The draft solicitation for continuing environmental cleanup of the uranium mill tailings in Utah should be issued by early October, the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management said Aug. 24.
The draft request for proposals for the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) project should hit the streets within 45 days, which translates to roughly Oct. 8, DOE said in a notice published on a federal procurement website.
North Wind Portage has the current $187-million, five-year task order, which is set to expire in September 2021. The work involves moving tailings from the old Atlas Mineral Corp. uranium ore processing site by rail to the Crescent Junction waste disposal facility 30 miles away. Idaho-based North Wind Group acquired industry rival Portage, along with the contract, in January 2017.
In November, DOE started its market research on the next Moab contract by releasing a request for information/sources sought notice for prospective bidders.
The new contract is expected to have an ordering period of 10 years, DOE said in the August notice. As is the case with most new remediation procurement these days, the nuclear cleanup office is contemplating an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) agreement that employs the end-state contracting model.
The Moab contract will be is a 100% small business set-aside. The Energy Department will select a contractor with which it will negotiate milestones for completion.
The Office of Environmental Management does plan pre-solicitation/pre-proposal meetings with prospective vendors, which could occur either virtually or in person based on the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The primary contact on the procurement is DOE Contracting Officer Michael Forsgren, at [email protected].
The Energy Department has said the final Moab RFP could be released by the end of the year.
