Sigma Science Inc., of Los Alamos, will write a handbook for dealing with the full scope of safety threats at the highly contaminated Area G waste facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) under a two-year, $3.1 million task order announced Monday by the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management.
The task order requires the company to produce what is known as a Documented Safety Analysis for Technical Area-54 Area G. The document’s Technical Safety Requirements will “set the limits, controls, and related actions that establish the specific parameters and actions for the safe operation of a nuclear facility,” DOE said in a press release announcing the deal.
The 63-acre Area G is located within Technical Area-54. DOE has stored low-level nuclear waste at Area G since the 1950s. A barrel of improperly sealed transuranic waste from Area G — material contaminated by plutonium or other elements heavier than uranium — was blamed for the 2014 accidental radiation release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.
The Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office oversees legacy cleanup work at Area G and other parts of LANL, which is done by lab prime contractor Los Alamos National Security under a roughly $310 million contract that could run out to Sept. 30, 2017, if DOE exercises its remaining option on the contract.
DOE has said it plans to release the draft solicitation for a 10-year follow-on cleanup contract some time this year.
