WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy on Friday executed a one-year renewal of its contract with Bechtel SAIC, the prime contractor for Yucca Mountain, a DOE spokesman said.
The department exercised a one-year option to keep Bechtel on the job, although with fewer responsibilities after a reorganization of the nuclear waste project.
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The Bechtel contract that was initiated in March 2001 set a five-year work period followed by one-year options for the following five years. DOE notified Bechtel by letter on Friday it was activating the initial option year that begins on April 1.
DOE spokesman Allen Benson said the contract price for the option year and work scope details will be negotiated with the company.
Bechtel was instructed in November to redesign canisters that will be used to transport and store radioactive spent fuel, as well as the aboveground complex at the Yucca site where fuel will be stored before being inserted into an underground repository.
"This is critical work that needs to be done," Benson said. "That is pretty much the focus of what they will be working on."
The Energy Department announced this week Sandia National Laboratories will assume responsibilities from Bechtel for coordinating environmental science and technical work on the project.
Jason Bohne, a Bechtel spokesman, said the company welcomed the contract extension.
"We are committed to this project," Bohne said. "We want to be involved now and through licensing and operations."
Benson said the government has paid Bechtel $1.192 billion in the past five years.
