Contractors that over a decade ago competed for the current management and operations contract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are not yet saying whether they intend to bid on the upcoming new prime contract at the site.
The National Nuclear Security Administration last week released a draft request for proposals for the new contract, inviting prospective bidders to submit questions and feedback on the document by July 26. The final RFP is due to be released in September.
The lab is managed through the end of September 2018 by Los Alamos National Security, a partnership of Bechtel National, BWX Technologies, the University of California, and AECOM. LANS has run the site since 2006 under a contract worth roughly $2 billion each year; prior to that, the university was the sole manager.
When the current contract was competed in 2005, the University of California partnered with Bechtel to submit a bid, teamed with Washington Group International – which was acquired by URS Corp. in 2007, seven years before its own acquisition by AECOM – and BWX Technologies.
The incumbent’s competitor on that bid was Lockheed Martin Corp., partnered with the University of Texas System and teammates Fluor and CH2M Hill.
Those companies have so far stayed mum about their intentions toward the new contract competition. BWXT, CH2M, and Bechtel declined to comment this week on whether they plan to submit a bid.
Lockheed Martin said it is “constantly evaluating opportunities to support national security missions” and would review Energy Department opportunities “and consider a bid as we would any new business opportunity.”
The University of California has only said it would review the draft RFP.
The new contract will include a five-year base period, in addition to up to five option years. Much of the contractor’s work at the site will focus on the lab’s national security missions, including research and development toward safe nuclear explosive operations, certification of the security and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, and support for nuclear detection and WMD proliferation response.
Roughly 11,200 employees serve at the lab, more than 7,000 of whom work for the site contractor.
Bids will be judged on cost; relevant performance over the last five years; key personnel with experience leading entities of similar size and scope; and small business participation, according to the draft solicitation.
The NNSA has taken a new approach to its procurement process in recent contract bids, placing the heaviest weight on the past performance criterion – a departure from past evaluations’ focus on the contractor’s planned technical approach to running the lab. Industry representatives have been split on their views of this approach; some said it would make the bid process simpler, less costly, and more effective due to a potentially shorter timeline, while others expressed concern that a shift in evaluation focus could bias the selection toward the incumbent contractor already performing work at the site.
That latter concern has not necessarily materialized, as recent NNSA site prime contract bids have resulted in changes in management – with Honeywell teams taking over at both the Sandia National Laboratories and the Nevada National Security Site.
Meanwhile, Los Alamos County organizations told The Los Alamos Monitor this week they are concerned that the draft RFP might not suggest as much support for the lab’s partnerships with the region as the current contract does.
