BWX Technologies President and CEO Rex Geveden said Tuesday the U.S. Energy Department should soon issue one multibillion-dollar contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state, while another probably won’t land until mid-2020.
“In the coming weeks we expect to hear about the Hanford Plateau Central Cleanup contract for which we are competing,” Geveden said during his company’s quarterly earnings call. Geveden did not handicap BWXT’s chances.
The chief executive did not say why he expects the Central Plateau award to come months before the Hanford Tank Closure Contract. Both contracts hit the street last February, with bids due by March.
The potential 10-year, $12 billion contract for Central Plateau remediation covers demolition of Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant and other high-hazard facilities, along with cleaning up contaminated plumes before they reach the Columbia River. Jacobs subsidiary CH2M holds the current award, worth $6.4 billion since in began in October 2008. The vendor is working under an extension that could run through September 2020.
The other contract, potentially worth $15 billion over 10 years, would cover continued management of 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste stored in 177 underground tanks. Washington River Protection Solutions, a joint venture between AECOM and Atkins, holds the current award. The business has been worth $6.8 billion to WRPS since October 2008. The vendor is working under an extension good through September 2020.
Lynchburg, Va.-based BWXT also plans next year to compete for cleanup contracts at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, and the Idaho National Laboratory, Geveden said.
In addition, the BWXT chief thinks the Energy Department could issue a draft solicitation in late 2020 for management and operation of the Savannah River Site. Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions is running SRS under a 14-month extension through September 2020. The Energy Department also can exercise two more one-year options that could keep SRNS on the job through September 2022.
In addition, BWXT plans to compete in the next 24 months for business at Pantex in Texas and the Y-12 National Security Site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., both currently operated under one contract held by Consolidated Nuclear Security. The CNS contract, which started in March 2014, would be worth $22 billion over 10 years if all options are exercised.
