The Department of Energy last week gave feedback to contractors on its expectations for a national small business procurement for nuclear cleanup, a solicitation where bids are now due July 10.
In the latest batch of questions and answers for the Small Business Nationwide Deactivation, Decommissioning and Removal procurement, DOE’s cleanup office fielded inquiries on early task orders at a contaminated site 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It’s part of a wide-ranging procurement that will eventually include multiple sites over a decade.
Incumbent North Wind Portage now holds a $65-million contract that runs through September for remediation work at DOE’s Energy Technology Engineering Center at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California’s Simi Valley.
North Wind has already taken down to the ground the last of DOE’s structures. Boston-based CDM Smith holds the support services work at Santa Susana, and has been extended through Dec. 31, 2023, DOE confirmed Tuesday.
The document indicates there will be a task order with a big role for small business at the California lab, used for decades by Boeing, NASA and DOE for research on areas such as rocket engines and nuclear materials. The lead California agency, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, recently released its final Program Environmental Impact Report for the property.
DOE will not hold a site tour of the property, but a virtual tour is available online, the agency said in response to a question.
In a larger set of questions and answers on June 9, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management agreed to extend the proposal deadline two weeks, to July 10 rather than June 26. Prospective bidders sought extra time because a Santa Susana task order would mean moving key staff to the greater Los Angeles area.
Between fiscal 2024 and 2034, the Environmental Management Office for DOE expects numerous indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity awards at various government sites, with a combined total potentially reaching up to $2 billion, to be issued from the nationwide small business procurement.
