Staff Reports
WC Monitor
11/7/2014
Wastren Advantage Inc. received 68.5 percent of the maximum fee for the six-month performance period that ended July 31 in its latest performance review from the Department of Energy for managing the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center. In an Oct. 28 letter to WAI, Sue Cange, DOE’s acting environmental manager in Oak Ridge, said the contractor was awarded a fee of $405,601 out of a maximum available of $592,117. WAI received a “good” rating for processing and disposal of transuranic waste inventory, which accounted for 35 percent of the available management fee, the largest single fee category. The contractor received “very good” ratings for business management and facility operations and “satisfactory” ratings for cost performance and project management systems.
According to the DOE evaluation, the Oak Ridge contractor processed 62 percent of the planned volume of contact-handled transuranic waste during the performance period and shipped offsite 14 percent of the planned volume. The processing of waste was “primarily impacted” by the ongoing analysis of hazards associated with these wastes, as well as technical issues with the puncturing of overpacked drums, the DOE letter stated. The disposal of the contact-handled transuranic waste was affected by DOE’s delay in approving the resumption of waste characterization by the Central Characterization Project team and the suspension of waste shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. “Although the delays in approval of CCP certification and the suspension of shipments to WIPP were outside of the WAI’s control, WAI quickly developed a plan to minimize related impacts,” Cange’s letter stated.
DOE said Wastren Advantage processed 67 percent of the planned volume of remote-handled transuranic waste and shipped off-site 21 percent of what had been planned for the six-month period. Again, the letter was noted that the processing of waste was primarily affected by the WIPP shutdown, and noted that some activities had to be postponed because of the limited storage capacity available on-site in Oak Ridge. DOE said it took some of the limitations into consideration in determining the fee.
DOE Raises Cost Concerns
Facility operations are “very good” at the TWCPC and the facility is “sufficiently maintained,” the DOE fee determination official noted. DOE said the cost performance index and schedule performance “deviated unfavorably” by more than 10 percent during the period, but said the contractor’s project to date cost index remains favorable. “It is noted that some changes outside of WAI’s control occurred during the evaluation period that affected their performance and will require negotiation and implementation of contract and baseline changes before the extent of impact on their performance will be fully known, Cange wrote.
The federal official noted that the “realism” of WAI reported Estimate at Completion (EAC) “is a concern” for a couple of reasons. One is that WAI only reported a $5.8 million increase in their EAC while reporting a cost overrun of $7.8 million during the evaluation period. DOE also noted that the Estimate at Completion captures cost through January 2015 and not the cost to complete all of the scope of the contract. Other cost issues were noted as well.
