Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
2/6/2015
Natural Resources Canada released late last week the names of the four teams that will receive the Request for Proposal to manage the Government-owned Contractor-operated contract for the Chalk River Laboratories. The teams include:
- Canadian National Energy Alliance (CNEA), made up of: CH2M HILL Canada Limited; Fluor Government Group – Canada, Inc.; EnergySolutions Canada Group LTD.; SNC-Lavalin Inc.; and Rolls-Royce Civil Nuclear Canada Ltd.
- Canadian Nuclear Revitalization Partners (CNRP), made up of: Bechtel Government Services Canada, LP; Hatch Ltd.; Golder Associates Ltd.; General Atomics; and Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
- Innovation Canada Alliance (ICA), made up of: BWX Technologies, Inc.; Cavendish Nuclear Ltd.; Battelle Memorial Institute; WorleyParsons Canada Services Ltd.; MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Inc.; Bubble Technology Industries Inc.; and the Boston Consulting Group of Canada Ltd.
- Northern Nuclear Laboratories Alliance (NNLA), made up of: Canadian Nuclear Partners Inc.; URS Canadian Operations Limited; and McMaster University
RFP Released Only to Qualified Teams
Along with the announcements of the teams advancing in the procurement, Canada indicated this week that the RFP has gone out to the teams, but it would not be made available to the public. According to an industry executive, though, the RFP is expected to call for a site operating contract and two target costs including a fee at risk if costs overrun. Natural Resources Canada declined to comment on the content of the RFP. “The Government issued the final Request for Proposal to the Qualified Respondents with a view to selecting a supplier by summer 2015,” Natural Resources Canada spokesperson Annie Joannette said in an email. “The contract should be finalized in fall 2015. As the Request for Proposal contains confidential and sensitive information, it is not publicly available.”
The Canadian government’s procurement for a contract to manage Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s nuclear laboratories, including the Chalk River Laboratories, the Whiteshell Laboratories, the three prototype reactor sites and the Laprade heavy water storage site under a Government-owned Contractor-operated (GoCo) model, just ended its Request for Response Evaluation phase after numerous extensions. Canada had originally intended on closing the RFRE phase in August of last year, but that close date was pushed back multiple times to last month to allow more back and forth with potential bidders.
According to Joannette, the RFRE allowed the government and respondents to better understand the complexities of the project, although Canada did not release all the names of teams that responded, but did not qualify moving to the next stage. “Through the Request for Response Evaluation (RFRE), prospective suppliers were evaluated to assess whether they met technical, financial, integrity and national security requirements,” Joannette said. “The government is conducting detailed and confidential consultations with suppliers who met these mandatory requirements. This has enabled these Qualified Respondents to better understand the complexities of the procurement.”
