The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management published draft solicitations this week for a potentially 10-year, $2-billion contract that includes processing depleted uranium tetrafluoride for National Nuclear Security Administration nuclear weapon programs.
The work would be part of the cleanup branch’s Portsmouth Paducah Project Office Operations and Site Mission Support Contract, the meat of which is devoted to processing of depleted uranium hexafluoride that is part of the Environmental Management office’s Cold War cleanup mission.
The eventual winner of the new contract will be responsible for building a depleted uranium tetrafluoride (DUF4) production line at the Portsmouth Site’s X-1300 building, according to the draft performance work statement. DUF4 will be made from DOE’s stock of depleted uranium hexafluoride, left over from uranium enrichment. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has said it plans to process some 250 metric tons of the material annually.
DOE expects to release a final solicitation for the new contract no sooner than March. The pact will replace the DUF6 contract now held by Mid-America Conversion Services, made up of Atkins, Westinghouse and Fluor. The current provider has a $550-million deal that began in February 2017 and, barring extension, would expire Jan. 31.
The NNSA had hoped to start processing DUF4 in fiscal year 2022 but factors including COVID-19 pushed startup until at least 2023, the agency has said.
Meanwhile, DOE said in a press release about the draft solicitation that “after careful evaluation it has been determined that a small business set-aside would not be appropriate for this contract.”
In addition to the depleted uranium hexafluoride work and support of the Office of Nuclear Energy’s High Assay Low Enriched Uranium program, some chores now done by remediation contractors at Portsmouth and Paducah — such as emergency management and nuclear material accountability — will be moved to the Site Mission Support contract, DOE said.
Hewing to the Environmental Management office’s end-state contracting philosophy, the new depleted uranium deal will be an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract.
Prospective bidders have until Jan. 28 to submit questions or comments on the draft request for proposals. Registration for virtual one-on-one sessions, expected Jan. 19 and 20 for the operations and site mission contract should be made by 2 p.m. E.T. on Jan. 10 by emailing [email protected].
