The Department of Energy has issued a small business sources-sought notice on nuclear remediation activities currently provided by Fluor Idaho and Spectra Tech at the Idaho National Laboratory.
Fluor Idaho holds the full five-year, $1.6 billion Idaho Cleanup Project contract, which runs through May 2021. Spectra Tech has a five-year, $41 million contract for environmental work at Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed facilities at INL, through March 2021, based on a one-year option being picked by April 1, 2020.
The Energy Department wants to get a feel for the “interest and feasibility of small business set-asides for all or some” of the work being done under the two existing contracts, according to the notice issued Wednesday.
The market research will also help DOE weigh the pros and cons of combining the NRC-related spent fuel management and decommissioning work into its contract for Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) closure as part of the Idaho Cleanup Project.
The purpose of the potential contract under DOE’s “end-state” approach is to achieve the “maximum amount of environmental cleanup in the least amount of time and at the best value to the U.S. taxpayer,” the department’s Office of Environmental Management said in documents that modify a November request for information on the RWMC and other work under the Idaho Cleanup Project. The Wednesday notice does not replace the November RFI.
The contract for Tennessee-based Spectra Tech includes operations and physical security of the Fort St. Vrain dry cask spent fuel storage facility in Colorado. The company also oversees nuclear material from the Three Mile Island reactor Unit 2 that is stored the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center.
Fluor Idaho operates the Advance Mixed Waste Treatment Project, which processes transuranic waste stored at INL before it goes to the DOE Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. It is also preparing for operation of the long-delayed Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU), which is designed to treat 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing liquid radioactive and hazardous waste stored in stainless steel tanks. Both projects are required under different aspects of a 1995 settlement on nuclear waste storage at INL between Idaho, the Energy Department, and the U.S. Navy.
It is unclear how much of the Idaho Cleanup Project work could be done via small companies.
Lori Sehlhorst is the DOE contracting officer and point of contact, at [email protected]. Submissions of “capability statements” by small businesses are due by 5 p.m. E.T. on May 1 and should be sent to [email protected]. Large businesses should not bother to submit responses.
The Energy Department provided the usual disclaimer, saying the notice is not a request for proposals. Previously, DOE has said it expects to issue a draft RFP for Idaho cleanup by the end of October.
The Energy Department could be having a tough time meeting its small business targets, which is often difficult given the liability associated with nuclear work, a big company contractor speculated Wednesday. Another possibility is DOE could be looking to replace the incumbents, he added.
