THE PEACOCK REPORT (TPR)

U.S. Funds Pakistan Coal, Waste-to-Energy, and Renewable Energy Projects

The government of Pakistan and U.S.-based energy consulting companies last month became the dual beneficiaries of more corporate welfare hand-outs that the federal government is providing to Karachi. Habibulah Mines Ltd., a "sister company" of the Pakistani Private Power & Infrastructure Board, is slated to receive an $810,000 grant from the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) for a power-generation feasibility study. A U.S. firm will be selected to conduct the study "in anticipation of ramping up" Habibulah's coal reserves designated for a new power generation project, according to procurement document that The Peacock Report located.

Separately, USTDA is awarding a $263,000 grant to the government of Pakistan toward a review of the nation's regulatory and legal structure governing renewable energy. According to a document dated Sept. 7, Pakistan's National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NERPA) will use the funds to pay for "technical assistance" that will help it "utilize indigenous renewable energy sources such as water, wind, municipal solid waste, and others, in order to provide savings over more costly power generation that is based on imported gas, coal and fuel oil."

A third grant that USTDA awarded to Pakistan that same day will supply $325,000 toward a feasibility study for the construction of a "waste-to-energy" (WTE) plant in Karachi, home to 14 million Pakistani citizens. Karachi, the document says:

[G]enerates about 7,500 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day. This MSW is presently handled by several private contractors and is dumped at multiple landfill sites in and around the city. The city's population continues to expand rapidly, and has resulted in an urgent need to address the environmental problems associated with air and water pollution through proper MSW management and disposal, as well as increased demand for electric power.

USTDA claims that the proposed waste-burning facility would simultaneously "help address the power needs and the environmental concerns of Karachi, while at the same time generating a source of income for the city."

DOE Step Closer To Building New Uranium Processing Plant

The construction of a new uranium processing plant in the U.S. came one step closer to reality this week as the Dept. of Energy (DoE) began soliciting bids for facility architectural-design services. According to a procurement document that The Peacock Report (TPR) located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database, the non-reactor nuclear project at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee has an estimated overall value of $1.4-$2.4 billion. Additional details of the endeavor are available at the Y-12 website. BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT), a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc., is the prime contractor operating the Y-12 facility. BWXT likewise has separate contracts to operate various nuclear energy and weapons-production sites around the nation, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Rocky Flats nuclear cleanup site, and the Savannah River Site.

Separately, TPR also discovered that DoE intends to put up for sale 250 metric tons of surplus, off-spec low-enriched uranium (LEU) on the global market. According to a DoE/National Nuclear Safety Administration document dated Oct. 17, potential buyers include "commercial nuclear power companies, nuclear fuel cycle suppliers, or teams consisting of several interested firms. The LEU being offered will be derived from processing and down-blending of highly enriched uranium (HEU) metals, oxides and reactor fuel elements at the Savannah River Site (SRS) H Canyon and associated facilities near Aiken, South Carolina. This material will produce LEU that does not meet applicable ASTM specifications for commercial nuclear power reactor fuel."

Liquid Nuclear Waste Plant Slated for New Mexico

Nearly 10 million liters of radioactive liquid will be processed annually at a new waste-treatment facility that the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) intends to build in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, according to a planning document that The Peacock Report located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database. Construction of the new facility, which is slated to begin in the spring of 2009 and be completed by December 2010, has an estimated cost of $40-$65 million, the Sources Sought notice says.

This subcontracting action is connected to a larger endeavor involving the creation of a new nuclear facility for the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The goal at this stage is to assess the "availability and adequacy of potential business sources" capable of constructing facilities that handle liquid nuclear waste. The document, dated Oct. 10, describes the projected new treatment plant as containing:

[A] basement, main floor, and mezzanine with an overall footprint of 120-ft by 90ft. The basement level is 90-ft by 90-ft and is partially below grade. The basement level includes reaction tanks, waste packaging, influent storage tanks, chemical receipt and storage, and exterior drum storage. [emphasis added] The main level includes the change rooms (showers, lockers, storage), access control, equipment room, control room, briefing room, and process equipment. The building ventilation system exhaust includes high-efficiency particulate air filter assemblies and the facility design incorporates safety significant structures, systems and components.

NNSA anticipates releasing a more detailed Request for Proposals in the fall of 2008, with the subsequent awarding of contracts in the winter of 2009.

Hundreds of Millions in Contracts Expected for Pentagon Project

The Dept. of Defense (DoD) over a 60-month period will award up to $200 million in construction contracts primarily for ongoing renovations at the Pentagon, according to a presolicitation notice dated Oct. 5. The document, which The Peacock Report located via routine search of the FedBizOpps contracting database, reveals that among the first proposed orders of business for DoD's Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) will be a $250,000-$500,000 endeavor involving the reconfiguration of furniture, the building and demolishing of walls, and the construction of a small kitchenette somewhere within the sprawling complex. The estimated range of future contract will be between $500,000-$10 million, with a guaranteed minimum contract value of $25,000, it says.