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

99 -- URANIUM-233 STABILIZATION, DISPOSITION, AND BUILDING DEACTIVATION DUE 070600 POC Karen S. Shears (865)241-6411 (Contract Specialist), Laura O. Wilkerson (865)576-9900 (Reindustrialization Specialist) WEB: Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office,, http://www.oro.doe.gov/procurement/. E-MAIL: Click here to contact the Contract Specialist via, shearsks@oro.doe.gov. This is a request for expressions of interest. The Department of Energy is contemplating issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the stabilization and disposition of the Oak Ridge uranium-233 inventory and deactivation of the storage facility. The Department recently completed an "Integrated Nuclear Materials Management Plan (INMMP)" specifying that uranium-233 is excess to national security needs. The INMMP also describes a process that will guide a Departmental assessment as to whether this excess material is a national resource that should be maintained or is surplus and should be slated for disposal. As part of our assessment of whether to keep or dispose of some or all of the excess uranium-233, we wish to determine public and/or private sector interest in beneficial use of the uranium-233 and its decay products. As an example of a potential beneficial use, the Department has a history of supplying isotopes extracted from the uranium-233 for use in medical applications, such as for cancer research. We will be interested in learning about other potential beneficial uses as well. We are especially interested in approaches that would leverage beneficial use of the uranium-233 to accomplish inventory stabilization, disposition and building deactivation at reduced or no cost to the government. We encourage use of DOE underutilized facilities in Oak Ridge to establish private enterprises for beneficial use of the uranium-233 that would further DOE Reindustrialization objectives. Contractor proposed options for beneficial use of the material will therefore be incorporated in any resulting contract if they are in the best interest of the government. The uranium-233 stabilization, disposition and building deactivation option will require the contractor to be responsible for overall facility operations including: surveillance and maintenance; inventory inspection, characterization, processing and packaging/repackaging as necessary to ensure safe interim storage, and to prepare the material for disposition. The contractor will also be responsible under this option for transportation of the inventory to the designated disposition location. Inventory stabilization and disposition activities must be conducted with the goal of efficiently achieving closure of Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board (DNFSB) Recommendation 97-1. Award of a contract will depend on the availability of funds and completion of the required National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation. The Department does not intend to fund any systems or facility upgrades necessary for beneficial use by the selected contractor. If your organization/company is interested in beneficial use of the uranium-233 and/or has the capability to provide inventory stabilization, disposition and building deactivation services, please respond by answering the following questions: (1) Are you interested in utilizing the Oak Ridge uranium-233 or uranium-233 decay products? (2) If you answered yes to question #1, please provide: (a) a summary of the proposed beneficial use that includes: materials of interest, required quantities and level of purity of the desired material, proposed approach for acquiring the material and expected benefits to the government and/or (b) facilities of interest. Relative to capabilities and plans, (1)What is your company's experience in handling and processing fissile nuclear materials, particularly uranium-233? (2)Would you need to team with other companies to perform this project, if so, which companies would be in your team? (3)What is the history of your company or team companies (when was it established, where is it located, primary business lines, primary customers, etc?) (4)What is the size of your company or team companies (gross annual revenues, number of employees, etc)?(5)Do you have the necessary licenses and permits for beneficial use of the uranium-233, decay products and/or DOE underutilized facilities under a private commercial enterprise? If not, what are your plans to obtain such licenses? The information requested herein will be used for planning purposes only. This is not a request for proposals. Any resulting solicitation will be published in the Commerce Business Daily at a future date. The resulting solicitation may be a prime contract with the DOE or a subcontract with one of the DOE prime contractors in Oak Ridge. Companies interested in bidding in any resulting solicitation must be able to receive a favorable Foreign Ownership and Control Influence (FOCI) determination. Any technical questions should be directed to Laura O. Wilkerson at (423) 576-9900, or wilkersonlo@oro.doe.gov. Please submit your response, in 20 pages or less, to the attention of Karen Shears at the address stated herein, or electronically to shearsks@oro.doe.gov no later than 7/6/00. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The DOE Oak Ridge uranium-233 inventory consists of approximately 450 kilograms of uranium-233 contained in 1,400 kilograms of fissile uranium. Storage and handling of the uranium-233 inventory requires strict nuclear criticality and safeguards and security controls. Additionally, the composition of the uranium-233 imposes unique shielding and ventilation requirements. The inventory is primarily in the form of uranium oxides but includes metals and other compounds. Uranium-232 impurities are present in the uranium-233 at 1 to 200 parts per million concentrations. The uranium-233 contains other nuclides due to radioactive decay including Thorium-229, Radium-225, Actinium-225 and Bismuth-213. Uranium-232 decay products such as Thorium-228, Bismuth-212, and Thallium-208 are also present. The inventory is currently stored in Building 3019, at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Building 3019 was built during the Manhattan Project to perform the first plutonium separations from irradiated reactor fuel and later served as a pilot plant for other nuclear fuel processes. Since 1962 the facility serves as the repository for uranium-233. The bulk of the material is contained in approximately 1000 outer packages stored in shielded storage tubes within thebuilding. Building 3019 includes seven shielded hot cells, the fissile material storage tubes, hoods and glove box laboratories, and other support equipment and facilities. Building 3019, is a Category 2, non-reactor nuclear facility under the oversight of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Posted 06/12/00 (W-SN463918). (0164)

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