The Department of Energy is offering prospective bidders for the upcoming $6.5 billion Hanford Central Plateau Cleanup Contract the opportunity to discuss remediation goals with state and federal regulators for the Washington state facility.
Following the Sept. 27 draft request for proposals, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management is asking potential Central Plateau bidders about their interest in meeting with regulators from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Washington state Department of Ecology. Prospective bidders are also asked if they would prefer to do it before or after the final RFP is issued.
Such a meeting during an ongoing procurement would be a major departure from past practice. The Energy Department has described such an opportunity as a tweak to help it expedite major remediation projects at its nuclear sites.
Two representatives of DOE contractors recently said they see significant potential benefit in getting companies and regulators together before the procurement is a done deal.
“I don’t believe the regulator wants to get caught cold by what is being bid or proposed,” said one industry source. Such a meeting would also grant prospective bidders a chance to develop a rapport with regulators before they actually commit to a DOE nuclear cleanup award, he added.
A second industry source agreed such advance conversations can help companies and regulators gain a better understanding of the other party’s approach to site remediation. At the same time, such gatherings won’t work miracles.
A bidder’s idea of what would be the most desirable “end state” cleanup milestone to reach in 10 years under the Hanford contract might not jibe with what federal and state regulators have identified as key milestones under the Tri-Party Agreement that governs cleanup at the former plutonium production complex, the second source added.
The Energy Department last month issued the draft RFP for the upcoming $6.5 billion contract. The work is expected to include decommissioning, and tearing down facilities, managing transuranic waste, complying with the Tri-Party Agreement on cleanup, and other remediation-related tasks.
On Sept. 27, DOE also granted incumbent CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation a yearlong extension that runs through September 2019.
A DOE presolicitation conference, including a site tour and one-on-one meetings with interested parties, took place this week at Hanford. Responses to the draft RFP for the new contract are due by Oct. 24.
The Office of Environmental Management is describing the Central Plateau contract as a model for its renewed emphasis on completion of milestones within 10 years to bring sites closer to final remediation. The current cleanup horizon at Hanford is estimated at more than 50 years.
In recent weeks, Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White has said involving regulators early on could benefit the end state goals to help focus cleanup goals and timelines.
The Energy Department has indicated regulators at Hanford are willing to meet with prospective contractors. The regulators, however, will not be part of actual contractor selection.
CH2M Has Much Work Ahead in Plateau Extension
CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation will have plenty of work to do over the next year after the DOE’s 12-month, $500 million contract extension.
According to a DOE spokesperson, tasks within the extension period include: stabilizing the second PUREX Plant waste tunnel, which is at high risk of collapse; safely tearing down the Plutonium Finishing Plant; and moving 35 cubic yards of radioactive sludge away from the K West Reactor Basin near the Columbia River to safer storage in Hanford’s T Plant.
The works also includes design of the transfer system to move 1,936 capsules of radioactive cesium and strontium from wet to dry storage, the spokesperson said, along with removal of about 50 tons of debris from a hot cell in the 324 Building.
The prime, now a Jacobs subsidiary, began work in 2008 on the original $5.8 billion cost-plus-award-fee contract, which was expanded during the Obama Administration to include an additional $1.3 billion of economic stimulus work.
