The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office on Thursday rolled out its draft solicitation for a new small business landlord contractor at the Paducah Site in Kentucky.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management said in a Thursday press release it is issuing a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the Paducah Infrastructure Support Services contract. The move was expected, given DOE has already scheduled a site visit and briefing for potential bidders next week.
A few weeks earlier DOE announced plans to keep incumbent Swift & Staley in place for up to 16 more months, potentially through Nov. 30, 2025.
In an online notice posted Thursday on the government’s System for Award Management, DOE said the deadline is 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 13 for interested parties to file written comments on the draft RFP.
The Paducah procurement is a “total small business” set-aside competition, according to the DOE cover letter. The small business size standard is $47 million.
A legal ruling over the small business size standard led DOE in March 2023 to cancel the $160-million new contract Swift & Staley was awarded at Paducah in December 2020. This came after a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in December 2022 finding Swift & Staley exceeded the size cap for the set-aside contract. The appeals court agreed with the position of rival bidder Akima in the case.
Swift & Staley has held the landlord contract at Paducah since October 2015. It was valued at $396-million as of November 2023.
The contract includes overseeing roads, grounds, vehicles, records, security and various other day-to-day tasks to keep the site running for environmental cleanup.
