GAO HEARING ON Y-12/PANTEX PROTEST STRETCHES INTO THIRD DAY

A Government Accountability Office hearing on a Babcock & Wilcox-led protest of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12/Pantex award stretched into its third day yesterday, NW&M Monitor has learned. It’s unclear whether the hearing wrapped up yesterday or will continue, but the length of the inquiry has surprised some industry officials, including one who suggested it could bode well for the claims raised by B&W-led Nuclear Production Partners (NP2). The hearing began Monday after being postponed from last week.  “They must be looking at something,” the official said. The protest by NP2 is its third of NNSA’s selection of Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security. The GAO convened a hearing during NP2’s first protest of the contract, which it sustained, but it did not hold a hearing in NP2’s second protest, which was rejected. In its November protest, NP2 argued that the NNSA allowed Consolidated Nuclear Security to unfairly alter its proposal, made mathematical errors in calculating the cost savings contained in its bid, and improperly evaluated CNS’ key personnel. The GAO has until Feb. 28 to rule on the protest.