No Hanford contracting plan yet, but DOE continues to seek interested companies

The Department of Energy has yet to release its master plan for new Hanford contracts, but is continuing to ask for information from businesses interested in performing work at the nuclear reservation.

Late last week it put out a request for information from companies interested in performing part or all of a new management and services contract for the Hanford 222-S Laboratory. The last time the lab contract was awarded it was valued at $44.6 million over five years.

Last year DOE issued a request for information from companies interested in operating the Hanford tank farms. In 2015 it issued a request for information from companies interested in other environmental cleanup work in central Hanford and in sitewide services, such as utilities, road maintenance and information technology.

The three largest environmental cleanup contracts at the Hanford nuclear reservation cover those services and expire in September 2018 or May 2019. Total value could be in the neighborhood of $15 billion, based on past awards.

In addition the Occupational Medical Services contract expires in September 2018 and the 222-S Lab contract expires in September 2020. A request for information for occupational medical services was issued last year.

An overall contracting strategy was expected to be released in January, with a request for bids later this year, DOE said in fall 2016.

During an online question-and-answer session for the public in April, DOE said the master plan for new contracts would be delayed a few months longer.

The new contracting strategy is expected to shape the way work that will cost taxpayers billions of dollars is divided up at Hanford, how the companies that do the work will be compensated, and which companies will employ more than 6,000 Hanford workers over the next decade.

The 222-S Laboratory contract has been reserved for small businesses since 2005. It currently is held by Wastren Advantage.

The type of lab contract and its length have yet to be determined, according to DOE. It also has not determined whether it will again be reserved for a small businesses.

DOE said the request for information is for market research only and no bids are being sought now. DOE plans tours and meetings with interested companies in late August.

The 222-S Laboratory handles highly radioactive samples to conduct 15,000 to 25,000 radio-chemistry and other analyses annually. It has 11 hot cells, where workers operate handling equipment from outside the cells and look through thick leaded glass to work with radioactive waste samples within the hot cell.

Information now is used to determine what wastes can be combined in storage tanks and to help plan how workers can best be protected while working at specific tanks.

In the future it will be used to support the Hanford vitrification plant, which could begin treating tank waste for disposal in 2022.

This story was originally published July 29, 2017 at 5:16 PM with the headline "No Hanford contracting plan yet, but DOE continues to seek interested companies."