Weston A Participant in Joint Venture Awarded $500 Million Contract for Management of Doe's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
25 October 2000
Weston A Participant in Joint Venture Awarded $500 Million Contract for Management of Doe's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
Business EditorsALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--Oct. 25, 2000--Roy F. Weston, Inc. today announced that the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) will award a $500 million, five-year contract for the management and operation of its Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico, to Westinghouse TRU Solutions LLC, a venture jointly owned by Roy F. Weston, Inc. and Westinghouse Government Environmental Services Company LLC.
The contract, which is the first WIPP management and operations contract to be competitively awarded, will include an option for a five-year renewal and a requirement to retain the current workforce at comparable pay and benefits.
"This win clearly advances our presence in the DOE market," said WESTON President and Chief Operating Officer, Patrick G. McCann. "WESTON's outstanding waste management capabilities will be a tremendous asset to the WIPP team."
WESTON holds a 12% interest in Westinghouse TRU Solutions LLC, with Westinghouse Government Environmental Services Company, a member of Washington Group International, holding the balance.
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) released a statement supporting DOE's decision. "This new contract for WIPP is good news, primarily because of the continuity it offers as the plant begins to become fully operational. Maintaining the continuity of Westinghouse and WESTON will be good for the program and for DOE's activities in southeast New Mexico," Domenici said.
Representative Joe Skeen (R-NM) also commended DOE's award. "It is unusual to find two firms like Westinghouse and WESTON who share the same high standards in business practices, demand for technical excellence and unqualified commitment to the community. We are very pleased they came together to form TRU Solutions and that DOE asked them to manage the WIPP."
Located in the Chihuahuan Desert 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad, the WIPP is the world's first underground repository licensed to permanently dispose of nuclear weapons waste. WESTON, which has offices in Carlsbad, Albuquerque, Sandia and Los Alamos, has worked at the WIPP for the past 5 years as a subcontractor to Westinghouse to help DOE prepare for the opening of facilities to receive waste shipments. The plant began operations in March 1999 and employs approximately 1,000 people.
"This contract is a milestone for WESTON. It expands our radioactive and mixed waste growth initiative and moves us into the forefront of TRU waste management," said Alan Solow, WESTON's Vice President of Federal Programs. "Our goal is to become the number one provider of integrated waste management services to the DOE complex."
The WIPP is designed to dispose of defense-generated TRU radioactive waste in rooms excavated in stable, 250-million-old salt beds nearly one-half mile below the desert surface. TRU waste consists of clothing, tools, rags, debris, residues and other disposable items contaminated with plutonium and other radioactive elements.
WESTON is a leading infrastructure redevelopment services firm serving industry and government worldwide. With an emphasis on creating lasting economic solutions for its clients, the company's services include site remediation and redevelopment, infrastructure operations and knowledge systems management to bring impaired facilities, land and other resources back to productive use. For more information, visit the WESTON web site at www.rfweston.com.
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