October 17, 2024

Atkins group seeks restraining order on Hanford contract

By Wayne Barber

Although a BWX Technologies-led team was told to start a 120-day transition to become the new liquid waste contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, the losing bidder for the work is not abandoning its legal fight.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank Horn is weighing a motion for reconsideration, and a request for a temporary restraining order, brought by the AtkinsRéalis Nuclear-led Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance (HTDA), which also includes Jacobs and Westinghouse. Jacobs’ government contracting business is now part of Amentum, a member of the winning team.

The Atkins-led group argues Judge Horn erred in concluding that the winning bidder’s failure to stay registered with the online System for Award Management is a fixable mistake. The plaintiff wants to suspend transition until this issue is resolved.

DOE has twice picked BWXT-led Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure (H2C), which also includes Amentum and Fluor, to assume the Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract.

This week, DOE issued H2C a notice to proceed with transition on the $45-billion contract. The work will eventually include not only management of 56 million gallons of liquid radioactive waste left over from plutonium production, but eventually operation of a Bechtel-built plant to vitrify the high-level waste and much of the level waste into glass form.

Last week, Judge Horn publicly released a partly-In 98-page decision from late August agreeing with DOE that the BWXT-led group’s contract proposal was clearly superior to the one put forth by the Atkins-led team.

This week, H2C filed a brief with the court contending that HTDA’s motion for reconsideration amounts to little more than warmed over arguments the Atkins group has already made, and the Claims Court rejected.

“A motion for reconsideration is not an opportunity to relitigate claims the disappointed party already raised or could have raised earlier,” H2C said in a court filing.