A former ventilation subcontractor’s lawsuit against Waste Isolation Pilot Plant prime Nuclear Waste Partnership was put on hold Wednesday while the parties attempted to settle their differences out of court.
The prime, Nuclear Waste Partnership, and subcontractor Critical Applications Alliance have agreed to stay the case while pursuing mediation, their attorneys said in a joint motion filed with the U.S.District Court in New Mexico.
As of March, the court was fully briefed on the prime’s motion to dismiss key aspects of Critical Applications Alliance’s lawsuit. Nuclear Waste Partnership terminated the sub “for convenience” in 2020 after slow progress on WIPP’s new Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System, which DOE needs to improve disposal throughput at deep-underground transuranic waste repository.
The case is being overseen by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Gonzales.
Critical Applications Alliance, jointly owned by Christensen Building Group and Kilgore Industries, claimed the prime made an “invalid termination” of a $135-million agreement to build the ventilation system and sued for $32 million, citing breach of contract.
The sub said that even before it was hired on at WIPP, the ventilation project suffered from a bad design, and that Nuclear Waste Partnership was both hobbled by COVID-19 and inexperienced in overseeing big infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, Nuclear Waste Partnership has accused the subcontractor of attempting an “end run” around a “mandated settlement process” for federal contracts by making a “rush to the courthouse.” The prime in December asked for a 120-day stay in the proceedings to hold talks outside of court.
Nuclear Waste Partnership was also critical of its ex-sub’s performance. “From the beginning, NWP [Nuclear Waste Partnership] encountered numerous problems with CAA [Critical Applications Alliance] – a first time government contractor,” the prime wrote in a December court filing.
After the Critical Applications Alliance was terminated, Nuclear Waste Partnership issued a $3-million subcontract in October to Kiewit US Contractors Co. for work that could not be put on hold, such as finishing construction of the Salt Reduction Building on the surface.
A spokesman for the WIPP prime said Thursday the procurement for a new Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System subcontractor is ongoing.
