A draft request for proposals for a new cleanup contract at the U.S. Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) could be released by late December, according to a new procurement notice.
The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management said in a Dec. 11 notice on a federal procurement website that the draft document should be issued within 15 to 45 days.
The new agreement would succeed the existing five-year, $1.9-billion contract held by Fluor Idaho, which is scheduled to expire May 31, 2021.
The agency plans a presolicitation site tour and one-on-one meetings with prospective industry bidders sometime in January or February. An exact date has not yet been set.
The vendor will focus on eventual closure of the lab’s Radioactive Waste Management Complex, completing the shipment of transuranic waste out of state, treatment of sodium-bearing and calcine waste at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, spent fuel management and disposition, and facility decontamination and decommissioning.
The new Idaho Cleanup Project contract would also include some work for Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed facilities that are managed by Spectra Tech under a five-year, $45 million contract that expires in March 2021. That work includes management and operation of the Three Mile Island-2 spent nuclear fuel facility at the lab.
The Energy Department said in its latest cleanup procurement timeline in May that a draft solicitation on a new contract could be issued in August and be worth between $3 billion and $6 billion. In April, the agency issued a sources sought/request for information notice in part to determine whether small businesses could do some or all of the work being handled by Fluor Idaho.
The Idaho Cleanup Project contract will be subject to a full and open competition, the Energy Department said.
Preliminary questions can be directed to DOE Contracting Officer Lori Sehlhorst, at [email protected].
The Energy Department also plans to post updates to the Idaho procurement website as information becomes available.