The legacy nuclear cleanup contractor for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico this week canceled the procurement for removal of concrete slabs and related work in Technical Area 21.
In an update to its April contracting notice, Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) said Monday it was terminating the procurement in order to revise certain documents, including the statement of work and technical scope. That was made necessary by “newly discovered changed conditions” in the basements in which the work would be conducted, the notice says.
The procurement is expected to resume in the second quarter of fiscal 2020, with a new notice issued at some point between January and March. The delay will enable N3B to apply the necessary resources to “critical tasks associated with this work” and to offer waste shipment planning with increased accuracy.
“Changes in the scope of cleanup and the discovery of piping and equipment assumed to be removed in previous D&D operations mean that we will be able to provide information that reflects current conditions in a revised RFP, resulting in better pricing by bidders,” N3B spokesman Todd Nelson said in a Thursday email.
The focus of the subcontract, according to the now-canceled notice, was removal of slabs and basements from demolished structures at the lab’s former chemical research area. The scope of work, though, covered hazardous materials abatement; finishing waste characterization; cleanup of remaining structures, industrial waste, and utility lines; and other activities.
Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos in April 2018 began work on the 10-year, $1.38 billion legacy cleanup contract for Los Alamos. The company is tasked with environmental remediation at the 34-square-mile federal property, along with preparing radioactive waste for disposal off-site.
