Hanford Central Plateau Acquisition

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this document is to provide industry and other interested parties with preliminary information as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) develops its detailed plans for the Hanford Central Plateau Acquisition. This document is not a Request for Proposals (RFP). All interested parties are encouraged to frequently access the DOE E-Center for information. The official website for the Hanford Central Plateau Acquisition is the DOE E-Center at www.pr.doe.gov. The DOE E-Center will be the sole distribution medium for all information regarding this acquisition. All interested parties are encouraged to frequently access this website for information. DOE will not distribute paper or other forms of information regarding this acquisition. SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF THE HANFORD CENTRAL PLATEAU SCOPE Hanford Central Plateau cleanup of legacy waste includes three major overarching objectives: safe work performance that delivers on cleanup commitments, protection of human health and the environment, and effective use and stewardship of Federal resources. The major elements of scope for the Hanford Central Plateau include: • deactivation, decontamination, decommissioning, and demolition (D4) of 970 surplus facilities across the Central Plateau; • disposition of five ‘canyon’ facilities (former radiochemical processing and supporting facilities located on the Central Plateau); • remediation of 850 waste sites, including burial grounds and liquid waste discharge sites (cribs, ditches, and ponds); • management and remediation, as appropriate, of six groundwater plumes; • operation of solid waste disposal facilities (such as the new Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) and Central Waste Complex (CWC)); • operation and closure of the 149 single- and 28 double-shell waste tanks and the supporting infrastructure for tank waste storage, retrieval, treatment, and disposal/storage; • management, storage, and/or disposal of multiple, highly radioactive materials (such as cesium and strontium capsules, and spent nuclear fuel (SNF)); • operation of the new tank waste treatment and immobilization facilities, and supplemental technologies (currently under construction and/or demonstration); and • operation, maintenance, curtailment, and closure of the site infrastructure and support services (water, power, sanitary waste, and miscellaneous systems and services). HANFORD CENTRAL PLATEAU ACQUISITION APPROACH DOE has developed an acquisition approach for the Hanford Site Central Plateau, and will use the competitive acquisition process described under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 15 to award three new contracts. The acquisition approach is designed to integrate the needs of both Richland Operations Office (RL) and Office of River Protection (ORP) into a group of coordinated contracts that will provide continued cleanup of legacy waste on the Hanford Site Central Plateau. Three new major prime contracts will replace the existing Project Hanford Management Contract (PHMC) and the Tank Farm Operations Contract (TFC) at Hanford, and include: • Hanford Mission Support Contract for information management, site utilities, and a broad range of site services managed by RL; • Waste Material Storage and Disposition Mission Contract that will be managed by RL; and • Tank Farm Operations and Closure Mission Contract that will be managed by ORP. A phased approach will be used to implement this acquisition. The Hanford Mission Support Contract will be acquired first, followed by the Waste Material Storage and Disposition, and Tank Farm Operations and Closure acquisitions. Following the acquisition of these three major prime contracts, future contracts and/or task orders for individual projects would be placed for surplus facility D4; remediation; and tank farm projects. To implement this acquisition approach, the PHMC and TFC will be extended under existing contracts until the mission support and mission acquisitions are completed. The duration of the extension period will support completing the new acquisitions and the transition to the three new contracts. Contract extensions will be structured to sequentially perform and transition scope through the extension period. The acquisition approach does not include the existing Waste Treatment Plant Contract and the River Corridor Closure Contract (RCCC). Summary Description of the Hanford Mission Support Contract: The Hanford Mission Support Contract includes information management, site utilities, and a broad range of site services: • information technology, telecommunications, and federal information management; • operation and maintenance of site utilities such as water, electrical, and roads; • safeguards and security, emergency services, analytical laboratories, and radiological dosimetry; • groundwater monitoring and management; • management services such as administration of contractor employee pension and benefits, site-wide integrated planning and interface management, and property/real estate management; and • project planning to define and negotiate cleanup end states, and support DOE in preparing and executing future task order contracts. Under the existing Hanford contract structure, the majority of these services have been assigned to the PHMC to provide linkages with current operations and support mission changes. Summary Description of the Waste Material Storage and Disposition Mission Contract: The Waste Material Storage and Disposition includes all non-tank farm activities required to receive, retrieve, characterize, certify, package, treat, store, and dispose/ship legacy and newly generated wastes, including: • waste treatment, storage, and disposal including liquid effluent treatment, mixed waste treatment, and low level and mixed waste disposal (including the IDF, Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF) (following completion of the RCCC), Waste Receiving and Processing Facility (WRAP), and CWC); • SNF and immobilized high-level waste (IHLW) storage, completion of SNF sludge removal, and special nuclear material (SNM) storage, and possible off-site waste shipments to Hanford; and • transuranic (TRU) retrieval (including suspect TRU). Under the existing Hanford contract structure, the majority of these activities have been assigned to the PHMC to provide linkages with current operations and the ability to address emerging new scope. Summary Description of the Tank Farm Operations and Closure Mission Contract: The Tank Farm Operations and Closure Mission Contract includes operations activities necessary to continue to retrieve, treat, store, and dispose Hanford tank waste, projects within the operating facilities, and tank farm closure, including: • maintain and operate the tanks farms, the 242-A evaporator, and the 222-S building in a safe, environmentally compliant and stable configuration; • operate tank waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities; • retrieve tank waste, continuing single-shell tank retrievals, and retrieve and package contact handled TRU tank waste; • develop a comprehensive, integrated tank waste treatment plan for the future; • treat and dispose of tank waste; and • close Tank Farms. Under the existing Hanford contract structure, these activities have been assigned to the TFC. OTHER AREAS OF INTEREST Small Business Opportunities: Opportunities for small business were carefully considered in the proposed acquisition approach; this provides for a three-tier approach: potential small business set asides within the mission support contract, meaningful small business subcontracting opportunities within the prime contracts, and defined future small business opportunities using the existing DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contracts with small business and new small business contracts. A key feature of the acquisition approach is to establish a project planning capability within the mission support contract to provide the flexibility to define and effectively break-out work for small business. Contractor Employee Pension and Other Benefits: The RFPs for these acquisitions will reflect the Department’s standard practice under which transferring incumbent employees would transition to employment under the new contract with equivalent pay for equivalent positions. With respect to the pension plan component of the benefits package, the RFPs will make it clear that contractor employees who are currently participating in the site pension program and are subsequently employed by the selected contractors under the new contracts will remain in their existing pension plan (pursuant to plan eligibility requirements and applicable law); that is, “if you’re in, you’ re in.? However, the RFPs would also require the contractors selected for award to provide market- based pension plans for new, contractor employees hired after award. With respect to medical benefits, the Department is currently assessing its policies and the RFPs will reflect, or will be modified to reflect, those policies as concluded by the Department. Contractor Employment Levels: Hanford is a closure site and contractor employment will trend down in the future. Each new contractor will be required to establish the required organizational structure, skill mix, and staffing levels for successful contract performance. New contracts will require that incumbent employees be fairly considered for continued employment under existing and new contracts. The Department recognizes the contributions of the existing contractor workforce to safe work performance; as part of the transition to closure contracts with scope broader than traditional radioactive waste management activities, the Department will continue to retain existing trained and qualified workers and develop new workforce capabilities.