[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 250 (Friday, December 27, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68250-68252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-32939]


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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

[[Page 68251]]

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

[[Page 68252]]

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]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P