The U.S. Energy Department plans by early 2020 to issue a final request for proposals for deactivation, decommissioning, and removal of excess facilities across the nuclear weapons complex.
The agency posted a notice Dec. 5 saying the final RFP on the contract, potentially worth $3 billion over 10 years, should be released within 30 days.
The Energy Department in September published its draft RFP, which noted the first task order issued under the master indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract would involve Building 251 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
Building 251 is a facility of about 31,000 square feet located in the western half of the National Nuclear Security Administration property. It was built in segments between 1955 and 1981, and used to provide heavy-element nuclear tracers to support underground testing of nuclear devices. Building 251 was operated by the Livermore management vendor team that included the University of California, Bechtel, BWXT, AECOM, and Battelle, according to a presentation on the procurement website.
The building houses laboratories, offices, equipment, industrial shops, storage rooms, and hot cells. Today, Building 251 is basically empty except for a large 32,000-pound magnet assembly.
Additional task orders under the contract could subsequently be issued for cleanup of excess facilities at other DOE sites “once they materialize,” according to the recent notice. In addition to deactivating and tearing down contaminated facilities to slab, the winning vendor would be required to dispose of contaminated dirt and debris.
The period of performance for the contract is up to 24 months for the Livermore work.
A presolicitation conference tour and one-on-one meetings with interested industry players occurred Sept. 24-26 at Livermore. Comments on the draft RFP were due Oct. 4.
The Building 251 project is expected to set the pattern for future task orders. The contact person for the procurement is DOE Contracting Officer Michael McCreanor, at [email protected].
Once the final RFP is issued, potential bidders should email any questions or comments to [email protected].
The Energy Department will subsequently post responses to questions on the procurement website.
The agency expects to award the contract about nine months after the proposals are submitted. The RFP is a new solicitation and there is no incumbent on the project.
