PHOENIX — The final solicitations could be out in May for multi-billion-dollar contracts at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky, an agency procurement manager said here Tuesday.
Aaron Deckard, procurement director for DOE’s Cincinnati-based Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center, offered the assessment at the agency’s spring quarterly business opportunity forum, held here during the annual Waste Management Symposia.
The agency issued its draft request for proposals for the $5.87-billion Decontamination and Decommissioning Contract at the Portsmouth Site and the $1.89-billion Portsmouth Paducah Project Office (PPPO) Operations and Site Mission Support Contract in January. The potential final RFP release is consistent with what was shared with potential bidders during virtual one-on-one meetings, Deckard said during the presentation.
The actual issuance of the final RFP could be before or after that target given these are complicated procurements that require coordination with numerous parties, Deckard added.
Fluor-BWXT is the current incumbent on the Portsmouth decommissioning contract while Atkins-led Mid-America Conversion Services is the incumbent on running the depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) facilities at the two sites.
On another topic, Deckard said DOE’s Office of Environmental Management might or might not be resuming in-person site tours in connection with procurements anytime soon. Many people want to resume that practice, he said. However, more people can take advantage of virtual tours. “Just a couple of months ago we were within the throes of the omicron surge,” Deckard added.
