NNSA WEIGHING OPTIONS ON Y-12/PANTEX AFTER GAO UPHOLDS PROTESTS

The National Nuclear Security Administration is reviewing the Government Accountability Office’s decision to uphold two protests of the agency’s Y-12/Pantex award to Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security and is keeping its options open, including ignoring the GAO’s recommendations. In a long-awaited decision on the $22.8 billion contract, the GAO yesterday ruled in favor of protests by teams led by Babcock & Wilcox and Fluor/Jacobs on grounds that “NNSA failed to meaningfully assess the majority of each offeror’s proposed cost savings, and based its source selection decision on the unsupported assumption that all cost savings proposed by every offeror would be achieved.” The GAO recommended that the NNSA make a new award after reopening the procurement and requesting more information on the proposed cost savings of each bidder while also evaluating those savings, but the agency is not bound to follow its recommendations. If NNSA chooses to ignore the GAO, the protesters are likely to take their case to federal court. “We appreciate the GAO’s advice and are currently reviewing their decision,” NNSA spokesman Josh McConaha said. “We’re going to take some time before settling on our path forward, but we are committed to reducing costs for the American taxpayers and strengthening our nuclear security capabilities at Pantex and Y-12.”