NNSA Scraps $28B Nuclear Site Management Contract; Eyes 2 Separate Solicitations for Y-12, Pantex Plants

The National Nuclear Security Administration has terminated its potential 10-year, $28 billion contract award to a partnership between Amentum and Fluor (NYSE: FLR) for the management and operation of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and the Pantex Plant in Texas.

The Department of Energy said Monday the cancelation of its deal with Nuclear Production One followed a contract structure review that resulted in NNSA deciding to hold two separate solicitations for the two sites instead of the previous sole-award approach.

NNSA awarded the multibillion contract to NPOne in November 2021 but the Government Accountability Office received award protests in December of the same year, leading to a voluntary corrective action that resulted in the cancelation of the 2020 contract solicitation.

The agency cited increasing facility workload, challenging geopolitical environment and the need for speedy delivery of services in support of national security missions as some of the reasons to split the contract.

Now, the DOE arm is looking to launch separate competitions and award two contracts to cover management and operations at each facility, respectively.

“Fair and open competition is critical to NNSA… Ensuring that level of competition for NNSA contracts is essential to meeting the significant mission requirements in front of us with the urgency required,” said Jill Hruby, administrator of NNSA and undersecretary for nuclear security at DOE.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, the incumbent contractor, is also expected to receive an extension to cover for time spend on the new solicitations.

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