The U.S. Energy Department said Monday it plans to retain a Richland, Wash., firm via a no-bid contract to provide technical expertise on treatment of nuclear tank waste at the Hanford Site.
The agency’s Office of River Protection (ORP) plans to issue a sole-source time and materials contract potentially worth $870,000 to Jeffery L. Bird, doing business as Performance Edge LLC, for engineering and consulting on the Tank-Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) and Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) projects.
The Energy Department announced its plans via the Federal Business Opportunities website, saying the firm has experience with tank waste cleanup and is qualified to provide work that is “highly specialized and distinctly specific to the Hanford Site and mission.”
It would be a two-year contract plus one option year, with the total compensation not to exceed $870,000, according to the statement of work.
Bird’s firm will support the assistant manager for tank farms at ORP. The office oversees 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste inside 177 underground tanks at Hanford. The consultant would provide reviews and recommendations to DOE senior management on tank closures.
The consultant would basically act as a go-between for ORP, DOE headquarters, site contractors, regulators, and stakeholders. Duties could include writing updates on tank waste issues, conducting regular meetings, and trying to prevent delays in converting waste to glass for disposal.
The tank-side cesium removal demonstration project is meant to remove both cesium and solid materials from tank waste before it is converted into a glass form at the Waste Treatment Plant being built at Hanford by contractor Bechtel. The Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste program is part of a sequenced approach to allow DOE to begin processing low-activity waste before it also starts converting high-activity material into glass.
The consultant should help ensure a smooth transition to the new Tank Closure Contract (TCC) and the new 222-S Laboratory Contract.
AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions has handled the tank operations, under a contract valued at $6.8 billion, since October 2008. It is scheduled to stay on the job through September 2020 under a 12-month extension.
Washington River Protection Solutions also provides maintenance and management of the 222-S Laboratory, while Veolia handles tank waste laboratory analysis and testing services at the facility. Veolia, which acquired the $52 million testing contract by buying Wastren Advantage, also has a one-year extension through September 2020.
In its last procurement timetable, published in May, the DOE Office of Environmental Management envisioned issuing the tank contract issued this August and the laboratory contract this month. Some skeptics don’t expect any major contract awards until the Senate confirms a successor to departing Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who the Trump administration wants to replace with Deputy Secretary Dan Brouillette. Perry is scheduled to exit the Cabinet by Dec. 1, but Brouillette has not yet been formally nominated.
The Waste Treatment Plant is supposed to start vitrifying low-activity tank waste into glass by 2023.
Questions about the award can be directed to Contracting Officer Margit Larrieu, at [email protected]. Any responses should be sent by 11:20 p.m. Pacific time on Nov. 20.
