Two protests filed with the Government Accountability Office over long-term Department of Energy contracts awards, each worth more than a billion dollars, were withdrawn this week.
Bechtel-led Idaho Remediation on Tuesday withdrew its challenge of a $6.4-billion nuclear contract at the Idaho National Laboratory awarded in May to a Jacobs-led team, Idaho Environmental Coalition.
“The mission work in Idaho is critical, and we want to minimize any disruption to the Idaho management transition,” said Bechtel spokesman Fred deSousa in a Friday email. “In reflection, we have concluded that the basis for our protest is best resolved directly with the DOE.”
In addition to operation of the Integrated Waste Treatment unit and decommissioning old facilities, the cleanup contractor is also expected to protect a major regional water aquifer.
On Monday, a bid protest filed over a $1-billion security contract for the DOE Savannah River Site in South Carolina was withdrawn by SOC, a Day & Zimmermann affiliate. SOC filed its bid protest June 28 after DOE reaffirmed its security services contract award to Securitas-led SRS Critical Infrastructure Security.
The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment at deadline line.
The contract for protecting people, facilities, nuclear material and key information at Savannah River, work being done by incumbent Centerra, was awarded to the Securitas-led group in February. SOC’s initial contract challenge came shortly after the award and DOE announced in March it was re-evaluating the security services award.
Centerra still has its own bid protest pending on the security contract award.
Notices posted on the Government Accountability Office website provide no details on reasons for the original protest or the decision to withdraw.
