The U.S. Navy has exercised a $1 billion option for fiscal 2020 for Fluor Marine Propulsion, a subsidiary of the troubled engineering giant that is selling off its government contracting business, to continue work on nuclear propulsion systems for U.S. warships and submarines.
Fluor Marine Propulsion has managed the joint Department of Energy-Navy Naval Nuclear Laboratory since Oct. 1, 2018, under a contract worth about $30 billion over 10 years, with options. The company ousted Bechtel Marine Propulsion to take over the multi-site, DOE-owned labs, along with their associated, Navy-funded work.
Neither the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) nor the Navy has released the detailed financial terms of their respective Naval Nuclear Laboratory contracts. The NNSA-funded contract has an $8.5-billion base term, while the Navy-funded contract had a roughly $1-billion base.
The Naval Nuclear Laboratory contracts cover 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 near Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The labs develop new nuclear propulsion systems for the Navy’s aircraft carriers and submarines, and train sailors to operate those systems at sea.
