Atomic Energy of Canada Limited has selected BWX Technologies-led Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada as the preferred bidder for the C$1.2-billion per year contract to manage Canadian National Laboratories.
Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada are made of three primary partners of BWXT Government Group, Amentum Environment and Energy, and Kinectrics. Battelle Memorial Institute is also involved as a key subcontractor.
The Canadian joint venture will manage all of AECL’s sites and assets, including the Chalk River Laboratories and environmental remediation projects in Port Hope, Ontario, according to AECL’s Thursday press release.
The Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada will assume the responsibility of the CNL, with Dennis Carr as its CEO and president, on Sept. 13, following a transition period that will begin in the coming weeks, AECL said.
Carr is a longtime nuclear executive who recently retired as head of the Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions.
According to BWXT, the contract is valued at $1.2 billion ($881 million US$) per year on average and will be for six years. Additionally, the contract will have extension periods that can be exercised based on performance for up to a total of 20 years, BWXT said in its Thursday press release.
AECL said the Nuclear Partners of Canada bring experience in managing sites similar to AECL’s, including a management team with deep and relevant experience working with the Canadian nuclear and energy context.
The Canadian joint venture has been selected after a two-year contract procurement process that began in 2023.
As the preferred bidder, the joint venture will enter into an agreement with the AECL called a preferred bidder agreement. The agreement will start an overlap transition period and sets out a series of deliverables and requirements that need to be executed prior to contract execution, according to a BWXT spokesperson.
When these requirements are completed, the preferred bidder and AECL can then execute the contract and then the preferred bidder becomes the contractor for CNL, according to a BWXT spokesperson.
AECL adopted the government-operated, contractor-operated model, where a private-sector organization, CNL, is responsible for operating AECL’s sites, in 2015. Canadian National Energy Alliance, made up of AtkinsRéalis, Jacobs Engineering and Fluor Federal Services, managed CNL over the past 10 years.
