The Department of Energy on Wednesday released a draft solicitation for a waste transportation contract that will combine services now provided for the underground Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., under a pair of separate contracts.
Reserved for small businesses, the competitively awarded WIPP Transportation Services contract is a five-year, indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity contract that replaces the WIPP Transportation Services contracts held by CAST Specialty Transportation and Visionary Solutions, which respectively expire on Jan. 12, 2017, and July 27, 2017.
Transportation services for WIPP involve managing a local terminal and transportation and maintenance services, according to a DOE press release. The new contract will cover contact- and remote-handled transuranic wastes and mixed hazardous constituents, including polychlorinated biphenyls and asbestos between various DOE sites and WIPP.
In the Wednesday press release, DOE said it plans to host a pre-solicitation conference, site tour, and one-on-one sessions with interested parties the week of May 30. Those interested can register online.
WIPP is the only U.S. storage facility for the radio-contaminated material and equipment known as transuranic waste. The deep-underground mine has been closed since 2014 after an accidental radiation release and unrelated underground fire. The site is still set to reopen to waste shipments by mid-December, DOE has said.
