The Energy Department on Thursday posted 13 pages of additional questions and answers from prospective bidders on the potential $6 billion, decade-long Hanford Site Mission Essential Services Contract.
For the most part, the agency declined to elaborate on the final request for proposals, issued Sept. 20, for the “landlord” contract at the former plutonium production complex in Washington state.
Mission Support Alliance, a team of Leidos and Centerra Group, hold the current cost-plus-award-fee contract, valued at about $3.2 billion and scheduled to expire on May 25, 2019. Bids for the new contract are due Nov. 19. The Energy Department responded to an earlier tranche of questions on Oct. 11.
One of the unidentified questioners asked DOE about what appears to be significant cost increases for full-time Mission Support employees in areas concerning utilities and infrastructure, as well as transportation, and training. “Do the more than $90M of cost increases between 2016 and 2017 represent a trend(s), and if so, what is driving that trend(s)?”
The Energy Department replied that the data should not “be interpreted as a trend.” The agency’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said bidders are not bound by the current contractor’s approach “and shall bid their own technical approaches” based on the RFP scope. Past activity also might not be an accurate predicter of what is needed in the future, the department added.
Another questioner urged DOE to provide more information about the demographic makeup of the current workforce. “Documentation that characterizes workforce demographics will not be provided,” DOE said.
In a question about government-furnished property, DOE said the new contractor will not be required to manage space that is leased by the current support services provider.
The winning contractor will provide a wide-array of site-wide services at Hanford, including emergency response, security, information technology, land management, overseeing roads and utilities, and management of the HAMMER training center.
The contract award is anticipated between August and October 2019.
