Contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR) received more than 96 percent of its fee during the second half of 2017 for liquid waste management at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
Of an available $12.44 million for work performed between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2017, SRR earned $12 million, or 96.4 percent of its potential total fee. That figure includes $10.25 million or almost 97 percent of objective fee earned, and $1.75 million or 95 percent of its potential subjective fee earned, according to the DOE scorecard.
During its prior review, the contractor won 96 percent, or $14.5 million of $15.1 million, of the fee available for the period between Oct. 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017.
“In summary, SRR’s performance during the award period was excellent,” Thomas Johnson Jr., the deputy director of DOE’s SRS Operations Office, said in an Oct. 3 letter to Walter Anderson, contract manager for SRR. “Management remains actively engaged in the safe resumption of operational activities and is quick to address issues as they emerge.”
While there were few notable weaknesses during the period, DOE sent the contractor a letter of concern over “deficiencies in the critical lift program,” which was not explained. While Johnson said no accidents have occurred, SRR should consider an enhanced review of such programs to avoid “corporate drift” on potential problems.
But most of the letter involved praise for SRR. The department said the contractor met the technical performance requirements of the contract, as measured against its performance plan, on issues involving cost, schedule, and technical performance.
Savannah River Remediation management also prioritized the work scope and focused on safety while working on resumption of operations at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). Liquid waste operations at SRS resumed in June of this year after a 15-month hiatus due to maintenance issues at the DWPF. The facility converts radioactive liquid waste into a less harmful form suitable for interim on-site storage.
In total, the Savannah River Site holds about 35 million gallons of radioactive waste left behind by Cold War nuclear weapons operations.
The SRR team is a partnership comprised of AECOM, Bechtel National, CH2M, and BWX Technologies. The group splintered when it came time to purse a new 10-year contract at the site, with BWXT leading its own team, which includes Bechtel as a partner.
Savannah River Remediation received a couple of extensions to keep it on hand while DOE settles on a follow-on award. The first extension, for five months came in December 2017, and a second announced in the spring would keep SRR on the job potentially through March 2019.
The department expects to reissue a 10-year liquid waste contract for the site this month.
BWX Technologies-led Savannah River EcoManagement won a 10-year, $4.7 billion contract last October. But the victory didn’t last long for BWXT and its partners, Bechtel and Honeywell. In February, the Government Accountability Office upheld a bid protest brought by a team of AECOM and CH2M. The GAO found the Energy Department failed to properly vet the viability of the winning bidder’s technical approach to process the waste and convert it into more stable forms.
