Oak Ridge Today

IIa wins $24 million federal contract to operate defense information center

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Information International Associates Inc. announced Monday that it has been awarded a $24 million federal contract to operate the Homeland Defense and Security Information Analysis Center, or HDIAC. IIa will operate the center for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Technical Information Center, or DTIC.

A press release said the work will focus on research and analysis in eight major Homeland Defense disciplines: homeland defense and security; critical infrastructure protection; weapons of mass destruction; chemical, biological, radiologic, and nuclear defense; biometrics; medical; cultural studies; and alternative energy. [Read more…]

Council approves pedestrian safety projects, Chamber contract

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Oak Ridge City Council

During a special meeting Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council approved pedestrian safety improvement projects on Oak Ridge Turnpike and at Jackson Square, and approved a contract worth up to $175,000 with the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce. (File photo)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday agreed to use more than $500,000 in red light camera money to improve the city-owned parking lot on the north side of Jackson Square and make eight Oak Ridge Turnpike intersections safer for pedestrians.

Council also approved a $175,000 contract with the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, an amount that was down significantly from previous years but higher than what City Manager Mark Watson had originally proposed earlier this year. [Read more…]

ORAU wins $6.5 million contract from Pennsylvania Department of Health

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Oak Ridge Associated Universities Building MC-100

Oak Ridge Associated Universities has won a five-year, $6.5 million contract from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Health to manage peer and performance reviews. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

Oak Ridge Associated Universities has won a five-year, $6.5 million contract from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Health to manage peer and performance reviews.

As part of this contract, ORAU will assist the Department of Health in meeting its mission to fund Pennsylvania research organizations to conduct biomedical, clinical, and health services research projects using peer review as part of the grant selection process and performance reviews to assess ongoing and completed grants. [Read more…]

DOE prepares to ‘recompete’ TRU Waste Processing Center contract

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Transuranic Waste Processing Center

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.” [Read more…]

Council considers smaller ORCVB contract

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The Oak Ridge City Council has already agreed to cut funding for the city’s main tourism organization by 25 percent under the budget approved in May.

On Monday, Council members will officially consider a one-year contract for the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau that would set funding at a maximum of $300,000, down from $410,000 last year. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Chamber will lay off some workers, Economic Partnership to become dormant

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Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce will lay off some employees, and its support corporation, the Oak Ridge Economic Partnership, will become dormant.

Its funding has been cut, and the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce is laying off some employees, an official said Monday.

It will be a smaller organization, and the Chamber’s support corporation, the Oak Ridge Economic Partnership, will become dormant, its work absorbed by the Chamber, said Parker Hardy, president and chief executive officer of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

Hardy declined to name the employees who will be laid off or say how many workers might be affected, although he said the information could be shared later. [Read more…]

Federal decision on new protest of Y-12, Pantex contract due Sept. 25

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Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)

Federal officials have a Sept. 25 deadline to rule on a new protest filed last week by one of the two teams that lost a contract competition earlier this year to manage two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas.

The new bid protest was filed on June 17 by Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, a team led by Babcock and Wilcox Co. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has 100 days to respond to the latest protest but could issue a decision earlier.

The bid protest is related to the consolidated management and operating contract at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. [Read more…]

NNSA declines to comment on new protest over Y-12, Pantex contract

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Y-12 National Security Complex

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex at Scarboro and Bear Creek roads.

Federal officials and a contracting team declined to comment Tuesday on a new protest filed over the competition to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The Babcock and Wilcox Co. announced Monday that its contracting team, Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, has filed a new protest with the Government Accountability Office related to the consolidated Y-12 and Pantex contract.

The new protest came about five months after earlier protests filed by NP2 and another contracting team, Integrated Nuclear Production Solutions LLC. Those protests were filed in January, after 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 Y-12 and Pantex. [Read more…]

Avisco Inc. receives $12 million Bear Creek Road construction contract for UPF project

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Uranium Processing Facility

Pictured above is the proposed Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex, with the administrative area in the front and the fortified section of the building in the rear. (Submitted image)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently announced that it has awarded a $12 million contract to Avisco Inc. of Oak Ridge for road, bridge, and water line work on Bear Creek Road as part of the Uranium Processing Facility project at Y-12 National Security Complex.

The contract is part of the UPF site readiness subproject, a press release said. Avisco will be building about 4,000 feet of two-lane roadway, a bridge, and adjacent potable waterlines in order to prepare the site of the new UPF. Construction will begin in June and is scheduled for completion in September 2014. [Read more…]

Council considers budget amendments, raises spending for Chamber of Commerce

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Oak Ridge City Council Budget Meeting

The Oak Ridge City Council considers a series of potential budget amendments during a special meeting Thursday.

They were scheduled to consider more than a dozen budget amendments Thursday, but Oak Ridge City Council members approved only one that could immediately affect spending. It was a recommendation to spend another $50,000 on the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce contract.

The proposal will be considered by the City Council during the second and final budget reading on May 28. The new fiscal year starts July 1.

During a special four-hour meeting Thursday, Council rejected other proposals to increase spending on capital maintenance by $250,000 and cut spending on travel. Members asked for further study on a recommendation to consider relocating Fire Station No. 2 in east Oak Ridge to Melton Lake Drive. [Read more…]

Watson’s budget proposes same tax rate, less funding for Chamber, ORCVB

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The budget proposed by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson on Monday would not raise property taxes, but it would slash funding for the Chamber of Commerce, and Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The ORCVB funding could be cut from $410,000 to $300,000, Watson told City Council members during a Monday night work session. The city needs “more heads in beds,” more people staying here and more events, Watson said.

The chamber’s contract with the city is now worth about $260,000. The city could instead use $125,000 for funding of services and projects—sending city officials on recruiting trips, for example—and spend $55,000 on memberships in organizations such as the Roane Alliance and Anderson County Economic Development Association. [Read more…]

DOE Oak Ridge Office awards $14 million contract for roads, grounds, maintenance

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Larry Kelly

Larry Kelly

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office recently awarded a $14 million contract to Knoxville-based small business Environment, Safety, and Health Inc. for roads, grounds, and maintenance services on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation.

“The Oak Ridge Reservation includes 105 miles of roads and thousands of acres of land that require upkeep, and maintaining their functionality is vitally important to our operations,” said DOE-ORO Manager Larry Kelly. “We require a responsive and professional organization to carry out this mission, and we have that with ES&H.”

ES&H Inc., the incumbent contractor since 2008, will continue to provide services in support of roads, grounds, and maintenance on the 33,500-acre Oak Ridge Reservation and will employ 18 people in support of the contract. [Read more…]