Contractors get second shot at $22.8B nuclear weapons contract

A GAO decision has reopened the competition for a lucrative contract to maintain and secure U.S. nuclear weapons after the losing bidders filed protests.

The Government Accountability Office has made a decision that will enable large contractors to have another shot at the $22.8 billion contract to maintain and secure the nation's nuclear weapons, according to the Washington Business Journal.

The contract was awarded by the National Nuclear Security Administration to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, a joint venture between Bechtel Corp., Lockheed Martin, and Alliant Techsystems. But two other joint ventures filed protests on the grounds that the administration failed to reasonablely evaluate the feasibiltiy and size of the bidders' proposed cost savings, the journal reported.

The National Nuclear Security Administration will now request additional information from the bidders in the coming weeks.

The other two joint ventures are Nuclear Production Partners, which is comprised of Babcock and Wilcox Co., URS Corp., Northrop Grumman, and Honeywell International, and Integrated Nuclear Production Solutions, which is comprised of Jacobs Engineering Group and Fluor Corp.

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