LEXINGTON, Ky. EM has completed annual performance evaluations of four prime contractors working on the deactivation, decontamination, and decommissioning of the former gaseous diffusion plants near Portsmouth, Ohio and Paducah, Kentucky.  

   The evaluations determine the portion of annual contractor fees to be paid based on performance. The cost-plus-award-fee contracts under which work is performed include this category of fees as an incentive for excellent performance. In determining the awards, EM considers overall performance along with completion of specific EM mission objectives in accordance with annual award fee plans.

   Scorecards summarizing the evaluations and award fee plans associated with these reviews can be accessed here.

   For the contractor executing the overall decontamination and decommissioning project at the Portsmouth Site, Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP), EM awarded $10.5 million for the fiscal year 2015 award fee period from October 2014 to September 2015, amounting to 73.6 percent of the available fee.

   According to EM's evaluation, FBP provided “good” contract performance and project management — in some areas exceeding significant award fee criteria — and met overall cost, schedule, and technical requirements with some specific highly significant accomplishments. The contractor performed “very well” in the areas of waste shipping and disposal, supporting EM’s development of an on-site waste disposal facility, and nuclear operations to support uranium transfer. The quality and effectiveness of its environmental, safety and health, and regulatory activities performance was deemed “satisfactory.” EM noted that FBP provided valuable support in finalizing the two strategic environmental records of decision for the project and excelled in particular nuclear safety and material accountability, radiological safety, and stakeholder outreach areas.

   The Portsmouth infrastructure support services contractor Wastren-EnergX Mission Support received “excellent” marks in all areas of performance, earning $1.4 million, or 98 percent of the amount available. Areas evaluated include mission support services, security and maintenance, safety, computer services, and property management.  

   The Portsmouth environmental technical support services contractor Restoration Services (RSI) earned $360,725, or 92 percent of the fee available, for providing excellent management, environmental, safety and health, quality assurance, and field support, and “very good” project and administrative support.

   For the contractor executing the deactivation and environmental remediation of the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Fluor Federal Services (FFS), DOE awarded approximately $4.26 million, which amounts to 69 percent of the amount available for the fiscal year. The contractor’s environmental safety and health, quality assurance, project, documents, and associated support performance was determined to be “satisfactory,” while its program and project management was deemed “unsatisfactory.” The contractor missed deadlines for submission of some documents and fell short of meeting some contract requirements, but effectively implemented corrective actions. The contractor achieved 81.9 percent of its performance-based incentive fee tasks, and EM credited FFS for identifying cost-saving opportunities and performing well in security and community outreach.

   During the performance period, EM successfully transitioned Paducah Site cleanup activities to FFS, demolished its largest building to date, optimized and repaired infrastructure, and began to deactivate the gaseous diffusion plant facilities recently returned to EM.

   EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, located in Lexington, Kentucky, oversees cleanup activities at the Portsmouth and Paducah Sites. The gaseous diffusion plants were constructed during the early 1950s for the purpose of enriching uranium for national defense applications, and later for commercial nuclear fuel until 2001 and 2013, respectively. Since 1988, more than $5 billion has been invested in the cleanup mission at the two sites, including deactivation of plant facilities, decontamination and decommissioning of inactive facilities, conversion of depleted uranium hexafluoride, removal of hazardous materials, waste management, and remediation of soil and groundwater.