U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

FY 2014 SERVICE CONTRACT INVENTORY ANALYSIS 

NRC RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS 

Jill Daly, Branch Chief, Sourcing, Systems and Policy Branch, is the responsible official for 

policy and Cynthia Carpenter, Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO), is the responsible party for the 

management of the service contract inventory and analysis process. 

BACKGROUND 

NRC submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Product Service Code (PSC) 

B528, entitled “Special Studies / Analysis – Regulatory” as the special interest function selected 

to be analyzed during Fiscal Year FY14. 

 

This PSC (B528) was selected because it was not the subject of a previous analysis, it did not 

appear in the NRC’s Top 10 PSCs reported in FY14, and most other top PSCs for FY14 were 

being evaluated as part of NRC’s ongoing strategic sourcing initiatives. The selection of this 

code is consistent with PSC selections made for prior fiscal year service contract inventory 

submissions to OMB. Accordingly, NRC focused its analysis of the service contract inventory 

on this special interest function. 

SCOPE OF REVIEW 

The FY14 service contract inventory was reviewed for special interest functions that required 

increased management attention due to possible over-reliance on contractor support for 

activities that may otherwise be performed by Federal employees. The special interest function 

selected for review is under the “B” of the Product Service Codes. Contracts within this code 

include those that provide professional, administrative and management services which could 

be considered closely associated with inherently governmental functions in accordance with 

OMB Policy Letter 11.01 entitled: “Performance of Inherently Governmental and Critical 

Functions.” 

As required by Sections 743(e)(3) and (4) of the Federal Activities Reform Act of 1998 and 

Section C of the attachment to the guidance issued by OMB, a representative sample (50%) of 

these were required. However, in FY14, there were only two contracts under PSC B528. The 

work under the contracts was evaluated to determine if it was performed satisfactorily, in terms 

of quality and timeliness of performance, and cost constraints. It was also analyzed to 

determine if the services should be considered for conversion to performance by NRC 

employees in accordance with insourcing guidelines. 

 
METHODOLOGY 

The work under these contracts has been performed properly in terms of quality and timeliness 

of performance, and met budgetary constraints. The Agency was satisfied with the overall 

performance of the contractor and had no knowledge of cost overruns. The Agency continues 

to review financial service requirements, including those under special interest function “Special 

Studies / Analysis -Regulatory,” as part of its continued efforts in strategic sourcing, including 

review by Agency commodity councils. NRC awarded two contracts in this PSC, NRC-HQ-12-

C-02-0089 and NRC-HQ-60-14-E-0003. In addition, based on the established criteria for 

classifying functions as inherently governmental, it was determined that the contractors were not 

performing inherently governmental functions. 

The contracts that fell under PSC B528 were for the following contracts: 

NRC-HQ-12-C-02-0089 

Southwest Research Institute Laboratory 

Operation of the Center for Nuclear Waste Analysis as the NRC’s Federally Funded 

Research Development Center 

NRC-HQ-60-14-E-0003 

S C & A 

Small Business 

Destination of Released Patients Following Treatment with Iodine-131 and Estimation of 

Doses to Members of the Public at Locations Other Than Conventional Residences 

Receiving Such Patients 

During fiscal year 2014, NRC spent approximately $3,690,577.60 under PSC B528 to support 

regulatory studies. 

One primary contract was issued under number NRC-HQ-12-C-02-0089 valued at $800,000 

and four modifications were issued under task order number NRC-HQ-50-14-T-0001, totaling 

$2,763,273, on a cost-plus-award-fee (CPAF) basis. 

FY14 Incremental Funding Modifications: 

 M001: $900,000.00 

 M002: $1,000,000.00 

 M003: $500,000.00 

 M004: $363,273.00 

Total: $2,763,273 

The second contract issued under PSC B528 was number NRC-HQ-60-14-E-0003, awarded on 

a firm-fixed-price basis at $127,304.60, and currently has no contract modifications. 
A Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR) was completed for contract NRC-HQ12-C-02-0089. The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) rated the contractor very good 

to exceptional in each evaluation category, suggesting that there were no significant 

performance problems or concerns. There is no CPAR due at this time for the contract NRCHQ-60-14-E-0003. 

In accordance with Section 743 of the Federal Activities Reform Act of 1998 and Appendix D of 

the OMB guidance, NRC analyzed the contracts in this category as follows: 

Each contract in the inventory that is a personal services contract has been entered into, and is 

being performed, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. No personal services 

contracts were identified during the analysis of this category of service contracts.

(i) The agency is giving special management attention, as set forth in FAR 37.114, 

to functions that are closely associated with inherently governmental functions. 

FAR 37.114 is actively being followed during the performance of contracts 

awarded under this PSC B528. 

(ii) The agency is not using contractor employees to perform inherently 

governmental functions. A review of NRC’s FY 14 Service Contract Inventory 

shows that there are no contractors being used to perform inherently 

governmental functions.

(iii) The agency has specific safeguards and monitoring systems in place to ensure 

that work being performed by contractors has not changed or expanded during 

performance to become an inherently governmental function. Contract scope is 

monitored by the CO to ensure that “scope creep” is not occurring, 

especially into inherently governmental functions through contract 

modifications. CORs are required to ensure that services provided and 

invoiced are in accordance with scope of the contract; and that work does 

not change or expand during performance to become inherently 

governmental.

(iv) The agency is not using contractor employees to perform critical functions in 

such a way that could affect the ability of the agency to maintain control of its 

mission and operations. There are sufficient Agency personnel in place to 

ensure that contractor employees are not performing critical functions to 

the point of affecting NRC’s ability to perform its mission and operations. 

(v) There are sufficient internal agency resources to manage and oversee contracts 

effectively. There are sufficient internal NRC resources to manage and 

oversee contracts effectively. However, the Agency continues to study 

ways in which to improve organizational effectiveness and contractor 

performance.
CONCLUSION 

Based on the above analysis, the NRC has determined that it is not necessary to take any 

actions to convert these functions currently being performed by contractors under PSC B528 to 

performance by NRC employees. 

There are no planned or pending actions identified in previous inventories that require follow-up.