The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking feedback on draft solicitation documents from potential bidders for the Sandia National Laboratories’ (SNL) management and operations contract, according to a special notice posted Monday. The NNSA is particularly interested in input from small businesses and small business sub-categories, including woman-owned and veteran-owned firms, that may be able to support the contract as a contractor or subcontractor. The draft solicitation includes the statement of work, evaluation factors, past performance questionnaire, and management team cost sheet.
Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sandia Corp. currently operates SNL, which engineers and produces non-nuclear weapon components and develops nonproliferation technologies, for a period of performance that began in 1993 and will expire on April 30, 2017. SNL’s operating budget has been valued at roughly $2.6 billion per year for the last few years. The NNSA plans to conduct an open competition for a follow-on contract with a four-month transition and five-year base period, along with options of up to five additional years.
The NNSA opted for a full and open contract competition after the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office found that SNL and Lockheed officials lobbied federal officials for a contract extension using federal contract funding, in violation of U.S. regulations. While Lockheed Martin confirmed last July its interest in competing for the new contract, major contractors Honeywell, CH2M, Battelle, AECOM, Fluor, BWX Technologies, and Bechtel have remained silent on their intentions. Contacted this week, Bechtel, BWX Technologies, and Battelle declined to comment on any potential interest in the bid.
The draft documents include factors for the evaluation of potential bidders that so far have only appeared in the requests for proposals for the management of the National Security Campus near Kansas City, Mo., and the Nevada National Security Site. This evaluation approach with three criteria – past performance, laboratory organization and qualifications of key personnel, and small business participation – generated mixed reviews from industry officials, some of whom recently told NS&D Monitor that this system might lock in incumbent contractors due to the heavily weighted past performance item.
Under the first criterion, the NNSA will evaluate the contractor’s past performance over the last five years, crediting all companies within a team equally for positive or negative contract performance. Under lab organization, the draft documents note that bidders proposing a “simple organizational structure with less complex relationships” may receive a more favorable evaluation.
In the latest notice, the NNSA is requesting permission from respondents to publicize their company name, capability statement, and contact information “for possible teaming and subcontracting opportunities.” Responses must be submitted to [email protected] by 11 a.m. EDT on April 1.
The NNSA did not specify when it expects to release a final request for proposals.
