ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup wing recently delayed or paused a couple of contract procurements, participants in the National Cleanup Workshop heard here Sept 15.
The Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup solicitation in New Mexico has been delayed, as well as the Paducah Decontamination and Decommissioning Contract in Kentucky, said Aaron Deckard, senior contracting partner at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM).
In May, EM received “robust industry feedback” on a draft solicitation for the Legacy Cleanup Contract at Los Alamos, Deckard said. The DOE office currently anticipates putting a final request for proposals on the street in February 2027, he said. The business is now held by Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B).
“For Paducah, there is also the awareness that we will proceed with an extension of the current contract to align with regulatory approvals that we have coming up,” Deckard said. The business is currently held by Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership.
Outside contractors typically take up most of EM’s $8 billion annual budget and usually 20% of the contractors’ share goes to small businesses, Deckard said.
Since the onset of the second Donald Trump administration there have been five executive orders that have affected EM to some degree, Deckard said. The orders are intended to improve efficiency in contracting and help DOE modernize its operations, he added. This summer DOE unveiled Project Velocity to cut red tape at the 17 national labs, the EM executive said.
“So, what does this all mean for you,” Deckard said. “A lot of change … But a lot has stayed exactly the same.”