The Energy Department on Thursday issued its draft request for proposals for a potential 10-year, $3.8 billion stand-alone contract for management of the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina.
The facility is currently run through the $14.8 billion contract held by Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) for management of DOE’s entire Savannah River Site. The 2008 award is slated to expire in October of this year, but DOE options could keep SRNS on-site up to two additional years.
The SRNL cost-plus-fee contract would have a base period of five years plus options for another half-decade. The Energy Department hopes to issue the final RFP in June. Contract award might come by the end of the year.
There would be a 90-day transition from the existing site-wide manager to the new independent lab contract, DOE said in the just-released solicitation.
The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management said it will base its decision on the bidders’ “vision” for the laboratory, the transition plan, key personnel, past management and operations experience, and past performance. Costs will also be considered.
The Savannah River National Laboratory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center. It currently has about 1,000 employees and an annual budget of roughly $350 million. The facility supports DOE’s strategic goals on science, energy, national security, and cleanup of nuclear legacy contamination connected with the Cold War and the Manhattan Project.
The laboratory supports the National Nuclear Security Administration in its nuclear stockpiles stewardship program and does research into weapons of mass destruction issues. The lab also designs and develops strategies for deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) of nuclear facilities.
Some sources have suggested carving out an SRNL contract would better enable the lab to develop strong university partnerships. They note that Triad National Security, the operations manager for Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, is a nonprofit that includes both the University of California and Texas A&M University.
The University of South Carolina, Augusta University, Clemson University, the University of Georgia, and North Carolina State University, along with a slew of well-known Energy Department contractors, were among organizations that sent representatives to informational meetings on the solicitation in January.
The Energy Department issued a request for information/sources sought in December.
Comments on the draft RFP for the laboratory should be emailed by May 8 to [email protected].
During a presentation at last month’s Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, SRNS President and CEO Stuart MacVean said he expects to still be managing the laboratory until probably the end of the year.
Sources expect the carve-out of the laboratory contract will be the only major change in the Savannah River Site contractual status quo in the near term. The facility will still have a site-wide operator, a liquid waste contractor, and a vendor in charge of security.
In August 2018, DOE released a draft request for proposals for a new Savannah River Site operations contract. It subsequently backburnered the procurement as NNSA and Environmental Management engaged in talks about their respective roles at the site. The collaboration elected not to make any changes in the status quo for the near term, said DOE site Manager Michael Budney said last month. However, the Energy Department has not resumed the procurement process for Savannah River management.