U. S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8758

B -- LARGE-SCALE DECONTAMINATION AND DECOMMISSIONING DEMONSTRATION PROJECT POC Technical contact: Jerry Harness (423) 576-6008, fax (423) 576-5333, E-mail: x96@ornl.gov; Contract Specialist: Judy Wilson (423) 576-0786, fax (423) 576-3375, E-mail: wilsonj@oro.doe.gov The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Operations (ORO) is seeking expressions of interest from commercial firms interested in participating in a DOE-managedlarge-scale demonstration of innovative decontamination and decommissioning (D&D)technologies at its K-25 Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. DOE is seeking vendors capable andinterested in using conventional and innovative technologies to demonstrate the dismantlementand removal of 900 tons of gaseous diffusion process equipment, piping, and cell enclosuresfrom six cells of the K-27 and K-29 Process Buildings at the K-25 Site. The processequipment and material removed from these buildings will be decontaminated and released forcommercial use, recycled, or stored as low-level waste. DOE-ORO plans to use a competitivesolicitation to select one or more teams of Integrated D&D Contractors (IDCs) to conduct fullscale D&D activities at the K-25 Site gaseous diffusion plant (GDP). Each IDC selected willuse a whole systems approach which will include characterization, decontamination,dismantlement, waste minimization, and waste disposition as necessary to achieve the completeD&D of one cell in both the K-27 and K-29 Buildings. It is anticipated that the solicitationwill be released in the last quarter of calendar year 1996 and contracts will be awarded to theIDC teams early in calendar year 1997, with field demonstration activities scheduled to beginin the summer of 1997 with a project duration of 18 months. Each IDC team will have oneprime lead who will be responsible for cost, schedule, technology integration, andperformance. This prime lead will team or subcontract with companies that own theinnovative technologies to be demonstrated. Firms interested in the IDC solicitation will beencouraged to form teams with innovative technology vendors to participate in the D&Ddemonstration. DOE will use the site management and operating contractor, privatecontractors, and other governmental groups will provide assistance in oversight, support, andadvisory roles during the demonstration project. While demonstration of whole systemapproaches for D&D will be the main focus of the project, expressions of interest are alsosolicited from vendors of innovative technologies which address only specific areas of theD&D process, i.e., characterization, decontamination, dismantlement, waste minimization, orwaste disposition. DOE anticipates that an opportunity will be available following selection ofthe IDC teams for vendors of individual technologies to participate in the program throughIDC issued solicitations or a second DOE competitive solicitation. In either case, DOEexpects to integrate the activities of the individual innovative technology vendors into thedemonstration activities of the IDCs and have the work performed under subcontract to theIDCs upon mutual DOE/IDC agreement. However, funding for these efforts will be limitedand DOE encourages technology providers to seek teaming arrangements for bid during thefirst solicitation. To foster teaming and inclusion of innovative concepts in the IDC proposals,DOE will sponsor an information exchange as part of this expression of interest process. In ayet undetermined format, DOE will provide information supplied by individual technologyvendors interested in teaming to potential IDCs and other interested technology vendors.DOE expects the participants to share in the cost of their demonstration up to 30 percent orhigher; a minimum requirement for a percentage of cost sharing will be specified in theprocurement solicitation. This project will provide an opportunity to implement and evaluateinnovative D&D technologies side-by-side with baseline technologies so that the advantagesand disadvantages of these technologies can be compared. Through the use of creativeapproaches and innovative technologies, this project will gather significant data which will beused to establish performance criteria; identify opportunities for lowering risks to the public,workers, and the environment; determine methods to reduce waste stream volumes; andidentify opportunities to accelerate schedules, maximize return on investment, and loweroverall life cycle costs. This knowledge will be used to develop the long range D&D programfor the 12 large process buildings at DOE's Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Paducah, Kentucky; andPortsmouth, Ohio, GDPs. These buildings cover 25.5 million square feet of floor space andcontain 10,998 stages in 1,367 cells. The estimated cost for the D&D of all process and non-process facilities at the three sites using baseline technologies is $7.7 billion. The K-27Process Building was originally built to house a full-gradient cascade, which yielded uraniumfully enriched in U-235 to the weapons-grade level. The building contains nine unitsconsisting of 10 cells each. There are six stages for each cell, for a total of 540 stages. A stageconsists of two electric motors, centrifugal flow compressors, a converter containing a largesurface area of barrier material, and associated process piping and valves. This equipmentconfiguration is typical for both K-27 and K-29. The K-29 Building was originally built tohouse the LEU portion of the Oak Ridge GDP cascade. The building contains three inactivegaseous diffusion process units consisting of 10 cells each. Each cell contains 10 stages, for atotal of 300 stages. The equipment to be removed is located on the cell (second) floor. The K-29 Building contains axial flow compressors similar to process equipment found in the K-31and K-33 Buildings and at the Paducah and Portsmouth GDPs. The baseline approach to theremoval and disposition of equipment within the K-25 Site facilities is based on the use ofconventional technology. These conventional technologies are adequate for dismantling thefacility, but may not be the most efficient or cost-effective approaches to use. A total systemsapproach will use a mix of innovative and conventional technologies in complement to form themost cost-effective total D&D approach. Innovative characterization technologies are beingpursued to enhance the flow of material to the decontamination stages and reduce the timerequired for workers to scan or perform removal activities. In addition, DOE is looking fortechnologies that can measure radionuclides and hazardous components in more inaccessiblelocations, such as large electric process motors, complicated compressors, pipes, andconverters. Innovative decontamination technologies are being sought to improve upon thebaseline technologies and to incorporate current DOE philosophies of efficient salvage. Thefeasibility of decontaminating facilities and structures to levels suitable for facility reuse will beevaluated. Innovative dismantlement technologies will be used to remove contaminated anduncontaminated material, reduce the possibility of mixing contaminated material, and maintainlow health and safety risks to the workers. Innovative waste minimization technologies arebeing sought to deal with the inevitable waste that will be generated during equipment removaland decontamination. Innovative disposition technologies will be concerned with new DOEdirectives and philosophies to implement beneficial reuse and recycle policies. Issuance of thesolicitation and subsequent award of the demonstration contracts will be contingent on theavailability of funding, the number and quality of proposals submitted, and the willingness andability of the participants to cost share. Proposals will be evaluated against selection criteria tobe established prior to issuance of the formal request for proposal and might be expected toinclude: degree of innovation of the technology; potential to effect cost reductions versusbaseline technologies; maturity of the technology; capability of the technology to bedemonstrated at full scale; and contractor's ability to cost share. In order to evaluate thepotential for participation, potential IDC participants and owners of individual technologiesshould express their interest in the demonstration and supply non-proprietary data about theircapabilities including: description of technology; applications for use of technology; list ofprior projects with performance data; facility support requirements; description of materialsused by the technology; list of waste streams generated by the process; and projected unit costdata. DOE will use this information to establish performance and safety criteria which will beincluded in procurement and project documentation for potential field activities. Firmsinterested in providing or obtaining information on technologies for teaming discussions shouldindicate such in their expression of interest. DOE will contact interested parties with details onthe process for this activity. Interested parties must provide the specified qualificationinformation in triplicate no later than September 27, 1996 to: Judy Wilson, Contract Specialist,US Department of Energy, Procurement and Contracts Division, P.O. Box 2001, 200 Administration Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8758; or to wilsonj@oro.doe.gov in WordPerfect6.1 format. This is not a Request for Proposals. (0254)

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