PROTESTS ON NEW Y-12/PANTEX AWARD UNCERTAIN; TRANSITION ON HOLD

The National Nuclear Security Administration selected Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security for its Y-12/Pantex management and operating contract Friday, but it’s likely to be several weeks before the agency begins transition to the new contractor. NNSA spokeswoman Keri Fulton said all three bidders for the contract agreed to the agency’s two-part open book debriefing process, which was proposed to head off a third protest of the $22.8 billion contract, but NW&M Monitor has learned the debriefings will not take place until mid-November, pushing the window for protests to just before Thanksgiving. Teams led by Babcock & Wilcox and Jacobs/Fluor protested the agency’s initial selection of CNS in January, and after the Government Accountability Office upheld the protest, B&W protested the agency’s corrective actions in June. In a statement late Friday, B&W said it was “disappointed” it wasn’t selected for the contract and was weighing its options. “We are disappointed, as we believe our proposal, including revisions submitted after the Government Accountability Office sustained our initial protest, was the strongest choice, as originally determined by the Source Evaluation Board,” B&W Technical Services Group President George Dudich said. “We will carefully evaluate information received during NNSA’s debriefing process in determining our next steps.”