AMWTP Contractor Will Now Focus on Mixed Low-Level Waste Disposition
Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
9/5/2014
In response to the ongoing shutdown at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the contractor in charge of the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site will now focus on disposition of mixed low-level waste, rather than transuranic waste. Last week, DOE and Idaho Treatment Group finalized a contract modification intended to incentivize mixed low-level waste disposition, as well as retrieval of the remaining transuranic waste stored at the AMWTP. “The modification increases the focus on the shipment of MLLW, which allows us to continue to ship waste out of the state of Idaho,” Jack Zimmerman, Deputy Manager for the Idaho Cleanup Project at DOE’s Idaho Operations Office, told WC Monitor this week.
In a written response, ITG spokesman Rick Dale said, “The reason ITG and DOE rebaselined the contract is due to WIPP currently not accepting transuranic waste shipments. The changes in the rebaseline are based on one important factor: To provide sufficient temporary storage space at AMWTP to store certified transuranic waste shipments until WIPP reopens.”
Revised Contract Includes Less Max. Fee
Previously, ITG’s ability to earn fee was tied chiefly to processing and shipping off-site transuranic waste and mixed low-level waste. Under a previous contract modification finalized in the fall of 2012, ITG had the ability to earn up to approximately $35 million in maximum fee, with the contract having called for the off-site disposal of up to 28,700 cubic meters of waste.
The new contract modification, though, includes both less maximum fee and a reduction in the amount of waste to be dispositioned. In total, the new contract modification allows ITG to earn a maximum fee of approximately $16 million. Now, ITG is required to address 6,762 cubic meters of waste, for which it can earn a total of approximately $5.35 million. That covers the off-site disposal of mixed low-level waste, for which ITG can earn approximately $790 per cubic meter; and the certification of legacy transuranic waste ready for off-site disposal, for which the contractor can earn approximately $593 per cubic meter. If ITG goes beyond the required 6,762 cubic meters of waste, it can earn an additional $1,000 for each cubic meter of additional MLLW disposed of off-site or certified transuranic waste.
The new contract modification also includes fee incentives for progress in retrieving the remaining waste stored at the AMWTP’s Retrieval Containment Enclosure, as well as for addressing other types of material. In a shift from the previous contract, though, the new contract modification also outlines a number of potential fee penalties for ITG, such as for failures in shipping off some MLLW/LLW process generated waste by the time the contract ends next September, and in completing some waste retrieval activities. “ITG is pleased and appreciated the cooperative working relationship we had with DOE Idaho developing the rebaselined contract. The available fee is in keeping with the expectations spelled out in the contract modification,” ITG President and Project Manager Danny Nichols said in a statement.
