Trial in the lawsuit over worker protection from vapors at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has been reset for June 11, 2018, at the request of all parties in the case.
This is the third time plaintiffs and defendants have jointly requested a delay in the federal trial to allow for continued mediation. It was most recently set for April 9, 2018, but the parties requested the delay when they failed to reach a settlement during mediation sessions in May. Additional mediation sessions are scheduled for July 13-14 and Aug. 1-3.
Judge Thomas Rice, of U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington, also delayed interim deadlines in the case by about two months. The first deadline, for plaintiffs to identify their experts and submit related reports, has been postponed to Sept. 1, 2017, from June 19, 2017.
The state of Washington, watchdog organization Hanford Challenge, and the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598 filed suit against the Department of Energy and its tank farm contractor in September 2015 seeking better protection from chemical vapors associated with waste held in Hanford’s underground tanks. When five Hanford workers were checked for possible exposure to chemical vapors after suspicious odors were detected outside of tank farms last week, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the incident again illustrates the necessity of the lawsuit. “The federal government should stop resisting our lawsuit, acknowledge the seriousness of this problem and focus on protecting workers,” he said.
Stakeholders have until July 14 to comment on a draft request for proposals from the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) for a new contract for disposal of low-level and mixed-low-level waste.
Waste Control Specialists and EnergySolutions have since 2013 held the current contracts for transport and disposition of waste produced at government sites, which also cover Section 11e. (2) byproduct material; technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM); and sealed sources.
“DOE is seeking feedback from contractors, other interested parties, and the public regarding the particulars of the draft solicitation document, including suggested changes that will improve the solicitation or the proposals submitted in response to it,” according to a June 15 announcement from the DOE EM Consolidated Business Center. “The anticipated type of contract, period of performance, amount of funding, and set aside possibilities are described in the draft, but may change before the final request for proposals is released.”
The draft RFP, plus the comment form, can be found here. Comments can be submitted to [email protected].
The draft RFP lays out a five-year indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract starting April 12, 2018, and continuing through April 11, 2023.
The department is focused on a number of questions regarding the draft document, contracting officer William Hensley said in a letter to interested parties, including the relative importance of the evaluation factors (in this case, price and three technical criteria: having the necessary licenses and other approvals, having a disposal facility, and relevant past performance); whether pricing information is clear, and whether clauses on special contract requirements are “understandable and unambiguous.”
Upon issuing the final RFP and reviewing the bids, DOE expects to issue one or multiple contracts for the disposal operations.
The procurement process will not feature small business set-asides, and no site visits or pre-proposal conferences are planned, Hensley wrote.
EnergySolutions said this week it would compete again for the contract. “We are confident, if selected, we will continue to provide the safe compliant service DOE expects to manage these waste streams,” spokesman Mark Walker said by email.
Waste Control Specialists did not respond to a request for comment on its plans.
A federal judge this week blocked EnergySolutions’ buyout of Waste Control Specialists.
Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Professional Project Services Inc. edged out five other bidders to sustain its position as provider of technical support services for the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.
The new indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has a value of $20,000 to $49 million over five years. It covers firm-fixed-price and time-and-materials task orders in a number of areas: project planning and baseline support, operation and maintenance of project planning and baseline management systems, independent government cost estimate support, senior management technical support, and portfolio federal project director technical support.
Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve) is a technical and engineering services firm that operates at a number of DOE locations, including the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories in New Mexico, and the Nevada National Security Site. It already held the Oak Ridge support services contract under a blanket purchase agreement with DOE.
The department, in a press release Monday, did not identify the five other bidders for the new contract.
The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management oversees cleanup of the legacy of nuclear weapons research and development operations at the Tennessee site. DOE has proposed a $390.2 million budget for fiscal 2018 for the program, down by more than $78 million from the enacted budget for fiscal 2016. The next budget year begins on Oct. 1.
Barbara Rusinko, president of Bechtel’s Nuclear, Security, and Environmental business, has been elected to the board of directors and executive committee of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the company announced Wednesday.
A mechanical engineer, Rusinko has been with Bechtel for over three decades and active in NEI, the nuclear industry’s lobbying arm, since its formation in 1994. She has worked on projects including the Hanford Site cleanup in Washington state and the Yucca Mountain geologic repository for nuclear waste, becoming president of Bechtel’s NS&E division last September.
The Nuclear, Security, and Environmental branch provides services for federal and private customers, including construction of the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee through Bechtel’s partnership in site contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security and completion of construction of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Unit 2 nuclear power plant.
NEI’s board of directors has 53 members, representing nuclear utilities, plant designers, and other industry sectors. Seventeen board members also serve on the executive committee, which directs the organization’s business and policy affairs.
“It’s a distinct honor to be elected to the NEI’s Board of Directors,” Rusinko said in a press release. “I look forward to helping NEI support the advancement of the nuclear power industry.”
Rusinko is also president of Bechtel National, the company’s government services branch. Bechtel National is building the Waste Treatment Plant at Hanford, which will process up to 56 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste from plutonium production into a glass form for storage.
In February, Business Insider named Rusinko the No. 3 most powerful engineer in the U.S. technology industry,
