Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
10/24/2014
Contrary to what some industry officials had hoped, the new contract to operate the Department of Energy’s depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion plants won’t be set aside for small businesses. Instead, DOE plans to compete the new contract on a full-and-open basis, according to a notice issued late this week. Prior to the notice being issued, senior DOE Office of Environmental Management official Jack Surash suggested this week that the new contract would not be set aside for small businesses in remarks at this year’s Weapons Complex Monitor Decisionmakers’ Forum. “I don’t believe we will find two or more qualified and interested small businesses,” Surash said, noting the “complexity” of the plants. “I don’t believe there are two or more qualified small businesses out there.”
The two DUF6 conversion plants, located at DOE’s Portsmouth and Paducah sites, are currently managed by B&W Conversion Services, LLC, under a contract set to expire at the start of 2016. The plants are intended to help disposition more than 700,000 metric tons of material stored in thousands of cylinders at the two sites.
DOE ‘Exploring’ Exercising Portsmouth D&D Contract Option
Surash also said this week that DOE has begun “exploring” possibly exercising all, or a portion, of the five-year option period in Fluor-B&W Portsmouth’s contract to perform D&D at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. FBP’s initial five-year contract period is set to come to an end in March 2016. “We’re in the midst of that right now, but we have not made up our mind yet,” Surash said. “Honestly, there are some changed conditions at the site so that requires some cost and schedule updating. So we have actually asked the contractor to do that. We’re awaiting the contractor’s reply.” On the sidelines of this week’s meeting, Surash told WC Monitor that DOE wants to make a decision on FBP’s option period “in the next couple of months” to allow time for a potential recompete of the D&D contract if necessary.
