The management and operations contractor for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico earned $11.3 million in award fees for fiscal 2016 – 84 percent of the total available $13.5 million.
The majority of the money awarded to Nuclear Waste Partnership — $8.6 million out of a possible $10.1 million – came via “objective” fees based on nine specific performance-based incentives for the period from Oct. 1, 2015, to Sept. 30, 2016. The metrics included progress and completion of recovery at WIPP following the February 2014 fire and unrelated radiation release that closed the mine for nearly three years; development of an “overarching vision and strategy” for WIPP’s operational lifetime through fiscal 2050; and radiological down-posting of Panel 7, the storage area where the radiation release occurred, from a high contamination area to a contamination area.
The remaining fees — $2.7 million of the potential $3.4 million – were awarded based on four subjective criteria that were each worth 25 percent of the total amount: mission performance; environment, safety, and health performance; management performance; and cost control performance. Nuclear Waste Partnership was rated “Very Good” in the first two and “Good” in the others, according to the May 1 notification letter from DOE Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader to NWP President Phil Breidenbach.
Nuclear Waste Partnership is a joint venture of AECOM and BWX Technologies, with prime subcontractor AREVA. The contractor earned $11.7 million in fees for the prior fiscal year, nearly 86 percent of the total possible $13.7 million.
