URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR), prime cleanup contractor for the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, earned a total of $6.24 million in fee awards for the first half of 2018, according to a recent performance scorecard.
The contractor garnered 100 percent of the potential $2.59 million in objective criteria fee, along with $3.65 million, or 87 percent, of a potential $4.2 million subjective fee award. Altogether, UCOR got to 92 percent of a potential $6.8 million for the period from Oct. 1, 2017, through March 31, 2018.
Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Manager Jay Mullis outlined the award in a recent letter to UCOR President and Project Manager Kenneth Rueter. Current indicators suggest UCOR is doing well against its cleanup cost and schedule plan and “will underrun the contract price,” Mullis wrote.
The contractor came up with a new option for disposing of a large amount of mixed low-level waste in the K-1037 building, which is at least $400,000 cheaper than the past practice of “macro-encapsulation,” Mullis said. UCOR approval from the Nevada National Security Site to use a “macro bag” which will provide the cost savings, Mullis wrote. The K-1037 building made barrier material used in the gaseous diffusion process for uranium enrichment at Oak Ridge.
The Energy Department also credited UCOR with ceasing operations at a garage, which allowed Building K-1414 to be torn down earlier than expected. The K-1414 building was a garage where a leaking diesel tank was located.
UCOR also exceeded most of its small business subcontracting target, hitting 80 percent against the goal of 65 percent for the review period.
Areas for improvement include the Alpha 4 West COLEX equipment removal project, which involves a major mercury cleanup at a building used for uranium separation in the 1940s. Factors such as mercury vapors hurt schedule and performance, according to the DOE appraisal. The agency also said UCOR needs to work on its entry/exit process at the East Tennessee Technology Park central shipping and receiving site.
The Energy Department rated UCOR as “excellent” for project management and business systems and regulatory and stakeholder activity; and “good” on worker safety, health, and quality management. Overall, it was ranked as “very good” for total project management incentive. The agency said it has “high confidence” in cost and schedule issues with UCOR.
In its prior scorecard, UCOR earned an award fee of $3.28 million of a potential $3.78 million for April 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2017.
“Overall, this is an outstanding composite fee – one that reflects the hard work and determination of the UCOR workforce,” UCOR spokeswoman Ashley Hartman said by email Wednesday. “We appreciate DOE’s positive assessment of our work, including our success in advancing multiple projects to complete cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) and reducing risks associated with DOE operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex.”
Hartman said UCOR is a “learning organization” and would pay particular attention to areas DOE has targeted for improvement. “We continue to streamline processes and increase rigor in facility operations to actively address operational concerns.”
UCOR is a partnership of URS owner AECOM and CH2M. It holds a $2.7 billion contract, originally signed in 2011, which runs through July 2020. The cost-plus-fee award contract includes decontamination and demolition (D&D) and environmental remediation of ETTP, as well as cleanup and waste management at other Oak Ridge Reservation sites. Part of its work includes overseeing construction of a new mercury treatment plant.
The department also noted this week UCOR had finished demolition of ETTP’s K-633 Test Loop Facility, a highly contaminated building in the Poplar Creek area. The tear down began in May and completed debris removal in mid-June.
Former DOE Adviser Fills Government Relations Role at UCOR
The Oak Ridge contractor officially announced Monday it has hired a former Energy Department senior adviser for environmental management issues, Roger Jarrell, for a government and stakeholder relations position.
Jarrell, who left DOE on June 15, was a Trump administration political appointee who joined the department in January 2017 and started working on nuclear cleanup issues in May 2017. At UCOR he will work with local, state, and federal officials on matters concerning the cleanup contract at the Oak Ridge Site. He will also work on consolidating UCOR’s workforce development efforts, according to a press release from the company.
Prior to joining DOE, Jarrell practiced law, worked as a political consultant, and an elected Republican Party chairman in Lexington, Va.
“He will be a significant asset during our final stretch of our cleanup contract to help ensure we proactively address issues that may arise and develop strategies to ensure we finish strong as we wrap up our cleanup work with DOE,” said UCOR’s Rueter in the announcement.
Jarrell joined UCOR on Monday, filling an existing position at Oak Ridge. His departure from DOE and his new position were reported last week by Weapons Complex Monitor.
