The AECOM-led Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) pocketed nearly $10.8 million of a potential $12.5 million in fees for its operation of the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico during fiscal 2018.
The NWP return would have been higher, but DOE deducted $100,000 for “breakdowns” in the contractor’s industrial hygiene program to protect workers from on-the-job hazards, according to the department’s performance scorecard. This “special fee consideration” was linked to failure to protect workers from heat stress, along with potential employee exposure to airborne contaminants.
Protective force staff required medical treatment, and one was hospitalized, after a security training in extreme heat, according to the Energy Department review for the period from Oct. 1, 2017, through Sept. 30, 2018. In addition, workers in WIPP’s Waste Handling Building were potentially exposed to volatile organic compounds while removing waste packages from shipping containers.
The enforcement wing of DOE’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) has started an investigation into weaknesses in the WIPP industrial hygiene program. The DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office also approved a plan for the vendor to make incremental improvements in underground air quality, which is part of the occupational hygiene review, until a new permanent ventilation system is operational by 2022. The upgrades include replacement of some old diesel equipment in order to reduce worker exposure to fumes.
The contractor earned 88%, or almost $8.3 million, of its potential $9.4 million objective fee. On the subjective criteria it earned 84.2%, or $2.6 million of a potential $3.1 million. Its total fee was nearly $10.9 million prior to the $100,000 deduction.
By comparison, the provider of underground transuranic waste disposal near Carlsbad, N.M., took home 90% of its total potential fee for fiscal 2017, or more than $10.7 million of the available $12 million.
On the subjective side of the ledger for fiscal 2018, Nuclear Waste Partnership was rated excellent on cost controls, good on safety and health, and very good on three separate categories: management, regulatory compliance, and mission performance.
The scorecard applauded NWP for a number of achievements, including; better budget planning, using supplemental ventilation to increase airflow in the northern part of the salt mine, and increasing shipments from four to 10 per week when WIPP is operating.
On the downside, DOE cited an increasing maintenance backlog at WIPP, the extended amount of time needed to control underground air quality problems, and NWP allowing personnel to enter a prohibited underground area that was not yet safe for occupancy because adequate “ground control” or roof bolting had not been done.
“We appreciate the DOE’s thorough review of our FY2018 performance, and will continue to partner with the Department to safely dispose of the nation’s defense transuranic waste while protecting the public and the environment,” NWP spokesman Donavan Mager said in an email.
Nuclear Waste Partnership, which has BWX Technologies as the other partner, has a potential 10-year, $2 billion contract to operate WIPP through September 2022. That is based on the DOE picking up a second option period by the end of September 2020.
