Held this week told a House subcommittee that the agency’s approach to governance had failed. Held’s comments followed testimony last week from the co-chairmen of the advisory panel, Norm Augustine and […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Consolidated Nuclear Security, the incoming contractor at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons facilities, continues to gradually introduce its leadership team and its management plans through a series of messages to employees at the sites. Last weekend, CNS—a partnership led by Bechtel and including Lockheed Martin, ATK Launch Systems and […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration is monitoring changes to Los Alamos National Laboratory’s ethics review process in the wake of a DOE Inspector General report that led to the resignation last month of Deputy Director Beth Sellers, and the agency hasn’t made a decision whether or not to take further […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The Department of Energy is proposing a new regulation that would allow it to withhold payments if a contractor’s business systems have “significant deficiencies.” That includes the accounting, estimating, purchasing, earned value management and property management systems. “DOE proposes to implement compliance enforcement mechanisms in the form of a business […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 3/28/2014 Major changes are in the works for B&W’s Technical Services Group, with President George Dudich leaving the company, NS&D Monitor has learned. B&W is also moving to combine its Technical Services Group with the company’s Nuclear Operations Group to create a new Government Operations division that will be headed by […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/28/2014 The Department of Energy has begun discussions with the companies that run Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories about reducing the fee they can receive, acting National Nuclear Security Administration chief Bruce Held confirmed this week. Speaking on the sidelines of a March 26 Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 3/28/2014 Not surprisingly, the most frequently asked questions being asked these days at Y-12 and Pantex have to do with jobs and benefits, as the two plants in Tennessee and Texas are transitioning to a new contractor. However, the new contractor, Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC, isn’t ready to make job offers—there […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 After three protests and more than 14 months, Babcock & Wilcox-led Nuclear Production Partners (NP2) is giving up its fight for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12/Pantex contract, the company said this week. NP2 three times protested the NNSA’s selection of Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security for the $22.8 billion contract, […]

Martin Schneider CEO ExchangeMonitor Publications 3/21/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration this week announced plans to extend the management contract for Sandia National Laboratories for another two years, with an option for a third year. Makes sense, right? After just finishing the seven-year odyssey that became the Y-12/Pantex contract competition, a two-year extension will give […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration at long last is moving to compete the Sandia National Laboratories management and operating contract, announcing this week that it is extending Lockheed Martin’s contract to run the lab for two years (with an option for a third) while it prepares to open up the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Science is adding award-term incentives to the Brookhaven National Laboratory management and operating contract but is also slightly decreasing the available fee for the contract, according to a Request for Proposals released this week. The RFP includes a five-year base contract and the opportunity […]

Bechtel executive Jim Allen, who was bid to be the chief operating officer for Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security, is retiring and will not assume his role as the No. 2 official for the new contractor, CNS spokesman Jason Bohne has confirmed. Bohne said a “family medical situation” is preventing Allen from taking the position, […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 Shareholders have been able to convince two major contractors in the Department of Energy marketplace—URS and Babcock & Wilcox—to make changes to their boards of directors. This week, URS announced that it has reached an agreement with shareholder JANA Partners, LLC, which owns slightly less than 10 percent of the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/14/2014 In a twist befitting the National Nuclear Security Administration’s topsy-turvy Y-12/Pantex procurement, the latest protest by B&W-led Nuclear Production Partners (NP2) had the company stressing its weaknesses and the NNSA citing the “significant benefit” of NP2’s proposed cost savings, had the agency picked NP2 instead of Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security […]

Todd Jacobson and Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 3/14/2014 With transition underway to new Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security, CNS President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Haynes said the company has already completed five key deliverables for the National Nuclear Security Administration. Bechtel-led CNS, which also includes Lockheed Martin, ATK, SOC and subcontractor Booz Allen Hamilton, […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 3/14/2014 A National Nuclear Security Administration official last week outlined a host of concerns with the way NNSA and Department of Energy small business contracting is impacting industry, including in the list reverse auctions, restrictive size standards, acquisition strategies and underutilization of contract vehicles. One big concern is the consequence of […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/07/2014 Nearly 14 months since the National Nuclear Security Administration first selected Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security for its Y-12/Pantex consolidated management and operating contract, transition to the new contractor has resumed. However, Babcock & Wilcox-led Nuclear Production Partners—which three times protested the NNSA’s selection—declined comment this week on its plans, leaving […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 Babcock & Wilcox-led Nuclear Production Partners is weighing its options after the Government Accountability Office late this week rejected its latest protest of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12/Pantex contract award. The GAO upheld NNSA’s selection of Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security for the new contract, whittling down the potential moves […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 Babcock & Wilcox recorded an increase in profits of $126.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2013 but offered a muted forecast for 2014 as it released its latest earnings report. While the company said it made a profit of $165.6 million during the fourth quarter of 2013, up from […]

North Wind Group announced yesterday that it has brought on Mark Swantko as its new Eastern Regional Business Development Manager. As part of the new position, Swantko will be based in Knoxville, Tenn., and will lead marketing and business development for the company and its six subsidiaries in 31 eastern states. Swantko was most recently […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/14/2014 Large fees for contractors managing the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nuclear weapons laboratories may be a thing of the past, acting NNSA Administrator Bruce Held said this week at the Sixth Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit. In response to questions at the sixth annual summit, Held called the “creeping privatization” of […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 2/14/2014 Bill Lingard abruptly resigned from his position as URS President and Chief Operating Officer this week. URS announced Lingard’s resignation along with the release of the company’s preliminary Fiscal Year 2013 financial results, which came in below expectations. The company said its expected 2013 earnings would be $3.20-$3.30 per share, […]

The Department of Energy has decided to conduct a third evaluation of all of the bids submitted for the new Office of Legacy Management support services contract in response to a recent Government Accountability Office decision to sustain a protest filed over DOE’s award of the new contract to Portage. DOE informed bidders on the […]

NS&D Monitor 2/07/2014 A Government Accountability Office hearing on a Babcock & Wilcox-led protest of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12/Pantex award stretched into three days this week, NW&M Monitor has learned. The hearing began Feb. 3 after being postponed from last week and wrapped up Feb. 5, and the length of the inquiry surprised […]

With the path forward for the award of a new contract to provide support services for the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management unclear, and incumbent S.M. Stoller’s current contract set to expire in a week, DOE is staying quiet on its plans for keeping Stoller in place while it completes the award of […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 As the Department of Energy plans procurements in the coming years for another round of major prime cleanup contracts, a significant question for small businesses is how the Department will consider promoting meaningful small business subcontracting. Small businesses have expressed concern in recent years as a number of prime contractors […]

Will Department be Able to Make Award Before Current Contract Expires? Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 The Department of Energy is moving forward with plans to compete a new contract to manage the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center, announcing late this week that a draft Request for Proposals is set to be issued for […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor  6/20/2014 Parsons last week rejected the Department of Energy’s “best and final” offer for a new agreement for commissioning and startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility, leaving uncertainty in the path forward for startup, WC Monitor has learned. SWPF startup talks have been ongoing since last summer, when a new […]