As expected, the Department of Energy formally extended the Huntington Ingalls-led legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory by three years, according to an agency document published online this week.
The Los Alamos legacy cleanup business held by Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) has been extended through April 29, 2026, according to the latest summary of major DOE Office of Environmental Management contracts, dated Tuesday.
Without the extension, the cleanup agreement would have expired this weekend, which marked the end of the five-year base period. The deal’s current value is listed as $1.75 billion.
The move was expected as an N3B executive told a federal advisory board about the extension in March. DOE holds another two-year option on the contract.
The Office of Environmental Management took over Los Alamos legacy cleanup in 2018 after DOE decided to separate legacy nuclear remediation from the lab’s operations and maintenance contract, administered by DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
The decision was made after an improperly remediated drum of transuranic waste from Los Alamos overheated, ruptured and leaked radiation underground at DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in February 2014. The accident would contaminate a portion of the deep-underground waste repository and result in suspension of operations of the disposal site for about three years.
DOE has renewed N3B despite some operational difficulties, including recent stop-work orders issued to the cleanup contractor.
