One day after indicating it was keeping a clause on liquidated damages that had been opposed by some contractors in the Request for Task Proposals for the new Paducah deactivation contract, the Department of Energy announced late last week that it would remove the provision. In a notice published Sept. 6, DOE said it had “inadvertently” left out of a set of questions-and-answers published Sept. 5 that it would be removing the liquidated damages clause from the Paducah RTP in a future amendment. In the Q&As released Sept. 5, DOE had indicated that despite concerns from some potential bidders, it would be maintaining the liquidated damages clause and would not be changing the RTP.
Concerns over the liquidated damages clause are believed to be one of the reasons why Bechtel and URS have both stood down work on bids for the new Paducah contract, and it remains to be seen if either, or both, will now reconsider and rejoin the competition. URS, which holds one of DOE’s national Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contracts under which the Paducah work is being competed, had reportedly been part of a team that included CH2M Hill with B&W as a subcontractor. Along with URS and Bechtel, EnergySolutions is also believed to no longer be pursuing the new Paducah contract. EnergySolutions had been reportedly teamed with Bechtel, but it also holds its own national ID/IQ contract and could have pursued the Paducah job without Bechtel. In late August, DOE issued an amendment to the Request for Task Proposal that addressed some of the other concerns that had been raised by potential bidders, including removal of language from the RTP that would not have allowed parent company costs to be reimbursed; and a reduction in the key personnel commitment period from three years to two.