The July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex was given “due consideration” in the competition to award a consolidated contract to a company to manage Y-12 in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, federal officials said Tuesday.
Federal officials said they evaluated past performance—both positive and negative. Although past performance was a key part of the selection analysis, it was not the determining factor, federal officials said during a Tuesday teleconference. Instead, it was one of a number of factors.
The Y-12 intrusion was given the same consideration as other incidents, federal officials said. During the intrusion, three anti-nuclear weapons activists sneaked into a high-security area at Y-12. They allegedly cut through fences and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.
Security contractor WSI Oak Ridge, which had provided a protective force of more than 500 guards at Y-12, lost its contract after the unprecedented security breach. B&W Y-12, the current managing and operating contractor, took over the protective force last fall, and the Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, will manage the force when it takes over May 1.
Neile Miller, principal deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said the original version of the proposed managing and operating contract, or M&O contract, didn’t include the protective forces contract. But it was added after the security breach. Bidders were given 30 days to review and revise their proposals, Miller said.
Federal officials believe that having the protective forces contract under the M&O contract will help establish a unity of command.
Besides Miller, Tuesday’s teleconference included NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino and Michael Lempke, NNSA associate principal deputy administrator.
The NNSA announced Tuesday that Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, had won a five-year contract, with options to extend it up to five years, to manage Y-12 and Pantex as well as the Uranium Processing Facility construction project at Y-12. The company could also manage tritium operations at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.
The CNS team includes Bechtel National Inc. and Lockheed Martin Services Inc. It also includes ATK Launch Systems Inc. and SOC LLC.
Leave a Reply