Fluor Marine Propulsion plans to move some 200 Naval Reactors Facility employees in Idaho off-site in 2020, when the prime contractor for the federal Naval Nuclear Laboratory expects to enter a five- to 10-year lease for office space.
The Naval Reactors Facility, which stores spent fuel from nuclear warships and submarines, employs a total of about 1,400 Naval Nuclear Laboratory personnel at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
The majority of those will remain inside the fence at INL, but expected growth in naval nuclear programs over the next decade will push about 200 of these, “who are able to perform their duties remotely,” off-site, a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) spokesperson for the Naval Nuclear Laboratory wrote in an email Monday.
The contractor is seeking about 34,000 square feet of office space, according to federally required environmental paperwork filed by the NNSA. The Naval Nuclear Laboratory spokesperson would not say how much the contractor plans to spend on the lease, which would have a five-year base period and a five-year option.
Fluor Marine Propulsion manages the Naval Nuclear Laboratory under NNSA and Navy contracts worth about $30 billion over 10 years. The work includes management and operations of the NNSA’s Bettis and Knolls atomic power laboratories in West Mifflin, Pa.; the Kenneth A. Kesselring Site in West Milton, N.Y.; and the Naval Reactors Facility.
Fluor Marine Propulsion unseated Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corp. to take over the contract on Oct. 1, 2018.
