Judge rejects motion to reconsider ruling on Hanford liquid waste contract

A federal judge recently rejected a motion to reconsider a September ruling upholding the Department of Energy’s award of a liquid waste contract, potentially worth $45-billion, to a team led by BWX Technologies.

Judge Marian Horn in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rejected the motion for reconsideration by AtkinsRéalis Nuclear-led Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance (HTDA), and the team’s request for a temporary restraining order, in a redacted five-page opinion dated Oct. 24.

Horn “issued a lengthy and detailed opinion” on Sept. 8, agreeing that the final, revised offer by Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure (H2C) was clearly better than HTDA’s offer. H2C is made up of BWXT, Amentum and Fluor. The winner began its takeover of Hanford liquid waste management on Oct. 21.

AtkinsRéalis in an email reply to Exchange Monitor, declined comment on the judge’s ruling. BWXT will report its financial results next week and Atkins the following week.  

DOE rewarded the Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract to H2C in February after a second competition spurred by Horn’s 2023 decision that an earlier award to H2C, in April 2023, was improper because the company failed to stay continuously registered with the System for Award Management. 

Both H2C and HTDA were allowed to submit revised proposals in the second competition, and Horn pointed out in last week’s order that there was no allegation that H2C had a lapse in registration between October 2023 and Feb. 29, 2024, when the agency evaluated the revised proposals.