EM contractors at WIPP, Los Alamos earn most of ’24 fee

Both the prime for the Department of Energy’s transuranic waste disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., and the legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory received good reviews from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management for fiscal 2024.

The Huntington Ingalls Industries-led cleanup contractor, Newport News Nuclear BWXT (N3B)-Los Alamos, earned 82% of its subjective fee and 79% of its total available fee for the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, 2024. That is according to the DOE scorecard out this week.

The subjective rating beats the 72% N3B received in that category for fiscal 2023 from Environmental Management (EM).

This time around, N3B earned about $4.3 million out of a potential $5.2 million in subjective fee. Overall, N3B collected $13.7 million out of a potential total fee of $17.4 million. DOE said N3B should improve communication with the EM cleanup office at Los Alamos and do a better job of overseeing subcontractors. On the upside, the nuclear cleanup office credited N3B with finishing remediation of Middle DP Road.

N3B just had the final two-year option on its 10-year contract picked up by DOE at Los Alamos.

Meanwhile, Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors took home 87% of its subjective fee and 93% of its overall available fee for fiscal year 2024 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), according to the latest scorecard. Salado earned about $15.7 million out of a potential $16.8 million in overall fee at WIPP.

Fiscal 2024 marked Salado’s first full year of running the underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste. The team took the reins from an Amentum-led partnership in February 2023.

DOE told Salado to continue working with union representatives on “safety culture” issues at WIPP, according to the 2024 fee document. On the positive side, WIPP received 49 shipments from the in-state Los Alamos National Laboratory, which were a priority for DOE and New Mexico officials.