The Department of Energy could hold virtual debrief sessions this week for bidders on the Hanford Site Tank Closure Contract just awarded to a team led by BWX Technologies.
The sessions should happen Thursday and Friday, an industry source said Monday.
During these briefings, DOE explains the thinking behind a contract award. Those companies then have 10 days to file any protest against the procurement decision with the Government Accountability Office.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management on Thursday announced the potential 13-year contract at the former plutonium production complex in Washington state to Hanford Works Restoration, comprised of BWXT and Fluor. Two pre-selected small businesses, Texas-based Intera and Richland, Wash.-based DBD International (or Different by Design), are also part of the team.
Sources have indicated that one of the rival bidder groups is comprised of Atkins, Amentum, and Westinghouse. Amentum is the lead company, with Atkins the minority partner, in incumbent tank-waste management vendor Washington River Protection Solutions. The third team is believed to include Jacobs.
“This contract award demonstrates that BWXT’s nuclear operations and waste management capabilities are key differentiators for Hanford’s programs that are of critical importance to the nation and the State of Washington,” said BWXT President and CEO Rex Geveden in a Monday press release.
Hanford Works Restoration will manage the 177 tanks that hold about 56 million gallons of radioactive waste leftover from decades of plutonium production for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The contractor will also build facilities to pretreat and feed low-level waste to the low-activity waste facilities at the Waste Treatment Plant being constructed by Bechtel.
