The Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup officials are optimistic an overhaul of the contracting process will enable some sites undergoing environmental remediation to “leapfrog the current life-cycle baseline, and get us to done-done quicker,” a senior official said Wednesday.
The Office of Environmental Management (EM), with a current-year budget exceeding $7 billion, is responsible for remediation of 16 DOE sites around the country that have contributed to the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Larger projects, such as the Hanford Site in Washington state, are expected to continue for decades.
The office is working to implement Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment Anne Marie White’s goal to “re-invigorate” the completion mentality for remediation programs, Angela Watmore, a special adviser and head of contracting at EM, said in a keynote address to an Energy, Technology, and Environmental Business Association (ETEBA) conference in Knoxville, Tenn. “We are trying to get more work done.”
Insights into the revised approach can be found in the recently issued draft request for proposals for the Hanford Central Plateau Cleanup Contract, Watmore said. The Energy Department hopes to make more fee available in exchange for greater emphasis on measurable milestones. The solicitation is designed to allow vendors “to color outside the lines” and be innovative, she said.
Watmore was asked during her presentation if significant tweaks in procurement could lead to more bid protests.
“We don’t want a protest,” and DOE can reduce the chances of protests, Watmore said: “We must be clear on what we are looking for and be clear on how we evaluate you.”
Contractors obviously don’t want to start out under one set of assumptions about DOE expectations for a project only years later to lose significant fee over a misunderstanding, Watmore said.
