The Energy Department could in late February issue its final request for proposals for construction of the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., according to recently released presolicitation documents.
The agency expects prospective bidders will have 30 calendar days from the date of the final RFP to submit contract proposals.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management on Nov. 30 released a draft RFP for the planned fixed-price contract for construction of the treatment facility. Prospective bidders then received a site tour and presolicitation meetings on Jan. 3 -4.
Records indicate more than 70 people registered for the industry sessions at Oak Ridge. Some of the familiar company names on the registration list included AREVA Federal Services, Atkins, Bechtel, GEM Technologies, Jacobs, NorthWind Group, Stoller Newport News Nuclear, Veolia Nuclear Solutions, Wastren Advantage, and Westinghouse Government Services.
Comments on the draft RFP, which will help DOE prepare its final bid package, were due Jan. 9. In response to an industry question submitted to DOE’s procurement website, the department declined to provide the government’s cost estimate for construction, but said “the funding profile will be included in the final RFP.”
At whatever point a contract is award, the winning bidder will be required to start work within 15 days after receiving the notice to proceed.
There were 20 questions and answers recorded on the presolicitation website. They covered issues ranging from the size of the construction “laydown” area for the treatment plant to disposal of soil and residue in Oak Ridge Reservation landfills to a description of the construction labor agreement for the project.
Mercury continues to be a major contamination issue at Y-12, which remains an active nuclear-weapon site for DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration. The General Services Administration has estimated 24 million pounds of mercury were brought to Y-12 during the 1950s and 1960s for nuclear weapons research. More than 2 million pounds were “spilled, lost, or unaccounted for,” according to DOE information. This includes 700,000 pounds of mercury are believed to have infiltrated structures, soils, sediments, and the air at Y-12.
The new plant would treat mercury-contaminated water that already goes from the Y-12 storm sewer to East Fork Poplar Creek, and head off future water contamination as old mercury-contaminated buildings to the 1940s are taken down.
Among other tasks, the winning bidder will be responsible for project management, procurement, construction, and system testing, according to the DOE materials. Oak Ridge cleanup prime URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) has developed the design for the mercury treatment project and will provide engineering and technical services for the project, DOE said.
Some site preparation work, including utility replacement of electric, water and sewer lines, is already being done under a UCOR subcontract awarded last September to GEM Technologies.
