The Department of Energy (DOE) today awarded two small-business contracts to CAST Specialty Transportation, Inc. and Visionary Solutions, LLC, to provide trucking services to transport transuranic (TRU) waste, from DOE and other defense-related TRU waste generator sites to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site, near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The contracts are firm fixed-price with cost-reimbursable expenses over five years.
CAST Specialty Transportation, Inc. of Henderson, Colorado, will begin services immediately.
Visionary Solutions, LLC, of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, will begin their contract in July 2012. Both companies are the incumbent contractors, performing trucking services for TRU waste since 2007.
The total maximum value of the CAST Specialty Transportation, Inc. contract is $119 million, if all options are exercised. The total maximum value of the Visionary Solutions, LLC contract is $120.5 million, if all options are exercised.
The transportation of TRU waste is performed by DOE contracted trucking carriers that use public highways on custom designed trailers. WIPP receives defense- related TRU waste shipments at the average rate of 20 to 35 shipments per week.
TRU waste must be transported in Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved, Type -B packaging. The truck drivers must meet and maintain stringent safety and hazardous materials hauling qualifications. WIPP is the only facility in the U.S. specifically designed for permanent disposal of defense-generated TRU waste.
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