Two bid protests filed over the award of the management and operations contract for the Nevada National Security Site have been withdrawn, the National Nuclear Security Administration said Friday.
Transition activities for the M&O contract awarded in May to Mission Support and Test Services LLC (MSTS) will therefore resume Aug. 1, according to the semiautonomous Department of Energy branch. The new contractor is a partnership of Honeywell International, Jacobs Engineering Group, and Stoller Newport News Nuclear.
The NNSA last August awarded Nevada Site Science Support and Technologies Corp. (NVS3T) the contract, worth $5 billion over 10 years with all options, but revoked it after learning the company had changed hands from Lockheed Martin to Leidos.
After reconsidering the five original bids, the NNSA in May awarded the contract to MSTS.
NVS3T, a partnership involving Leidos, Fluor Federal Services, and Longenecker & Associates, then filed a bid protest with the Government Accountability Office, followed by another protest from Nuclear Security & Technology LLC, a partnership between Northrop Grumman Technical Services, AECOM subsidiary URS Federal Services, and CH2M Hill Constructors Inc.
Those three companies are also part of National Security Technologies LLC, the contractor currently running the site. BWX Technologies is a partner on the current contract but did not team on the Nuclear Security & Technology bid.
The reason for withdrawal of the two protests was not immediately clear. However, an industry source said companies often protest to obtain more information than was initially provided in the debrief following a contract award. The contractor might then withdraw its protest if, with that additional insight, it finds it unlikely that the GAO ruling will be in its favor.
