Notice of Draft Request for Proposals for Waste Acceptance and Transportation Services

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Draft Request for Proposals for Waste Acceptance and

Transportation Services

AGENCY: Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, U.S.

Department of Energy.

ACTION: Request for comments on a draft request for proposals.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) is

responsible under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, as amended, for

accepting and transporting spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from commercial

nuclear reactor sites to a Federal facility for storage or disposal.

The Standard Contract for Disposal of Spent Fuel and/or High Level

Waste (10 CFR Part 961) details the arrangements between the Department

(DOE) and the owners and generators of SNF (Purchasers) for the

Department to accept the SNF at the Purchasers' sites for transport to

a Federal facility. Section 137(a)2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, as

amended, requires the utilization of private industry to the ``fullest

extent possible'' in the transportation of SNF.

OCRWM anticipates seeking competitive proposals for commercial SNF

acceptance, transportation and delivery services, including the

provision of storage equipment, in accordance with the final version of

this

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draft Request for Proposals (RFP). In May 1996, OCRWM published in the

Federal Register (61 FR 26508) and Commerce Business Daily, a Request

for Expression of Interest and Comments on a previous draft Statement

of Work (SOW) for these services. In July 1996, comments were sought

from interested parties at a presolicitation conference. DOE is now

requesting comments on all aspects of its proposed contracting approach

embodied in this draft RFP. This version of the draft SOW, Section C,

of this draft RFP has been changed, but the changes do not radically

alter the approach or work scope.

DATES: Comments in response to this Notice should be received by the

Department no later than March 31, 1997. It is anticipated that a

presolicitation conference will be held in Washington, D.C. in February

1997 to discuss the draft RFP. A separate Notice will be issued

identifying the date and exact location.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: Michelle Miskinis,

Contracting Officer, U. S. Dept. of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. SW.,

Attention: HR-561.21, Draft RFP Number DE-RP01-97RW00320, Washington

D.C. 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Michelle Miskinis (DOE/HR-561.21),

202-634-4413 or Ms. Beth Tomasoni (DOE/HR-561.21), 202-634-4408, (fax)

202-634-4419.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following describes key features of the

draft RFP:

Scope of Services:

Under the approach described in this draft RFP, DOE will purchase

waste acceptance, transport and delivery services from a contractor-

owned, contractor-operated operation. The contractor must: finance the

project; acquire the transportation and storage system hardware needed

to support the specified SNF delivery rates; apply for and receive

required permits, licenses and approvals; interact with State, Tribal

and local governments regarding institutional activities such as

routing and prenotification; and provide any facilities needed to

support the acquisition, transport and delivery operations of the

system (unless provided otherwise) and deliver the SNF to a Federal

storage or disposal facility. The contractor also will be required to

deactivate facilities and equipment no longer required and dispose of

all scrap and waste materials, including any hazardous and low level

radioactive waste, generated through the performance of this contract.

All costs for disposal of deactivated items, unused materials and waste

materials will be the responsibility of the contractor.

The continental United States has been divided into four service

regions for purposes of this procurement. To maximize competition,

offerors will be expected to submit proposals to service each region in

Phase A, but only one contractor per region will be authorized to

proceed to Phase B. Offerors will be eligible to receive authorizations

to proceed to Phase B for up to two regions. Contractors awarded

contracts for a service region will be referred to as Regional

Servicing Agents (RSA).

Project Risks

It is the intention of DOE's privatization approach to allocate the

financial, regulatory, performance, and operational risks between DOE

and the contractor in an equitable manner that both protects the

interests of the Government and encourages industry participation. The

draft RFP includes provisions for economic price adjustments and

allowable financing costs in the event of a termination for convenience

by the Government.

Because of the nature of the SNF, the contractor must operate in a

strict regulatory environment. DOE's proposed approach is to rely, to

the maximum extent practicable, on established and functioning external

regulatory authorities while minimizing DOE involvement. The contractor

must comply with all Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of

Transportation rules and regulations governing the acquisition and

operational phases of the procurement activity (Phases B and C,

respectively). To the extent permitted by law, the contractor will be

responsible for obtaining in its own name, and will be solely

responsible for compliance with, all necessary permits, authorizations

and approvals from Federal, state and local regulatory agencies and

Tribal nations, and will assume the financial liability for any fines

and penalties.

Contract Description

The draft RFP calls for a three-phased approach to the private

sector's provision of the required services. In Phase A, which lasts

one year, contractors will be required to develop four regional plans

necessary for contractor acceptance and transportation of SNF and

delivery of storage containers to a designated Federal facility. In

Phase B, which lasts eight years, a contractor will develop the

capability to implement the plans it prepared in Phase A. Phase B

encompasses pre-operational start-up preparations prior to accepting

SNF for transportation and delivery. It includes development and

acquisition of required hardware and facilities, mobilization of

resources and provision of initial storage systems and supporting

hardware. Phase B would also include the production and delivery of

storage equipment prior to the start of Phase C. Phase C, which will

last five years, puts the contractor's plans into operation to accept

and transport SNF. Initiation of Phase C is dependent on DOE

establishing SNF receiving capability at a yet to be designated Federal

facility. After receiving DOE authorization to begin Phase C, the

contractor will commence waste acceptance and transportation operations

and delivery of the SNF to the Federal facility.

DOE believes that there may be limited capacity to receive

uncanistered SNF at initiation of Federal facility operations. It is

expected that this capacity will increase as the Federal facility and

RSA deployments progress during the first several years of operation

and beyond. The RSA should consider use of canistered SNF shipments or

some method of repackaging to the maximum extent practical during this

transitional period. The site servicing plans prepared during Phase A

should identify specific site applications where use of truck shipments

(i.e., shipments of uncanistered SNF) may provide a clear advantage to

the Department.

Contract Type

DOE intends to award one or more contracts in Phase A. DOE has

structured the initial phase (Phase A) of the contract to be ``cost-

shared''. DOE intends to offer the same ceiling fixed-price for work to

all contractor(s) awarded Phase A contracts. Upon satisfactory

completion of all Phase A deliverables, the contractor will receive the

specified fixed-price irrespective of actual contractor costs. Certain

of the Phase A contractors, based on delivered products, may be

authorized to proceed with Phase B and C work.

No payments are expected to be made to the contractors during Phase

B. Costs of Phase B work are expected to be recovered in the prices for

Phase C services. Pricing of Phase C deliveries and pricing of

potential Phase B and estimated Phase C termination costs will be

developed and delivered during Phase A. Accordingly, after the

successful completion of Phase A, DOE will not make payments to the

contractor until commencement of SNF delivered at a designated Federal

facility (Phase C). It is anticipated that payment

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will be made at a fixed unit price per metric ton of SNF delivered.

This price may vary by service region.

Contract Award Period and Performance

This overall waste acceptance, transportation and storage project

is anticipated to last approximately forty years. DOE therefore

anticipates periodically seeking competitive proposals from potential

offerors on a regional basis over the forty-year period. DOE's current

plans call for the Phase A contract award(s) to be made in April 1998

based on a July 1997 RFP release date and up to five months for

evaluation by DOE of Phase A deliverables. Phase B would begin

approximately seventeen months after the award of Phase A contract(s),

subject to completion of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

review. Phase C is anticipated to commence at the end of the third year

of Phase B, (i.e., year 2002) after Congress has designated a Federal

storage location. Thereafter, waste acceptance and transportation

services would be recompeted in five-year increments.

Comments

OCRWM is interested in receiving comments relating to the draft RFP

regarding the acquisition of waste acceptance and transportation

services, especially with regard to the following issues:

1. Creative approaches for RSAs to interact with State, Tribal and

local governments and interested parties in addressing key

institutional issues such as routing and prenotification.

2. Structuring the procurement to provide sufficient financial

incentive and other appropriate risk allocating mechanisms between DOE

and contractors in order for industry to provide waste acceptance and

transportation services.

3. Appropriate financial safeguards for delay in commencement of

Phase C as a result of a delay in the start of operations of a Federal

facility.

4. Other possible approaches for the RSA's to maximize their

ability to service purchasers who cannot accommodate large rail

canisters.

5. Any other regulatory requirements, terms or conditions that DOE

should consider in formulating this acquisition.

DOE will consider and may utilize all information, recommendations,

and suggestions provided in response to this notice. Respondents should

not provide any information that they consider to be privileged or

confidential or which the respondent does not want disclosed to the

public. DOE does not intend to respond to comments, either to

individual commentors or by publication of a formal notice. Copies of

all comments will be placed in the DOE Forrestal Building Public

Reading Room. Each submittal should consist of one original and three

photocopies.

This notice should not be construed (1) as a commitment by the

Department to enter into any agreement with any entity submitting

comments in response to this Notice, (2) as a commitment to issue any

RFP concerning the subject of this Notice, or (3) as a request for

proposals.

The solicitation will be available for downloading on the internet

from the ``Current Business Opportunities at Headquarters Procurement

Operations'' Home Page located at address http://www.pr.doe.gov./

solicit.html. It is also available on the OCRWM Home Page located at

http://www.rw.doe.gov/. Interested parties that do not have the

electronic capability to download the solicitation shall submit a

written request to the Contracting Officer at the address listed above.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on December 18, 1996.

Daniel A. Dreyfus,

Director, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.

[FR Doc. 96-32939 Filed 12-26-96; 8:45 am]

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