EM recently released contract fee determination scorecards for three contractors that support the cleanup program at the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office and EM Los Alamos Field Office based on their performance during the evaluation period of fiscal 2021.
To further transparency in its cleanup program, EM releases information relating to contractor fee payments earned by completing the work called for in the contracts.
Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO)
PPPO awarded Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership (FRNP), its deactivation and remediation contractor for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in west Kentucky, $7.26 million, or approximately 73.6% of the fee available for its performance for fiscal 2021, which ran from October 2020 through September 2021.
The overall quality and effectiveness of FRNP’s contract performance was “satisfactory,” including in the areas of quality, schedule, cost-control, management and regulatory compliance, and “excellent” in its implementation of business systems, according to the FRNP scorecard.
“I encourage FRNP to take advantage of opportunities for improvement identified during this evaluation while continuing to build on areas of strength,” PPPO Manager Joel Bradburne said.
The prime contractor maintained compliance with standard business systems, accounting practices and applicable regulations. Support to EM in the Federal Facility Agreement processes remained a notable area of accomplishment.
Areas identified for improvement for FRNP include safety and organizational culture; conduct of operations; project integration; consistency of programs and processes across the organization; and certain security requirements. EM’s evaluation also noted that some major scope areas fell behind schedule and were over budget during the performance period.
View the FRNP scorecard here.
Mid-America Conversion Services (MCS), the PPPO depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion contractor, was awarded approximately $4.4 million, or 85.6%, of the available fee for fiscal 2021.
“MCS successfully and safely maintained the DUF6 facilities in a shut down and cooled-down condition during this period, and it has improved management of waste at both sites,” Bradburne said. “MCS continues to cultivate a ‘one-project’ management mindset where lessons learned are distributed across the DUF6 project.”
MCS, which operates DUF6 facilities at the Portsmouth and Paducah gaseous diffusion plant sites in Ohio and Kentucky, received a “good” rating for the quality of its contract performance and regulatory compliance, according to its scorecard. PPPO rated the prime contractor “very good” in the category of schedule; “excellent” for management and use of small business; and “satisfactory” for cost control.
An overall reduction in the MCS open corrective actions and condition reports represents a “very active and effective issues management system,” according to EM’s evaluation. Performance of surveillance, maintenance and plant-modification work at the Portsmouth and Paducah facilities was very good and reflected a strong safety culture.
Quality of some deliverables and proposals required improvement, and there were indications of improvement toward the end of the evaluation period for MCS, according to EM’s evaluation.
View the MCS scorecard here.
EM Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA)
Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B), the EM-LA legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, earned more than $8.37 million, or 85.7%, of the fee available during fiscal 2021.
“N3B delivered a solid performance based on EM-LA’s evaluation. Their progress in legacy waste operations and safety basis procedures helped to lay a strong foundation for fiscal year 2022,” said Michael Mikolanis, EM-LA manager and the fee determining official. “Another strength identified was N3B’s integration of characterization with the cleanup of the Middle DP Road Site, which resulted in a faster cleanup at less cost for a priority project. And with N3B’s renewed senior management focus on improving performance, I am confident EM-LA will make further advancements on the legacy cleanup with our contractor partner.”
N3B received a rating of “excellent” for regulatory compliance; “good” for quality assurance/safety, schedule and management; and “satisfactory” for cost control, according to its scorecard.
The contractor achieved two significant accomplishments during the period: executing offsite transuranic waste shipments with strong collaboration with the National Nuclear Security Administration and its contractor, Triad National Security, and completing all fiscal 2021 proposed Consent Order milestones with the New Mexico Environment Department.
The N3B scorecard also noted areas for improvement, including occupational safety performance, incurred unnecessary costs for avoidable project delays, and schedule performance.
View the N3B scorecard here.
