Cincinnati -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today issued a Draft Request for Proposal (RFP), 100 percent set-aside for small businesses, for the operation and performance of analytical and testing services at the DOE Hanford 222-S Lab.

Interested small businesses are requested to review the Draft RFP and provide suggestions, comments, and proposed changes to hanfordlab@emcbc.doe.gov by March 28, 2014. Proposals are not being requested or evaluated at this time. DOE anticipates issuing a Final RFP, formally requesting small business proposals in May 2014. A Hybrid Contract that includes Fixed Price with Award Fee, Labor-Hour, and Cost Reimbursement line items will be awarded as a result of the Final RFP.

Operation of the 222-S Laboratory will be covered under the Fixed Price Contract Line Items (CLINS). Award fee is only available for work covered under the Fixed Price CLINS and is for the purpose of incentivizing the Contractor towards exceptional performance of laboratory operations. Additional analysis and testing that requires increased labor or additional staff will be covered under the Labor-Hour CLINS, and defined benefit, pension, and health care employer costs will be covered under the Cost Reimbursement CLINS.

Services to be provided under this requirement include: receiving, handling, analyzing, and storing lab samples; performing special tests; and reporting results of inorganic, organic and radiochemical analysis to DOE and site Contractors. Samples are primarily from Hanford’s underground tanks, and typically consist of highly radioactive or hazardous materials in gas, liquid, semi-solid or solid matrix form.

The 222-S Laboratory is a Hazardous Category 3 Nuclear Facility located in the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site. The 586 square-mile Hanford Site, located in southeast Washington state, was established in the 1940s as a plutonium production complex for the Manhattan Project and is now the site of several major cleanup projects.

Additional information on the Draft RFP is available at: www.emcbc.doe.gov/SEB/hanfordlab/