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Department of Energy Issues Request for Proposals

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the issuance of a final Request for Proposals (RFP) for the competitive selection of an approximately $1.58 billion, five-year management and operating contract for Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). Fermilab is a major DOE Office of Science single program research facility located on 6,800 acres approximately 45 miles west of Chicago, Illinois.

"Fermilab is a world leader in high energy physics, which helps the U.S. maintain global competitiveness," said Under Secretary for Science, Dr. Raymond L. Orbach. "Through this contracting process, DOE seeks the best possible management of this laboratory to sustain our cutting-edge scientific resources in this highly competitive field of research."

The RFP includes provisions to facilitate competition, encourage superior science and achieve excellent management performance. Selection criteria include contractor experience and past performance in both science and business management; key personnel, including the proposed laboratory director; strategy for fulfilling DOE's mission for the laboratory; management strategy and approach to achieving excellence in both world-class scientific research and development, as well as in operations and business management; and the value added by the contractor.

Significant changes from the draft RFP (issued in May 2006) and other items of interest are highlighted for offerors in the final RFP's executive summary. The final RFP includes a maximum annual fee of $3.55 million and provisions relating to workforce transition and contractor benefits and pensions.

Interested entities will have until August 24, 2006, to submit proposals to a Source Evaluation Board (SEB) made up of DOE business and technical experts. Based on feedback from the one-on-one meetings held on the draft RFP and feedback received from interested parties, DOE has decided not to hold a formal Preproposal Conference. However, questions on the RFP may still be submitted by potential offerors to the SEB and answers will be posted on the RFP web site.

Fermilab's mission is to advance the understanding of the fundamental nature of matter and energy by providing leadership and resources for qualified researchers to conduct research at the frontiers of high-energy physics and related disciplines. Approximately 2,500 scientists from 230 universities and laboratories in 35 states and 30 countries carry out research at the "energy frontier," the highest energy environment for discovery of particle physics in the world.

Fermilab funding for FY 2007 is projected to be approximately $315 million, provided by the High Energy Physics Program of the Office of Science, and other federal agencies. Fermilab operates user facilities that include the Tevatron, the world's highest energy particle accelerator, the MiniBooNE, a neutrino oscillation experiment, and NuMI/MINOS, a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. In addition, Fermilab is the Host Laboratory for U.S. participation in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Compact Muon Solenoid detector, construction of certain LHC accelerator components, and the U.S. LHC Accelerator Research Program.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy

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