The Energy Department has apparently decided having two contractors running the 222-S Laboratory at the Hanford Site in Washington state is like having too many cooks in the kitchen.
The department hopes to improve productivity by not having two contractors “competing for priorities because they are working on the same equipment,” Dawn MacDonald, DOE Office of River Protection deputy federal project director for tank farms, said Oct. 4 during a Hanford panel at the Energy, Technology, and Environmental Business Association (ETEBA) conference in Knoxville, Tenn.
The former Wastren Advantage, now part of Veolia Nuclear Solutions, has a five-year, $50 million contract for laboratory analysis and testing services that is set to expire in September 2020. Support services, maintenance, and other work for the 70,000-square-foot facility are managed by AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions, (WRPS), under its $7.1 billion radioactive waste tank farm management contract at Hanford, which was just extended by a year to September 2019.
The Energy Department in late July issued a draft request for proposals for a contract potentially worth more than $900 million over seven years. The small business solicitation would result in a single vendor assuming responsibility for operating and maintaining the 222-S complex, while also testing highly radioactive samples from tank waste. The testing supports tank closure requirements and waste transfers between tanks.
The Energy Department began exploring the idea a couple years ago. The consolidated contract should streamline DOE planning by only having one contractor to deal with, MacDonald said. Also, it should eliminate contractor competition for some of the same personnel, she added.
MacDonald did not spell out any cost savings figures that might result from consolidating contracts.
In addition to AECOM, Atkins, and Veolia, other companies represented during industry meetings in August for the follow-on contract included Enercon, Fluor, North Wind, and Westinghouse.
The final RFP could be issued next month, with a contact award by February 2020, according to a procurement summary issued Oct. 1 by the department’s Office of Environmental Management.
Occupational Medical Contract Expected Within Months
The Energy Department is reviewing bid proposals for the potential $150 million contract for occupational medical services at Hanford.
The bid deadline closed in August for the successor contract to contract now held by HPM Corp. of Kennewick, Wash. The next award is anticipated by the end of this year or in early 2019, Janis Ward, acquisition project manager for DOE at Hanford, said during the same panel discussion in Knoxville. Ward did not indicate how many proposals were submitted.
The incumbent contractor recently received a three-month extension to keep it on the job through the end of this calendar year, Ward said. The total amount of HPM’s contract value has now increased from roughly $99 million to nearly $103 million, according to a summary of the contract modifications.
The contractor provides healthcare services for workers at the Hanford Site, a population that ranges from 8,000 to 10,000 people, Ward said. The work includes medical monitoring, physical exams, assessment of work injuries, emergency planning, and other occupational health services.
In addition to HPM, other companies that signed up to kick the tires at an industry meeting on the procurement this spring included Comprehensive Health Services Inc., Medcor, North Wind Group, Total Care Clinics, and Leidos subsidiary QTC Management.
