Prospective bidders are asking the Department of Energy for some leeway on making oral presentations for a potential $21-billion long-term contract for management of liquid waste at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
Early this month, the department issued the request for proposals (RFP) for a potential 15-year contract for liquid waste management to replace the one now held by Amentum-led Savannah River Remediation.
The deadline for proposals is Dec.1, and the oral presentations by bidder teams could start Dec. 21, according to a package of questions by prospective contractors recently posted on the procurement website for what DOE calls the Savannah River Site Integrated Mission Completion contract.
“Please confirm whether DOE intends to hold to this schedule or is it likely that the schedule will be extended to mid-January 2021,” according to one of the submitted questions. As is customary with DOE procurement information, the identity of the questioner is not revealed in the document. The questioner in this case favors moving the presentations into a January timeline to avoid conflict with the holiday season.
Other questioners sought to pin the agency down on whether the oral presentations would be done virtually or in-person. If the department’s Office of Environmental Management elects to go with in-person briefing then the prospective contractor wants at least 30 days advance notice, so that key managers can self-quarantine or undergo COVID-19 testing.
In both instances, the DOE said it will amend the portion of the solicitation documents regarding “notification and commencement of the oral presentations.” The agency did not say exactly how the document would be changed.
During oral presentations, the team of key personnel as identified by the contract applicant, are given a hypothetical scenario that can involve a crisis situation or major problem at the DOE facility. The agency’s selection team evaluates how the bidder group leadership goes about analyzing and addressing the issue.
