Big Yucca contract awarded

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2000 | 10:50 a.m.

The Department of Energy announced today that the Bechtel-Scientific Applications International Corp. won the operating contract for the Yucca Mountain Project.

The partnership won the contract, worth $3.1 billion over five years with an option to renew for another five years, to build what would be the world's first high-level nuclear waste repository.

Yucca Mountain, if it is found scientifically suitable, would begin to accept 77,000 tons of commercial and defense waste as soon as 2010.

The companies that have had the contract to study Yucca Mountain since 1991, TRW Environmental Safety Systems Inc. and Science Applications International Corp., parted ways and created new partnerships to compete for the new contract.

TRW joined forces with Parson Nevada Inc., Parallax Inc. and Dominion Energy Inc. SAIC aligned with Bechtel, which has been the management and operations contractor at the Nevada Test Site since 1995.

A third group that includes Morrison Knudsen, Westinghouse Electric Co., Raytheon Co., Framatome COGEMA Group and TetraTech also vied for the project.