Oak Ridge Today

B&W protests Y-12, Pantex contract award

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Y-12 National Security Complex

The Babcock and Wilcox Company, part of B&W Y-12, is protesting a federal decision to award a consolidated contract to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC to manage the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

An unsuccessful bidding team led by The Babcock and Wilcox Company is protesting the recent federal decision to award a contract to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The National Nuclear Security Administration announced on Jan. 8 that the consolidated contract had been awarded to Consolidated Nuclear Security, or CNS. That team includes Bechtel National Inc. and Lockheed Martin Services Inc.

The B&W-led team is called Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2.

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Debriefings today on Y-12/Pantex consolidated contract

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Debriefings scheduled for today were offered to the teams that bid unsuccessfully on a consolidated contract to manage the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The unsuccessful bidders have up to 10 days to protest the decision to award the five-year contract to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, a team that includes Bechtel National Inc. and Lockheed Martin Services Inc. The contract award was announced Tuesday, Jan. 8.

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Experts recommend federalizing guard forces at DOE nuclear weapons sites, nonprofit says

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Note: This story was updated at 12:42 p.m. Jan. 15.

Three experts have recommended that guard forces be federalized at federal sites where bomb-grade uranium is stored, according to a nonprofit watchdog organization based in Washington, D.C.

Peter Stockton, senior investigator at the Project On Government Oversight, said U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu asked the experts—Norm Augustine, C. Donald Alston, and Richard Meserve—to review the physical security of the entire nuclear weapons complex after the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

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Security breach costs B&W Y-12 $12.2 million

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Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)

B&W Y-12, the company that manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex, lost $12.2 million in award fees because of the July 28 security breach, a federal report said.

B&W earned $35.9 million, about 59 percent of its available fee of $60.9 million, the National Nuclear Security Administration said in a fiscal year 2012 performance evaluation of Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Y-12 LLC.

The company lost 100 percent of its potential security-related fee, and there was also a $10 million “negative overall management fee adjustment,” the NNSA said.

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D’Agostino, companies celebrate contract award, key step in NNSA transition

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Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)

Less than two weeks before his retirement, a federal official celebrated the consolidated contract award announced Tuesday, calling it a key element in a long list of decisions and actions designed to reduce redundancies in national nuclear security work and make operations more efficient.

It reflects a change in how the National Nuclear Security Administration does business, NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino said during a Tuesday teleconference. The transition began several years ago.

“We embarked on a journey from an old Cold War nuclear enterprise to a 21st Century nuclear enterprise,” D’Agostino said. “I’m immensely proud of the team.”

The NNSA announced Tuesday that, after months of anticipation and three to four years’ worth of work, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, had won a five-year contract to manage the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. The company will also manage construction of the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 and, after the first year, could manage tritium operations at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.

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Y-12, Pantex contractor expected to save $3.27 billion, details later

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Note: This is a repost of an earlier post removed through a technical error.

The new company selected to manage the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, has promised to help the federal government save $3.27 billion during the next decade.

But many of the details will have to be announced later, possibly after the NNSA and the new contractor, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, have had more discussions.

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Security breach given ‘due consideration’ in Y-12, Pantex award

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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.

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NNSA: New Y-12, Pantex contractor expects to offer jobs to most employees

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Note: This story was updated at 9:41 a.m. Jan. 9.

The company that won the contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, expects to offer jobs to more than 95 percent of the current employees, federal officials said Tuesday.

The number could be affected by voluntary retirements and other departures, National Nuclear Security Administration officials said during a Tuesday afternoon teleconference.

The company that won the five-year contract, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, is a team that includes Bechtel National Inc. and Lockheed Martin Services Inc. It also includes ATK Launch Systems Inc. and SOC LLC.

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Bids on consolidated Y-12, Pantex contract expire today

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Note: This story was updated at 11:12 a.m.

Bids expire today on a nuclear production contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex plant near Amarillo, Texas.

On Monday, NNSA Public Affairs Director Joshua McConaha said the National Nuclear Security Administration could either announce a winner today (Tuesday) or extend the expiration date. The NNSA announced Tuesday morning that top officials, including Administrator Thomas D’Agostino, will have a 4:15 p.m. teleconference to discuss a major contract award.

McConaha said the contract bids were submitted last year, and the expiration date has been extended once already.

McConaha said he can’t confirm the total number of bids or the bidding teams.

When announced, the winner will have the first consolidated contract to manage and operate Y-12 and Pantex. The government also has the option to have the winner manage tritium operations at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.

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