Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Transportation

Added: Jan 09, 2012 11:25 am Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Transportation Services

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 (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 Indefinite Delivery/ Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contracts using firm-fixed-price task orders with cost reimbursable expenses over a five-year contract period, consisting of a one-year base ordering period and four additional one-year option ordering periods. CAST Specialty Transportation, Inc. will begin services immediately. Visionary Solutions, LLC will begin in July 2012. The total maximum value of the CAST Specialty Transportation, Inc. contract is $119,001,904 if all options are exercised and the total maximum value of the Visionary Solutions, LLC contract is $120,522,316 if all options are exercised. The transportation of TRU waste is performed by DOE contracted trucking carriers that ship thewaste via 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.