A Department of Energy spokesperson officially confirmed Friday morning Centerra could stay on the job as security contractor at DOE’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina until October 2022.
On Oct. 8, the Savannah River Operations Office extended the current security services contract with the Centerra Group for up to one year, the spokesperson said via email.
The extension consists of a four-month base and two option periods, each consisting of four months, for a total of up to 12 months, from Oct. 8, 2021 to Oct. 7, 2022, if all options are exercised, the spokesperson said.
The most recent extension for Centerra, provider of security services and safeguards for special nuclear material at the federal complex next to the Georgia line since October 2009, was set to expire last Thursday, according to an agency contract chart last updated Oct. 4. The current value of the business is listed at a little over $1 billion.
The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management’s award of a 10-year, $1-billion award in February to the SRS Critical Infrastructure Security (SCIS) team led by Securitas CIS has been the subject of a series of protests to the Government Accountability Office. One was filed soon after DOE announced the contract and then a second came after the agency said in June that it was sticking with its winning bidder.
DOE is still not ready to green light a long-term security provider, Angela Watmore, a top procurement manager for the agency’s nuclear cleanup arm, told attendees of an Energy Technology and Environmental Business Association (ETEBA) event last week. She confirmed corrective action would be taken on the controversial correct competition. In August, the Government Accountability Office dismissed the latest protest of the award, with the expectation that DOE would take another look at the procurement.
