The total value of the Portsmouth Paducah Project Office Operations and Site Mission Support Services contract awarded Friday to an Atkins-led team could reach $2.3-billion if all options are picked up, the Department of Energy said Tuesday.
A notice in the Nov. 8 System for Award Management procurement tracker indicated the deal would be worth at least $1.1 billion.
The contract was awarded to Mission Conversion Services Alliance, a joint venture of Atkins Nuclear Secured Westinghouse Government Services, and Jacobs Technology, which is part of Amentum Holdings. Teaming subcontractors are Swift & Staley Inc. and Akima Centerra Integrated Services.
Mission Conversion Services beat out three other teams vying for the business, according to DOE’s Tuesday press release. Debriefs for the bidder teams are expected to occur this week, a source said Monday. Fluor and Bechtel are also believed to have led bidder teams, industry sources told Exchange Monitor.
In a Wednesday press release, the AtkinsRéalis’ group said the award reflects DOE’s confidence in the current Atkins-led team that has directed DUF6 work at the sites since 2016. “We are dedicated to safely managing legacy nuclear materials and fostering economic growth that improves communities,” AtkinsRéalis President and CEO Ian Edwards said in the release.
The cost-plus-award-fee contract with indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity line items could stretch over 10 years and four months, DOE said in its release. There is a 120-day transition period, a five-year base period followed by option periods for three years and two years.
In addition to conversion of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) at plants at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky, some environmental work now handled by Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth and some operations work done by Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership will transfer to the new Mission Conversion Services Alliance, DOE said.
Mission Conversion Security Alliance will also provide security, emergency management and fire protection along with overseeing utilities at both plants, Atkins said.
Mid-America Conversion Services, made up of Atkins, Westinghouse and Fluor, is the incumbent DUF6 contractor at Portsmouth and Paducah.
The DOE weapons complex has been awaiting this award a long time, as the final request for proposals was issued around January 2022. DOE awarded a $5.9-million cleanup contract for Portsmouth almost 18 months ago. But transition has not started to the new Amentum-led team as the Office of Environmental Management wanted to switch over both contracts at once.
