The Energy Department has clarified what it means by the “Notice to Proceed” in its Hanford Site Mission Essential Services Contract, and answered other questions posed by bidders for the business, which could be worth $6 billion over 10 years.
After releasing the final request for proposals on Sept. 20 on the contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the DOE posted answers to industry questions on Thursday.
Contractors had pressed DOE to clarify what it means by the Notice to Proceed (NTP) for the contract. “We understand the definition of NTP to be the notice to begin transition” from the incumbent, the questioner, who was not identified in the document, said.
The Energy Department replied the contractor will start its performance of the agreement on the date the NTP is issued for the 120-day transition period.
Other questions tended to be more mundane and dealt with issues such as typeface font size and the page-limit for the contract proposal.
The current essential services work is held by Mission Support Alliance: a Leidos and Centerra Group joint venture. That cost-plus-award-fee contract is valued at about $3.2 billion and expires on May 25, 2019.
The winning vendor of what DOE sometimes calls the “landlord” contract will handle a variety of services across the Hanford Site, such as security and emergency response, information technology, land management, overseeing roads and utilities, as well as overseeing the HAMMER (Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response) training center.
Proposals for the new contract are due by Nov. 19.
