The AECOM-led Nuclear Waste Partnership pocketed nearly $10.8 million of a potential $12.5 million in fees for its operation of the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico during fiscal 2018.
The NWP return would have been higher, but DOE deducted $100,000 from the award because of “breakdowns” in the contractor’s industrial hygiene program, according to the department’s performance scorecard. This “special fee consideration” was linked to failure to protect workers from heat stress, along with potential employee exposure to airborne contaminants. Industrial hygiene programs are designed to protect workers from on-the-job hazards.
Protective force staff required medical treatment, and one was hospitalized, after training in extreme heat, according to the Energy Department review for the period from Oct. 1, 2017 through Sept. 30, 2018. In addition, workers in WIPP’s Waste Handling Bay building were potentially exposed breathing volatile organic compounds, while removing waste packages from shipping containers.
The enforcement wing of DOE’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) has started an investigation into weaknesses in the WIPP industrial hygiene program.
The contractor earned 88%, or almost $8.3 million, of its potential $9.4 million objective fee. On the subjective criteria it earned 84.2%, or $2.6 million of a potential $3.1 million. Its total fee was nearly $10.9 million prior to the $100,000 deduction.
By comparison, in fiscal 2017 the contractor for underground transuranic waste disposal near Carlsbad, N.M., took home 90% of its total potential fee, or more than $10.7 million of the available $12 million.
On the subjective side of the ledger for fiscal 2018, Nuclear Waste Partnership was rated excellent on cost controls, good on safety and health, and very good on three separate categories: management, regulatory compliance, and mission performance.
