PrintFeb. 1--In recent weeks, several contracts, totaling several hundred million dollars, have been awarded to companies working at the Savannah River Site. These funds are part of the $1.6 billion awarded last year as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds.
Local, regional and national companies have been awarded about $266 million in ARRA work with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, with more than 73 percent being awarded to small businesses, according to the management and operations contractor.
The Aiken Standard took a look at the contracts to see where the money is going and what it's for.
The ARRA funds awarded to SRS were designed to create around 3,000 jobs and accelerate progress on environmental management and cleanup programs that otherwise would have taken many more years to complete.
Those projects include the decommissioning of P and R reactors that once produced plutonium for the nation's nuclear arsenal; the shipment of waste; and the further decommissioning of old buildings to reduce the Site's industrial area to 79,000 acres by September 2011.
The following is a list of some of the more recent and largest contracts.
-- Production of concrete to decommission P and R reactors at SRS is one of the largest projects. Champion, Inc. of Iron Mountain, Mich., was the successful bidder to provide up to 252,000 cubic yards of concrete during a 13-month period. The $33.3 million contract will require up to 24-hour operations at multiple batch plants. Each plant will be capable of providing up to 240 cubic yards per hour. Champion expects to bring to the CSRA up to 10 personnel to manage the plant and hire up to 116 local workers to operate the plants and deliver the concrete to the two reactors.
-- A $1.1 million contract for up to 460,800 gallons of low sulfur diesel fuel was awarded Dec. 2, 2009, to Leesville firm Havird Oil. The contract is for the supply and delivery of the fuel in anticipation of hauling more than 250,000 cubic yards of concrete to decommission two old nuclear reactors.
-- American DND was awarded a $3.9 million contract to implode the cooling tower in K-area.
-- Materials and Energy Corp. of Oak Ridge, Tenn., was awarded a $12.5 million contract for the treatment of tritiated oil in July 2009.
-- Charleston-based GEL Laboratories LLC was awarded a $4.7 million contract in 2009 for analytical laboratory services for ARRA work through September 2011. Testamerica Laboratories was also awarded a contract for similar services worth $3.7 million.
-- A contract to dismantle gantry cranes atop two old plutonium reactors -- P and R -- was awarded to low bidder Bierlein Field Services Inc. of Midland, Mich. The $2 million contract anticipates that the gantry cranes will be removed, cut into smaller sections and delivered to a landfill for permanent disposal by the end of May next year.
-- For big jobs, you need big toys. For ARRA work, Metrac Inc. of Atlanta was awarded a contract to supply large excavators -- $2.4 million worth of John Deere 650D machines.
-- Energy Solutions, a Utah-based firm, received several large contracts all for the removal and treatment of mixed and liquid waste. Two contracts total $7.1 million
-- The 3,000-acre Carolina Fresh Farms is headquartered in Neeses and was awarded a ARRA funds contract by SRS to supply 20 8 1/2- by 24-foot-long enclosed cargo trailers. Carolina Fresh Farms is also providing sprayable erosion control materials at the P-Area Reactor Seepage Basins. In addition to work at Recovery Act Project sites, Carolina Fresh Farms provides landscaping and erosion control to the Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX) Fabrication Project Facility, Advanced Technical Training Area (ATTA) and T Area.
-- Newport News Nuclear Inc. was awarded a $2 million contract to engineering the deconstruction and demolition of the Heavy Water Components Test Reactor. Known as Hector, this was an experimental reactor which began construction in 1958 and went critical four years later. Newport News was also awarded a $2 million safety management contract.
Contact Mike Gellatly at mgellatly@aikenstandard.com
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