The Transuranic Waste Processing Center is in west Oak Ridge, south of Bethel Valley Road off Highway 95. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge Office)
The U.S. Department of Energy is preparing to “recompete” the contract to manage the Transuranic Waste Processing Center off Highway 95 in west Oak Ridge.
The facility is currently managed by a contractor, Wastren Advantage Inc., and the work is overseen by officials at DOE’s Oak Ridge Office.
DOE has issued a “sources sought notice” to begin performing market research to gauge whether there are small businesses capable of performing the work, the Oak Ridge Office said in the August issue of “Public Involvement News.”
According to the notice, DOE is proposing using a small business size standard of $35.5 million for the new contract that will cover operating the Oak Ridge facility and to continue with development of critical decision documents for planned sludge processing facility buildouts. Responses were due July 24.
Also known as the TRU Waste Processing Center, the 10-year-old site treats legacy transuranic waste that has been in storage for many years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. That includes lab equipment or materials from research and development at ORNL and personal protective equipment. Some of the radioactive materials are handled remotely and others in glove boxes.
Transuranic waste contains manmade elements heavier than uranium, such as plutonium, hence the name “trans” or “beyond” uranium. Transuranic waste material is generally associated with the human manipulation of fissionable material dating back to the Manhattan Project through today, and it primarily consists of clothing, tools, rags, residues, soil, and debris. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.
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