The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) said Tuesday it has delayed by about three weeks releasing a request for proposals for decommissioning its SM-1 nuclear power reactor at Fort Belvoir, Va.
The procurement notice, previously expected around July 29, is now scheduled to be issued during the week of Aug. 19, according to Brenda Barber, project manager for the Environmental and Munitions Design Center in the Army Corps’ Baltimore District. Barber told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing the revised schedule was prompted by “procurement-sensitive” review issues with the notice, but said she could not discuss specifics.
There was no immediate word on what, if any, impact the slowed procurement document could have on the remainder of the USACE schedule for awarding the contract. As of June, the Army Corps expected to review bids from October to next April, and then to award the contract at some point from May to July 2020.
The Army operated the pressurized-water reactor from 1957 to 1973 on its base less than 20 miles from Washington, D.C. It produced power, but was primarily used for training personnel to work at other plants in the Army Nuclear Power Program. The reactor has been in safe-storage mode since deactivation and limited decontamination that wrapped up in 1974.
Work under the decommissioning contract would include project management, removal of contaminated reactor parts and other materials, demolition, and waste disposal. The potential value of the award has not been made public.
Barber has said she anticipates six to eight competitive bidders.
The Army Corps this week is also conducting site visits for potential decommissioning contract bidders for the deactivated SM-1A reactor at Fort Greely, Alaska. The RFP for that job is due out in 2021, with an award anticipated the following year and the start of decommissioning in 2022 or 2023.
