DOE SEEKS FIRMS INTERESTED IN OAK RIDGE SLUDGE PROJECT

The Department of Energy issued a notice yesterday seeking qualifications from firms interested in providing architect and engineering services for design of the Sludge Processing Facility Buildouts Project at the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center. The procurement is being competed on an unrestricted basis, and DOE plans to issue a cost-reimbursable-type contract that will run approximately three years for design services, with services to continue to provide assistance for construction oversight, according the notice. Qualifications will be evaluated based on four criteria—1. Professional Qualifications; 2. Specialized Experience; 3. Past Performance and 4. Capacity and Contract Management , with criteria 1 and 2 “considered most important and equal among themselves”; and criteria 3 and 4 “slightly less important and equal between themselves,” the notice states. Responses are due by April 16, and a solicitation is set to be issued after the responses are evaluated.

The Sludge Processing Facility Buildouts Project is intended to address approximately 2,000 cubic meters of remote-handled transuranic waste sludge and associated supernate. DOE is seeking a firm to design and build a test facility “for purposes of advancing the technical maturity level of the equipment and systems and completion of the design for SL-PFB,” as well as to complete the final design for the project and provide support during the construction and operational readiness review phase of the project, the notice states. DOE plans to conduct a separate procurement for a contract to build and operate the Sludge Processing Facility Buildouts Project. “The Sludge Design to be completed by the A-E contractor will be provided to the Construction Contractor for Construction/Operations. No construction contract may be awarded to the firm that designs the project,” yesterday’s notice says.