While no details were provided, a Department of Energy spokesperson officially confirmed late Friday Centerra will continue at least in the short term as security contractor at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
“Yes, they’ll be extended,” the spokesperson said. The federal agency is not working today in observance of the Columbus Day holiday.
The most recent extension for Centerra, provider of security services and safeguards for special nuclear material at the federal complex next to the Georgia line since October 2009, was set to expire last Thursday, according to an agency contract chart last updated Oct. 4. The current value of the business is listed at a little over $1 billion.
The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management’s award of a 10-year, $1-billion award in February to the SRS Critical Infrastructure Security (SCIS) team led by Securitas CIS has been the subject of a series of protests to the Government Accountability Office. One was filed soon after DOE announced the contract and then a second came after the agency said in June that it was sticking with its winning bidder.
DOE is still not ready to green light a long-term security provider, Angela Watmore, a top procurement manager for the agency’s nuclear cleanup arm, told attendees of an Energy Technology and Environmental Business Association (ETEBA) event on Thursday. She confirmed corrective action would be taken on the controversial correct competition. In August, the Government Accountability Office dismissed the latest protest of the award, with the expectation that DOE would take another look at the procurement.
