Oak Ridge Today

B&W-led team files new protest on Y-12, Pantex contract

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The bidding team led by the Babcock and Wilcox Co. has filed a third protest over the contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, pictured above, and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. (Photo courtesy B&W Y-12)

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The bidding team led by the Babcock and Wilcox Co. has filed a third protest over the contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

B&W announced the protest by the bidding team, Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, on Wednesday night. It was filed with the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

“This protest encompasses concerns identified in NP2’s June 17, 2013, protest of the revised Request for Proposals,” a B&W press release said. “The protest also reflects information received during the National Nuclear Security Administration’s debriefing session held on November 15.”

The June protest was the second filed by NP2, of Lynchburg, Va. The company had also filed one after the National Nuclear Security Administration announced in January that it had selected Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC of Reston, Va., to manage the two nuclear weapons plants. [Read more…]

NNSA reaffirms decision to have CNS manage, operate Y-12, Pantex

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View


The National Nuclear Security Administration on Friday reaffirmed its January decision to pick Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Friday reaffirmed its January decision to pick Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC  to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

That earlier decision, announced almost 10 months ago, had been challenged in two rounds of bid protests. Those protests delayed the transition to a new contractor, and it wasn’t clear Friday if the NNSA’s new decision might also be challenged.

The five-year extendable contract, which could be worth up to $22.8 billion over 10 years, includes project management of the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 and an unexercised option for Savannah River Tritium Operations at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.

“Our nuclear production capabilities are critical to our national security, and CNS represents the best value to the government as evidenced by its superior technical and management approach and its lower evaluated cost,” NNSA Acting Administrator Bruce Held said. “Additionally, this award puts NNSA in a position to improve mission delivery by focusing on improving the way we operate, saving taxpayer dollars, and aligning ourselves for the future.” [Read more…]

No comment from NNSA on next step for Y-12, Pantex contract

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Y-12 National Security Complex Sign

Federal officials declined to comment Wednesday on the next step in the process to award a consolidated contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

Federal officials declined to comment Wednesday on the next step in the process to award a consolidated contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office announced in an eight-page decision that it had denied or dismissed three elements of a bid protest filed June 17 by Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, a team led by Babcock and Wilcox Co. But it wasn’t clear what would happen next.

“No comment,” Kate Black, a contractor for the National Nuclear Security Administration, said in a brief e-mail response to a question about the next step on Wednesday afternoon. [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…]

B&W says it’s pleased with federal decision on Y-12, Pantex contract protests

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Y-12 National Security Complex

The Babcock and Wilcox Co., the lead management and operating contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex, said it was pleased with a federal decision Monday upholding protests of a five-year consolidated contract to manage Y-12 and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

One of the two teams that lost a bid to manage two nuclear weapons facilities in Tennessee and Texas said it was pleased by a federal decision announced Monday that upheld protests of the five-year contract, which was awarded in January.

The decision by the U.S. Government Accountability Office also recommended that the procurement be re-opened.

The contract is reported to have a total value of $22 billion, and it was awarded to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, a team that includes Bechtel National Inc. and Lockheed Martin Services Inc. [Read more…]