REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST AND COMMENTS REGARDING OFFICE OF CIVILIAN RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT TRANSPORTATION PLAN POC Ms. Michelle Miskinis (202) 634-4413 or Ms. Beth Tomasoni (202) 634-4408. The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) is responsible under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act 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 Waste (10CFR961) 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 Nuclear Waste Policy Act 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. 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. Submissions of interest including any comments should be sent to Michelle Miskinis, Contracting Officer, U.S. Dept. of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, Attn: HR-561.21, Washington, DC 20585. For further information contact: Michelle Miskinis (202) 634-4413 or Beth Tomasoni (202) 634-4408. Scope of Services. DOE anticipates contracting for supplies and services which would include: accepting spent-fuel from Purchasers' facilities (as identified in the OCRWM published Acceptance Priority Ranking (APR) and the Annual Capacity Report (ACR), supplying compatible storage and transportation 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 will work with Purchasers to determine the best way to service a site and will 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 Federal facility (either a repository or an interim storage facility (ISF) is to be designated by Congress. 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 will 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 contractor's 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 services with more than one award made under each RFP. Contract Term. A contract term of five to ten years is envisioned for the first contract. 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 on this proposed approach for carrying out its waste acceptance, transportation and 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 schedule 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 procurement. OCRWM 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. OCRWM 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 copies. This notice should not be construed as a commitment by the Department to enter into any agreement with any entity submitting an expression of interest or comments or as a commitment to issue any RFP. For information contact Ms. Michelle Miskinis (202) 634-4413.

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