Less than a week after the award was announced, the National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday canceled the new contract for management and operation of the Nevada National Security Site.
That puts the multibillion-dollar deal back in play, though only for the companies that submitted bids in the first go-around; new parties are not being accepted, according to the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency. It was not immediately clear whether Nevada Site Science Support and Technologies Corp. (NVS3T) would still be considered to replace its own now-canceled contract.
The NNSA on Aug. 26 announced that NVS3T had secured a contract valued at up to $5 billion over 10 years, including all options, to manage the 1,360-square-mile former nuclear testing site that now houses a host of national-security operations, including nuclear stockpile stewardship and nonproliferation activities. In a press release, the agency said the “proposal was determined to be the best value to the government” and that it considered factors such as past performance in its selection process.
The release listed NVS3T as a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin [LMT] Integrated Technology, which would be assisted in carrying out the M&O work by Fluor Federal Services [FLR] and consulting firm Longenecker & Associates.
But by Monday the NNSA said it was re-evaluating the contract award after learning that ownership of NVS3T had changed hands in August. Lockheed’s Information Systems & Global Solutions last month split off from the mothership and merged with a Leidos [LDOS] Holdings subsidiary.
By Wednesday the NNSS deal was off.
“NVS3T did not notify the NNSA contracting officer of the change in ownership and control as required by the request for proposal. This change in ownership raises substantial questions about the information in the NVS3T proposal, which could significantly impact the evaluation of the proposal and award decision,” the agency said in a press release. “Accordingly, NNSA has decided to rescind the award to NVS3T. This allows the current procurement action to continue. In the interest of fairness, NNSA will reconsider all offers previously received in response to the request for proposals.”
An NNSA official said he could not elaborate on how NVS3T’s change in ownership could have affected the agency’s evaluation of the proposal. The official referred questions on why Lockheed Martin and Leidos did not alert the agency to the development back to the companies.
Lockheed Martin declined to comment on the situation Wednesday after the NNSA announced that the contract had been rescinded. Leidos had previously declined to discuss the situation, and did not respond to requests for comment after the news broke.
Current NNSS prime National Security Technologies (NSTec) had been scheduled to stay on the job for four months past the Sept. 30 expiration of its contract during the transition to its successor.
Now, NSTec – a partnership of Northrop Grumman [NOC], AECOM [ACM], CH2M, and BWX Technologies [BWX] – will remain until the new procurement is in place. Spokesman Dante Pistone said the contractor could not comment on the matter, including whether it was one of the original bidders for the contract.
The NNSA is saying little about the re-procurement process. As the contract is now again considered an active procurement, the official said the agency under the Federal Acquisition Regulations could not discuss details of individual proposals, negotiations, or proposal evaluations.
The official said there was no set timeline for awarding the contract again.
Major DoE contractors were similarly quiet about whether they had been involved in the first contract competition, and thus might now have another shot at the ring.
The specific number of initial bids was not made public, though NNSA Administration Frank Klotz said in the Aug. 26 announcement that the “NNSS M&O contract generated an unprecedented level of interest from industry.”
Bechtel National was one of the previous bidders and is “closely monitoring the situation,” spokesman Fred deSousa said Wednesday. AREVA, meanwhile, acknowledged that it had not bid on the contract. BWXT, CH2M, and Stoller Newport News Nuclear declined to comment.
This article was originally published in our sister publication Exchange Monitor.