DOE Issues Draft Request for Proposal for the Operations and Site Mission Support

Cincinnati – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) issued a Draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Portsmouth Paducah Project Office Operations (PPPO) and Site Mission Support (OSMS).

The new Cost-Plus-Award-Fee (CPAF) Contract with Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) CLIN(s) will have an estimated value of $1.89 billion over the 10-year 3-months period of work. After careful evaluation it has been determined that a small business set-aside would not be appropriate for this contract. As a result, the PPPO OSMS contract will be solicited by means of full and open competition.

Work to be performed under the new contract will include operations for: conversion of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) to a stable chemical form, provide cylinder to cylinder transfer of uranium hexafluoride (UF6), and cylinder surveillance and maintenance. Also included is the material disposition/disposal of empty heel cylinders in a safe and environmentally acceptable manner, including recently approved offsite oxide shipments. Additional project support activities include responsibility for the site’s emergency management program, utilities operations, fire services, pro-force, nuclear material control and accountability, and the criticality accident alarm system.

The new PPPO OSMS contract will replace the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Facilities Contract currently held by Mid-America Conversion Services LLC and broadens the scope of the future contract activities.

To ensure a smooth transition of scope and workforce, the transition periods for the new PPPO OSMS and Portsmouth (PORTS) Deactivation and Decommissioning (D&D) Contracts will be aligned. The planned approach for effective scope alignment between the contracts at PORTS and Paducah will be beneficial for long-term workforce continuity at both sites and will allow for a strategic focus on the D&D work at PORTS under the End State Contracting Model.

The vision for this follow-on contract is to support the enduring mission at both the Portsmouth and Paducah sites. This will include the continued management and operation of UF6 activities from the current operations contractor and support to the Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy’s initiatives for production of High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) and the NNSA’s initiatives for utilization of depleted uranium metal and high assay tails. The contract will also include the shift of site utilities, emergency management and nuclear material accountability activities, which is currently performed by the D&D Contractor at Portsmouth and the D&R Contractor at Paducah.

The consolidation into a single operations and site mission support contract for both the PORTS and PAD sites will be beneficial for the continuity of both the bargaining and non-bargaining workforce. With the expectation of continued stable funding for each site, it is anticipated that the workforce will remain stable with the new contractor, along with the continuance of current benefits.

The PPPO OSMS contract will promote contractor community commitment and engagement, to include site reindustrialization efforts by the local community. There will be a requirement for the OSMS Contractor to submit a community commitment plan to DOE. The contract will also provide for a 5% preference for the award of subcontracts to regional small businesses.

There will continue to be separate contracts at each site to focus on the D&D and D&R of the Gaseous Diffusion Plant process buildings.

EM is using a selection process for this procurement that focuses the evaluation on offers of key personnel, past performance, technical and management approach, and cost to support a qualifications-based selection of the offeror team that represents the best value to the government.

A dedicated EM Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) webpage has been established for the PPPO OSMS procurement: https://www.emcbc.doe.gov/seb/osms. All news/announcements, documents (including Draft and Final RFPs), questions/answers, pre-solicitation conference information, and related links will be posted on the webpage. The Draft and Final RFPs will also be posted to the FedConnect website at: www.fedconnect.net.

DOE is also posting pre-solicitation information and a virtual site tour. Additionally, DOE will conduct virtual one-on-one sessions with industry for the OSMS procurement. Registration information is available via the EMCBC OSMS procurement webpage. Interested parties are encouraged to review the Draft RFP prior to participating in the industry one-on-one sessions.