HOUSE LAWMAKER: LATE CHANGES TO Y-12/PANTEX EVALUATIONS DON’T ‘SMELL RIGHT’

Lawmakers on a House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee yesterday pressed Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman about late adjustments to the evaluations of bidders on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12/Pantex contract, with one Republican suggesting that the changes don’t “smell right.” Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) pushed Poneman for answers on the subject, which helped lead the agency to select a Bechtel-led team over groups led by Babcock & Wilcox and Jacobs/Fluor for the $22.8 billion contract. The award has been twice protested, though the Government Accountability Office backed the ability of NNSA Source Selection Authority Michael Lempke to alter Bechtel’s scores in three areas based on his experience with the company during the consolidation of Naval Reactors laboratories. “On its face that doesn’t smell right to me,” said Griffith, whose district includes portions of Roanoke County, Va., which is near Lynchburg, where B&W’s Technical Services Group is headquartered. He added: “When the rules are changed at the last minute, it’s hard for people to honestly compete.” Poneman declined to comment, noting that the Y-12/Pantex procurement remains open. “Obviously we do everything possible to make sure we hew to all of the requirements—statutory, regulatory and ethical—that apply,” he said.