Energy and Environment

Contractor dispute halts nuclear power plant decommissioning

KUAC | By Tim Ellis

Published July 18, 2023 at 1:21 PM AKDT

Corps of Engineers staff and Army officials assemble outside the SM-1A during a 2021 site visit. The U.S. military started construction on the small nuclear power plant in 1958 to test whether it could provide heat and power more cheaply and reliably than diesel-fired generators. It generated up to 20 megawatts of heat energy and 1.6 megawatts of electricity. But the Army encountered several problems with the SM-1A, and it was shut down in 1972. The reactor areas were encased in concrete and secondary systems that were used to generate steam and heat were converted to again operate with diesel-fueled boilers. — Corps of Engineers staff and Army officials assemble outside the SM-1A during a 2021 site visit. The U.S. military started the small nuclear power plant's reactor in 1962, and it generated up to 20 megawatts of heat energy and 1.6 megawatts of electricity.

Corps of Engineers hopes to resume project next month after ‘taking corrective action’ to resolve bidder's protest

The Army Corps of Engineers hopes to start next month on the decommissioning and dismantling of a long-mothballed 1960s-era nuclear power plant on Fort Greely. The project has been on hold for the last year due to a protest filed by an unsuccessful project bidder.

The SM-1A is located in Fort Greely's cantonment area, surrounded by buildings that house facilities like maintenance shops and offices. — The SM-1A is surrounded by buildings that house facilities like barracks, maintenance shops and offices that were heated by the power plant. The Army built the facility to test whether it could provide heat and power more cheaply and reliably than diesel-fired generators. But the problem-plagued power plant was shut down after 10 years of operation, and its power and steam-heat systems were re-connected to diesel-fueled generators.

The Corps of Engineers has been studying Fort Greely’s defunct SM-1A nuclear power plant for the past 15 years now, especially over the past five years. Last summer, the agency took a major step toward removal of what remains of the 60-year-old facility by awarding a contract to complete decommissioning, dismantling and removingwhat's left of it.

“So we did issue the contract in July of ’22, last year,” says Brenda Barber, the Corps’ project manager.

But Barber says no work has happened yet on the $103 million contract, because the federal Government Accountability Office, or GAO, is dealing with a protest filed by the one of the companies that bid on the project.

According to online GAO records, the contract was awarded to South Carolina-based Westinghouse Government Services. It includes removal of remaining reactor components and other materials and site restoration.

Much of the building materials and other debris left over from initial remediation work at the SM-1A was stored beneath Building 606, where the reactor and electrical and steam-heat systems were located. — Much of the building materials and other debris left over from initial remediation work at the SM-1A was stored underneath Building 606, where the reactor and electrical and steam-heat systems were located. The most highly radioactive materials and components were removed after the plant was shut down in 1972, and the reactor area and components were encased in concrete.

The online records say GAO reviewed the protest filed by Louisiana-based Aptim-Amentum Alaska Decommissioning, also known as A3D.

“We had a ruling from GAO that upheld a portion of that protest finding,” Barber said.

According to the GAO website, the agency dismissed two of three protests filed by A3D, but partially upheld a third that alleges the Corps made mistakes evaluating the Westinghouse proposal, and quote, “failed to engage in adequate, equal discussions” with A3D. Unquote.

“And so the team is taking corrective action,” Barber said, “and we anticipate that that will be resolved by the 14^th of August.”

She says federal laws and regulations strictly limit release of information about contractor disputes, so she couldn’t even confirm the name of the company that filed the protest.

“I can’t comment on that,” she said.

Project Manager Brenda Barber talks about the SM-1A decommissioning and dismantlement project during a 2021 public meeting in Fairbanks. — Project manager Brenda Barber talks about the SM-1A decommissioning and dismantlement project during a 2021 public meeting in Fairbanks.

Meanwhile Barber says the Corps’ is preparing to hire about a half-dozen people who’ll be assigned to Fort Greely to help oversee the project. And she says Doyon Utilities, which operates the post’s diesel-fired heat and power plant, has moved out of the north side of the SM-1A building, where the remaining inert nuclear components are stored underground.

“So Doyon completed that work in April of this year,” she said, “and we did our final inspection in May.”

Barber says if work begins next month and all goes well, the Corps hopes to complete the long and complex process of decommissioning and dismantling Alaska's first and so far only nuclear power plant by 2030.