B-311126, B-311126.2, B-311126.3, B-311126.4, Savannah River Alliance, LLC, April 25, 2008

B-311126, B-311126.2, B-311126.3, B-311126.4, Savannah River Alliance, LLC, April 25, 2008 TITLE: B-311126, B-311126.2, B-311126.3, B-311126.4, Savannah River Alliance, LLC, April 25, 2008 BNUMBER: B-311126, B-311126.2, B-311126.3, B-311126.4 DATE: April 25, 2008 ****************************************************************************************** B-311126, B-311126.2, B-311126.3, B-311126.4, Savannah River Alliance, LLC, April 25, 2008 DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Savannah River Alliance, LLC File: B-311126, B-311126.2, B-311126.3, B-311126.4 Date: April 25, 2008 Kenneth B. Weckstein, Esq., Tammy Hopkins, Esq., Pamela A. Reynolds, Esq., and Amy T. Kingston, Esq., Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels, LLP, for the protester. James J. McCullough, Esq., Deneen J. Melander, Esq., Steven A. Alerding, Esq., and William S. Speros, Esq., Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP, for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC, an intervenor. H. Jack Shearer, Esq., Charmaine A. Howson, Esq., Timothy P. Fischer, Esq., and Jeffrey Galan, Esq., Department of Energy, for the agency. Sharon L. Larkin, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Agency's selection of higher-priced, higher-rated proposal for award is reasonable, where the key discriminator between proposals was under the key personnel factor, which was one of the most heavily weighted factors in the evaluation and was "critical" to successful performance, and where the agency reasonably concluded that awardee's superior key personnel were worth the additional price; protester's disagreement with the evaluation of multiple other factors and subfactors does not render the evaluation unreasonable. 2. Allegation that a key personnel reference had a personal conflict of interest that tainted the evaluation of key personnel is denied, where the reference was provided by the offeror and did not have an official role in the procurement, and the information provided by the reference had no impact on the evaluation. 3. Allegation that organizational conflicts of interest exist due to the employment of several of the awardee's key personnel is denied, where any conflict, if it exists, is personal to the employees, and not the organization, and is too speculative to impute to their employers. DECISION Savannah River Alliance, LLC (SRA) protests the award of a contract to Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC (SRNS), issued by the Department of Energy (DOE) under request for proposals (RFP) No. DE-RFP09-06SR22470 for the management and operation of the Savannah River Site, a DOE-owned facility in South Carolina. SRA alleges myriad evaluation errors. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The Savannah River Site is a 310-square-mile industrial complex in the southern part of South Carolina adjacent to the Savannah River. The site is dedicated to environmental management cleanup, developing and deploying technologies to support the cleanup mission, providing capability for supporting the enduring nuclear weapons stockpile, and processing and storing nuclear materials in support of the United States' nuclear non-proliferation effort. RFP sect. C-1.1. DOE's Office of Environmental Management is the landlord for the site and, since 1989, has contracted with Washington Savannah River Company (WSRC) to manage and operate the site. Agency Report (AR), Tab B.2, Source Evaluation Board (SEB) Report, at 2. The RFP sought to restructure the workscope of the predecessor contract and implement a performance-based contract, whereby the selected contractor would provide all of the "personnel, facilities, equipment, materials, supplies, and services" necessary to manage and operate the site and its mission activities. RFP sect. C-1.2. Included in the RFP's scope of work are environmental closure activities (soil and water remediation, deactivation and decommissioning, solid waste handling, and nuclear materials management), Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) activities,[1] National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) activities[2] (tritium[3] operations, nuclear nonproliferation, and radiological assistance), and landlord/site services (environmental, safety, and health [ES&H], engineering and construction, operations support, and business services). RFP sect. C-3; AR, Tab E.1, Source Selection Decision, at 1.