The Department of Energy on Wednesday formally started the bidding process on one or multiple new contracts for disposal of federal low-level waste and mixed-low-level waste.
Interested parties have until Sept. 22 to submit questions, to [email protected]. Bids are due by 3 p.m. Oct. 23 via FedConnect.
“DOE intends, but is not required, to award one or more contracts on the basis of best value to the Government,” contracting officer William Hensley wrote in the cover letter to the request for proposals.
The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract or contracts, with firm-fixed-price task orders, would cover disposal of low-level waste and mixed-low-level waste; Section 11e.(2) byproduct material; technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM); and sealed sources. All the waste will have been produced at government sites or “have a nexus under DOE contracts,” the RFP says.
Each contract would be valued at no more than $120 million, with a scheduled period of performance from April 2018 to April 2023.
The department’s Office of Environmental Management said Thursday it expects to issue contract awards next April, for services that would begin on April 12, 2018 – one day after the current contracts expire.
“The Government’s market research led to a low expectation that a single firm could dispose of all required waste types at a fair and reasonable price, so we expect to make separate awards to firms that are each capable of disposing of some of the required wastes,” a DOE spokesperson said by email. “This is consistent with the structure of the current contracts, which were awarded separately for the same reason.”
Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists (WCS) and Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions are the current disposal providers, under contracts awarded in April 2013. They operate three of the four licensed U.S. low-level waste disposal sites: WCS in Andrews County, Texas; EnergySolutions in Barnwell, S.C., and Clive, Utah. Boise, Idaho-based US Ecology operates the fourth facility, on DOE’s Hanford Site near Richland, Wash.
Possessing applicable licenses and a disposal facility are two of the criteria DOE will consider in its procurement process, along with relevant past performance.
A US Ecology spokeswoman said the company is aware of the RFP and is considering an offer. Waste Control Specialists and EnergySolutions did not respond by deadline regarding their intentions.
Successful bidders would be required to supply the needed facilities, gear, employees, materials, supplies, and services to carry out the disposal operations, which include taking title to and disposal of the waste from DOE and other authorized parties; waste sampling and analysis; waste transport; and tracking data on performance of the contract.
