The Department of Energy on Thursday took its first step toward sealing a new long-term contract for operation of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) issued a sources sought notice/request for information (RFI) for vendors interested in running the underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste.
The first step in this acquisition planning phase is submission of a “capability statement,” 15 pages maximum, by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 5. The capability statement should include an overview of the company’s recent government contracts, along with its experience with underground mining operations, according to the RFI.
The upcoming contract would replace the current operations agreement held by Nuclear Waste Partnership, a joint venture of Amentum (the former AECOM Management Services) and BWX Technologies.
“BWXT regularly considers contracting opportunities with the Department of Energy where our experience and expertise align well with the mission of the site, and we are currently reviewing this RFI for future work at WIPP,” company spokesman Jud Simmons said in a Friday email. Amentum did not respond to a request for comment by deadline Friday for Weapons Complex Monitor.
The WIPP operations team’s $2.4 billion contract, which began in October 2012, is scheduled to expire on Sept. 30 – unless the Energy Department elects to pick up the final two-year option for the facility outside the city of Carlsbad. The NWP partners did not comment on the status of the option, and DOE as a policy does not respond to procurement-related questions.
An industry source not connected with one of the NWP partners said Thursday he considers it a good bet that the joint venture’s two-year option will be exercised by DOE. “They can’t do this thing in a year,” the source said by telephone of a new contract procurement.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management retained Nuclear Waste Partnership in September 2017 at the end of the five-year base period for the current contract, picking up the three-year option.
Three years ago, Nuclear Waste Partnership was in the early months of resuming waste emplacement after the salt mine was forced out of service for about three years following a February 2014 underground vehicle fire and subsequent radiation release. The facility has received 824 shipments of TRU waste since reopening in 2017, and the contractor is also overseeing a major infrastructure upgrade program at WIPP, which includes construction of a new underground ventilation system.
In the RFI, the Energy Department said it is planning for a potential procurement for services at WIPP and to implement the agency’s National Transuranic Waste Program. The DOE transuranic waste program is based around WIPP, but also includes certification of waste generator sites to ensure only TRU waste that is properly packaged ends up at the disposal site.
Due to the preliminary nature of the planning, DOE said no performance work schedule is available yet. In the RFI, the agency is seeking feedback from potential bidders to help identify barriers to competition, small-business capabilities to support the contract, and risks.
The EMCBC procurement webpage for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant does not yet list any schedule for issuance of a draft request for proposals, much less a timeline for the final procurement notice or a contract award.
Inspector General Examines NWP Audits of Subcontractors
In an assessment posted on its website this week, the Energy Department Office of Inspector General found Nuclear Waste Partnership generally does a reliable job of auditing costs run up by its subcontractors, although some improvements should be made.
Nuclear Waste Partnership is required by its contract to confirm all funds expended for WIPP under its watch be “only allowable costs” that can be verified. The process is designed to identify and weed out any inflated expenses, double-billing, or charges not allowed by the contract.
From Oct. 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2017, NWP identified about $19.3 million – out of almost $718 million — in questioned costs through various audits, of which $17.5 million have not been resolved, according to the inspector general.
More than $16.5 million of the unresolved costs fall under “indirect rates,” a term not defined in the IG assessment, but apparently a reference to costs not clearly tied to one particular entity or project. The remaining $1 million falls into two categories — false or inflated claims for temporary living expenses, and unallowed overtime during work-related training.
The IG called on Nuclear Waste Partnership to further vet the questioned costs, ensure its subcontractor audits are sufficient to identify and hopefully recover all unallowable costs, and re-evaluate its subcontractor audit strategy to address any gaps.
Nuclear Waste Partnership “is working with the Department to address recommendations,” an NWP spokesman said by email Friday.
