Nuclear waste repository contract delayed 3 months amid protest from losing bidder

The transition to a new company to run the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad for the next decade was delayed by at least three months, after a company that bid on the contract but lost disputed the award issued earlier this month.

On July 11, Tularosa Basin Range Services, a subsidiary of Virginia-based Bechtel National, was awarded the contract valued at $3 billion by the U.S. Department of Energy initially for a four-year term with six one-year extension options.

If finalized, that award means the company will take over for Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP), a joint venture between Amentum and BWXT, which lead WIPP’s operations since 2012.

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Those activities involve transporting transuranic (TRU) nuclear waste – clothing, equipment and other materials irradiated during nuclear activities – from DOE sites around the country and disposing of the waste via burial in an underground salt deposit.

The contractor could also be tasked with mining areas to dispose of the waste, completing infrastructure projects and maintaining the repository underground and aboveground infrastructures.

Upon awarding the contract, a 10-day protest period was initiated to allow the losing bidders to contest Bechtel’s award.

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On July 26, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) filed a notice that National Tru Solutions was disputing the new contract, giving the GAO until Nov. 3 to issue a ruling before any contracts can move forward.

The GAO has 30 days to file a report on the protest, and the protestor has 10 days after that to issue its comments on the report.

The GAO’s deadline for issuing the final decision is 60 days after the protestor's comments are due.

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As the contracts are finalized, NWP will maintain its position as WIPP's primary contractor, overseeing day-to-day operations of the repository.

National Tru Solutions is a subsidiary of Huntington Ingalls Industries, which was listed as a 75 percent owner of the company, per records from the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC also listed Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos as another subsidiary of Huntington, the company that leads waste cleanup operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory – a lead shipper of waste to WIPP.

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That company, records show, was a joint venture between Huntington, which owns 51 percent of the subsidiary along with BWXT, the same company partnered with Amentum to form NWP, WIPP’s previous lead contractor.

A spokesperson from Huntington Ingalls Industries did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding the company’s activities in the nuclear industry, its affiliations or reasoning behind its protest of Bechtel’s contract award.

Bechtel Corp. was a part owner of Los Alamos National Security, which was the primary contractor at Los Alamos National Laboratory until 2018 when it was denied an extension by the DOE following an accidental radiological release at the WIPP site that led a three-year shutdown of WIPP’s operations.

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The release in 2014 was linked to a mispackaged drum of waste from Los Alamos that ruptured, contaminating parts of the underground and leading to elevated radiation levels in the nearby environment.

A Bechtel spokesperson declined to comment on the WIPP contract and protest, citing confidentiality requirements of the procurement process.

Upon receiving the award, Bechtel Executive Vice President Dena Volovar said the company looked forward to executing its mission to address nuclear waste from around the U.S.

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Tularosa Basin Range Services planned to operate as Salado Isolation Mining Contractor in executing the contract, per a Bechtel news release, and planned to use New Mexico-based Los Alamo Technical Associates as a subcontractor.

“The mission to safely dispose of defense-related nuclear waste is vitally important for protecting people and the planet,” Volovar said. “We’re honored to be entrusted with this mission and look forward to joining the WIPP team and the Carlsbad community.”

The news release said Bechtel had 44 years of experience managing DOE sites in New Mexico and other states including Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee and South Carolina.

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Vice-chair of the Carlsbad Mayor’s Nuclear Task Force Jack Volpato said city officials had yet to meet with Bechtel as the contract had yet to be finalized.

He said the protest period could generate “uncertainty” among WIPP’s workforce, employing mostly local residents of the Carlsbad and Hobbs areas, but Volpato said workers were unlikely to be affected by the hiring of a new contractor.

“It puts an air of uncertainty onto the workers, but it should not impact them,” Volpato said. “If I was them, I’d want to know who my boss was going to be.”

Volpato said he hoped the process would result in a contractor who is the “best fit” for the WIPP project and Carlsbad.

“We want the best fit for our community, and the people with the best resources to operate the project,” he said. “We want the project to be a success. If Bechtel is the one, we really want to meet with them to talk about their role.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Nuclear waste contract delayed 3 months amid protest from losing bidder