Nuke waste contract officially up for grabs; estimated value up to $300M

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The Department of Energy’s Transuranic Waste Processing Center in Oak Ridge. (DOE photo)

transuranicThe Department of Energy today released the final Request for Proposals for managing and operating DOE’s Transuranic Waste Processing Center in Oak Ridge. According to a summary statement, the performance period is for five years — a three-year base contract, with one two-year option. The total estimated value of the radioactive-waste work is somewhere between $100 million and $300 million.

A draft RFP was released in mid-summer seeking comment from potential bidders. A pre-proposal conference and site tour will be held Oct. 28 at the waste-processing center on Highway 95 at the western edge of the DOE reservation. The contract is a set-aside for small businesses. The proposals are due by 4 p.m. on Dec. 1.

According to the DOE statement, the work would include: managing and operating the waste center, a Category II nuclear facility; surveillance and maintenance activities; and providing support to DOE’s waste certification team. The contract calls for the processing of contact-handled and remote-handled transuranic wastes that were generated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as well as the Nuclear Fuel Services site at Erwin, Tenn.

The current contract is held by Wastren Advantage Inc. That contract is due to expire Jan. 16, 2015, although there’s an option for an additional six months to align with the new contractor transition.

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About Frank Munger

Senior Writer Frank Munger covers the Dept. of Energy's Oak Ridge facilities and many related topics — nuclear weapons, nuclear waste and other things nuclear, environmental cleanup and science of all sorts. Atomic City Underground is, first and foremost, a news blog, but there's room for analysis, opinion and random thoughts that have no place else to go.