[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 28, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26508-26509]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-13244]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Waste Acceptance, Storage, and Transportation Services

AGENCY: Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Request for expression of interest and comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) is 
responsible under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended 
(NWPA) for transporting spent nuclear fuel (spent fuel) 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 
Radioactive Waste (10 CFR part 961) details the arrangements between 
the Department and the owners and generators of spent fuel (Purchasers) 
for the Department to accept the spent fuel at the Purchasers' sites 
for transport to the receiving Federal facility. Section 137(a)2 of the 
NWPA requires the utilization of private industry to the ``fullest 
extent possible'' in the transportation of spent fuel.
    OCRWM is developing a plan for the performance of its waste 
acceptance, storage and transportation responsibilities which are set 
forth in the NWPA and Standard Contract and is soliciting input from 
interested parties as to its proposed approach.

DATES: Submissions of interest and comments in response to this Notice 
should be received by the Department no later than three weeks from the 
date of this announcement. A presolicitation conference may be held 
this summer, if so, a separate Notice will be issued identifying the 
date. Respondents to this Notice will be placed on a list to receive 
additional information which may include draft solicitation documents 
in preparation for the presolicitation conference.

ADDRESSES: Submissions of interest including any comments should be 
sent to: Michelle Miskinis, Contracting Officer, U. S. Dept. Of Energy, 
1000 Independence Ave. SW, Attention: HR-561.21, 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following describes key features of the 
OCRWM proposed approach:
    Scope of Services: DOE anticipates contracting for supplies and 
services which would include: accepting spent-fuel from Purchasers' 
facilities (as identified in the Acceptance Priority Ranking and Annual 
Capacity Reports and supplying compatible transportation (and possibly 
storage) casks and equipment and transporting spent-fuel to a 
designated Federal facility. Contractors would also be responsible for 
any intermodal transport required, including heavy haul. Contractors 
may be permitted to alter the order of spent-fuel acceptance to achieve 
efficiency of operation or to lower costs. Contractors would work with 
Purchasers to determine the best way to service a site and would 
recommend preferred transportation routes to the Federal facility. 
Contractors will also be required to interface with those State, Local 
and Tribal governments along the selected routes.
    The location and type of Federal facility (either a repository or 
an interim storage facility (ISF) cannot yet be determined. Initially, 
spent-fuel delivered to the Federal site would be canistered before 
arrival at the facility, but at some point in the service period the 
contractor may be required to handle uncanistered spent-fuel. 
Transportation and storage equipment to be supplied would be required 
to comply with applicable Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and 
Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, OCRWM acceptance 
criteria, and standard commercial practices.
    Contract Type: Competitive, fixed-price type, contracts are being 
considered with a phased implementation that includes sequential 
development of business/servicing plans describing contractors' 
individual approaches, fabrication/acquisition of hardware, and 
transportation services operations. More than one award is anticipated. 
One approach under consideration is to divide the country into regions, 
for example, the four NRC regions. No contractor would be awarded more 
than two regional service contracts. It is envisioned that there will 
be several Requests for Proposals (RFPs) issued over several decades 
for these

[[Page 26509]]

services with more than one award made under each RFP.
    Contract Term: A contract term of five to ten years is envisioned. 
This would allow a contractor two to three years to procure 
transportation and storage equipment and achieve operational readiness. 
Performance of waste acceptance and transportation services would take 
place over the remaining period of any contract. A service period 
spanning several years also would allow contractors the flexibility to 
improve the efficiency of operations and reduce costs.
    Schedule: Schedule specifics will be addressed in any solicitation. 
For planning purposes, it is expected that a Federal facility could be 
in operation to receive spent fuel within four years of statutory 
direction, and contractors could be expected to begin developing 
service arrangements with Purchasers two to three years before spent 
fuel shipment.

Submissions of Interest

    OCRWM is interested in receiving expressions of interest and 
comments relating to this proposed approach for carrying out its waste 
acceptance, transportation and any storage functions especially with 
regard to the following issues:
    1. The ability of transportation service contractors and individual 
Purchasers to reach agreement on methods and schedules for servicing 
specific utility sites, including ways to foster Purchaser cooperation.
    2. The willingness of Purchasers to construct temporary or 
permanent physical plant modifications and to obtain license amendments 
or technical specification changes that would improve the efficiency 
and reduce the costs of loading and removal of spent fuel from 
individual plants.
    3. The reasonableness of dividing the country into a number of 
regions to preserve competition and industrial capability in the 
marketplace, while still ensuring low cost services to OCRWM.
    4. The capability of the nuclear industry to acquire sufficient 
spent fuel canister, transportation cask, and storage module production 
capacity to meet near-term service contractor requirements.
    5. Potential business arrangements/pricing structures which might 
increase contractor freedom and flexibility to develop and implement 
innovative approaches to improve system efficiency and lower costs, 
reduce or eliminate the need for front-end financing by OCRWM of 
contractor activities and procurements, or mitigate risks associated 
with programmatic uncertainties.
    6. Alternative methods of structuring this procurement to ensure 
competition on future procurements.
    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. 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 an 
expression of interest or 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.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 21, 1996.
Scott Sheffield,
Director, Headquarters Operation Division ``B'', Office of Placement 
and Administration.
[FR Doc. 96-13244 Filed 5-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P