July 27, 2014

Senate Appropriators Send Message on NNSA Consolidation

By ExchangeMonitor

Language in the Senate Appropriations Committee version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act unveiled last week includes a subtle warning to the National Nuclear Security Administration about future contract consolidation across the weapons complex. The committee was previously skeptical of the NNSA’s consolidation of the Y-12/Pantex management and operating contract, and the language appears to be directed at consolidating the Kansas City Plant contract with portions of other contracts, particularly at Sandia National Laboratories. The committee reminded NNSA to adhere to Federal Acquisition Regulations as it examines options for competing the Kansas City Plant contract. “NNSA procedures require that the contracting officer review each M&O contract at appropriate intervals and at least once every 5 years, and he or she should determine whether meaningful improvement in performance or cost might reasonably be achieved when making a final decision to compete the existing contract,” the committee said in the report accompanying the bill.

A committee staffer told NS&D Monitor that it was concerned about the value of consolidating the contracts, and that it remained skeptical about the savings planned as part of the Y-12/Pantex consolidation. “If you’ve got someone who has operated in a very cost effective manner, you need to make sure you’re going to achieve some cost savings if you’re recompeting,” the staffer said. “Because recompeting is costly. If we recompete this we want to make sure there is some cost savings and value.” In a Request for Information issued in June, the NNSA sought insight from potential bidders for the Kansas City Plant contract but made no mention of potentially consolidating the contract, as it had in a 2012 RFI.

Comments are closed.