Twelve people representing 11 companies showed up at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site Oct. 21 to take a physical tour and learn more about a potential $21-billion, long-term contract for liquid waste cleanup.
In addition to Amentum, the lead partner for incumbent Savannah River Remediation, other firms who turned out are Aecon-Wachs, Akima, Atkins, Fluor, Geosyntec Consultants, Innovative Solutions Unlimited, Jacobs, James Fisher Technologies, Parsons and Sunbelt Rentals.
Based on an Internet search, it appears at least a couple of the firms in the group , Geosyntec and Sunbelt Rentals, are involved in disinfecting facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
DOE released its request for proposals (RFP) Oct. 1 for what the agency calls the Savannah River Site Integrated Management contract. Work on the contract could go on as long as 15 years, but DOE would only place orders for 10 years after the award. Bid proposals are due by 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Dec. 1.
The DOE nuclear cleanup office has issued a spate of documents about the RFP online since then with the latest being an amendment posted Thursday with what appear to be minor tweaks to the solicitation paperwork.
The new contractor team will be responsible for integration of liquid waste facilities that span three miles and 170 acres at the Savannah River complex adjacent to the Georgia border, according to slides from the event recently posted on a DOE procurement website.
Among the facilities involved include Saltstone Production and Disposal Facilities, the Defense Waste Processing Facility, H Tank Farm and the Salt Waste Processing Facility undergoing hot commissioning by Parsons. Parsons, which built the Salt Waste Processing Facility, is scheduled to run it for a year before turning it over to the liquid waste contractor.
Generally, the waste resulted from the processing of spent nuclear fuel and nuclear material production targets in the F and H Canyons from the 1950’s to today. H Canyon continues to process spent nuclear fuel today and sends up to 300,000 gallons of waste to the liquid waste system per year, according to the presentation.
DOE Quizzed on Timing, Format of Oral Presentations for SRS Waste Contract
Prospective bidders are asking DOE for some leeway on making oral presentations for the new contract.
The oral presentations by bidder teams could start Dec. 21, according to a package of questions by prospective contractors recently posted on the procurement website for the Savannah River Site Integrated Mission Completion contract.
“Please confirm whether DOE intends to hold to this schedule or is it likely that the schedule will be extended to mid-January 2021,” according to one of the submitted questions. As is customary with DOE procurement information, the identity of the questioner is not revealed in the document. The questioner in this case favors moving the presentations into January to avoid conflict with the holiday season.
Other questioners sought to pin the agency down on whether the oral presentations would be done virtually or in-person. If the department’s Office of Environmental Management elects to go with in-person briefing then the prospective contractor wants at least 30 days advance notice, so that key managers can self-quarantine or undergo COVID-19 testing.
In both instances, the DOE said it will amend the portion of the solicitation documents regarding “notification and commencement of the oral presentations.” The agency did not say exactly how the document would be changed.
During oral presentations, the team of key personnel as identified by the contract applicant, are given a hypothetical scenario that can involve a crisis situation or major problem at the DOE facility. The agency’s selection team evaluates how the bidder group leadership goes about analyzing and addressing the issue.
Savannah River Remediation, which also includes Bechtel National, Jacobs, and BWX Technologies has 2,639 employees at the site, according to one of DOE’s answers.