The Department of Energy kept mum this week on how many responses it received to a request for information (RFI) from vendors potentially interested in landing a long-term environmental cleanup contract at the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee.
Responses were due Nov. 30 for the RFI issued Nov. 13. The Energy Department is looking at contractor interest in remediation programs that would cover the Y-12 National Security Complex, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the East Tennessee Technology Park.
While DOE does not promise the market inquiry will result in an actual request for proposals, the department acknowledged it is considering options that could ultimately result in a cleanup contract costing anywhere from $2 billion to $5 billion over 10 years. However, the type, term, and value of any contract are not yet known, the RFI says.
Work covered under the contract would include decontamination and decommissioning of facilities at Y-12 and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, along with additional environmental work, construction of a new low-level waste landfill, and management of all landfills at the site.
URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) holds the current Oak Ridge environmental management contract, into 2020, focused on preparing the former uranium enrichment complex now known as the East Tennessee Technology Park to be turned over for private use.
Energy Department spokesman Ben Williams declined to say how many responses were filed to the RFI. UCOR declined to say if it participated. “UCOR is focused on the safe completion of its existing contract with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management,” said spokeswoman Ashley Hartman.
Each respondent was required to submit a capability statement laying out its interest in the contract, its ability to do the work, its socioeconomic status, and other data points.
The RFI comes at a busy time for government cleanup contracting at Oak Ridge. Last week, DOE released a draft RFP and announced plans for a January pre-solicitation conference for a contract to build a Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12.
