The National Nuclear Security Administration has for a second time awarded the management and operations contract for its Nevada National Security Site – this time to Mission Support and Test Services LLC (MSTS), a partnership of Honeywell International, Jacobs Engineering Group, and Stoller Newport News Nuclear.
The contract, valued at $5 billion over 10 years with all options, has been in limbo since last summer. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency in August awarded the deal to Lockheed Martin subsidiary Nevada Site Science Support and Technologies Corp. (NVS3T), only to revoke it within days after learning the company had been transferred to Leidos under Lockheed’s divestiture of its Information Systems & Global Solutions branch.
The NNSA then said it would reconsider all offers submitted to the original request for proposals. While the agency never publicly disclosed the bidders, Leidos executives told NS&D Monitor in February that the company was still pursuing the award.
Liz Porter, senior vice president of Leidos’ federal energy and environment segment, declined to comment Friday on whether the company would protest the award. Unsuccessful bidders have 10 days following their debrief with the NNSA to protest the contract decision.
Contract winner MSTS was one of the companies that petitioned to intervene when NVS3T filed a complaint in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against the withdrawal of the initial contract award. The other was Nuclear Security & Technology LLC, a partnership of Northrop Grumman Technical Services, AECOM subsidiary URS Federal Services, and CH2M Hill Constructors Inc.
Nuclear Security & Technology is a slightly revised form of the Nevada site’s current prime, National Security Technologies (NSTec), which features Northrop Grumman, AECOM, CH2M, and BWX Technologies. The NNSA said it is extending NSTec’s current contract beyond its May 31 expiration to accommodate a four-month transition period.
The 1,360-square-mile site supports the NNSA’s nuclear stockpile stewardship, nonproliferation, and counterterrorism operations, among others. More than 2,000 personnel are engaged in operations such as subcritical nuclear experiments, high-explosive test detonations, and nuclear safety criticality experiments.
“This full and open competition generated tremendous interest from industry and ensures the government will receive the best value for management and operations at the site,” NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz said in a statement.
Honeywell did not immediately release a statement on the award; Huntington Ingalls and NSTec spokespeople could not be reached for comment by press time.
