After one federal agency upheld parts of two bid protests, a second one on Wednesday announced it will request more information from the three teams that submitted bids on a contract to manage and operate two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas.
In January, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced it had awarded a contract valued at about $23 billion to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.
The two losing teams filed protests later that month. At the end of April, the U.S. Government Accountability Office upheld those protests in part, raising questions about the proposed savings. The GAO recommended that the procurement be re-opened.
Here’s what the NNSA said Wednesday: “NNSA will be executing corrective actions as recommended by GAO for the Pantex/Y-12 procurement. While we were pleased that GAO found in the NNSA’s favor on 16 of the 17 assertions made by the protestors, we consider it prudent to follow the recommendation for corrective action as quickly as possible. In the coming weeks, all bidders will receive requests for additional information from the contracting officer.
“NNSA remains confident that this procurement will result in substantial savings to the American taxpayer while ensuring the safe and secure operations of these two vital national security sites.”
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Leave a Reply