Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
     NTS is a subsidiary of Hunting Ingalls Industries (HII). HII is listed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a seventy five percent owner of NTS. The SEC also lists Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos as another subsidiary of HII. This company leads waste cleanup operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory which is a lead shipper of waste to WIPP. That company was a joint venture between HII which owns fifty one percent of the subsidiary and BWXT. BWXT is the same company that partnered with Amentum to form NWP, the previous lead contractor at WIPP.
      HII has not responded to multiple requests from the media for comments regarding its activities in the nuclear industry, its affiliations or reasoning behind its protest of Bechtel contact award. Bechtel was a part owner of Los Alamos National Security (LANS) until 2018 when it was denied an extension of its management contract by the DoE following an accidental radiological release at the WIPP site that led to a three-year shutdown of operations at the WIPP for repairs. The release of radioactive materials into the open air was connected to a drum of waste from Los Alamos that ruptured as mentioned above. This accident contaminated part of the underground storage facilities and lead to elevated radiation levels in the nearby environment.
      Bechtel has declined to comment publicly on the WIPP contract and protest, citing confidentiality requirements of the procurement process. When Bechtel received the contract award, Bechtel Executive Vice President Dena Volvar said that the company was looking forward to executing its mission to address nuclear waste from around the U.S.
     TBRS intends to operate as Salado Isolation Mining Contractor in executing the WIPP contract according to a Bechtel press release. It also plans to use Los Alamos Technical Associates (LATA) as a subcontractor. Volovar said. “The mission to safely dispose of defense-related nuclear waste is vitally important for protecting people and the planet. We’re honored to be entrusted with this mission and look forward to joining the WIPP team and the Carlsbad community.” The press release from Bechtel mentioned that Bechtel had forty-four years of experience managing DoE sites in Kentucky, Tennessee and South Carolina.
     Jack Volpato is the Vice-chair of the Carlsbad Mayor’s Nuclear Task Force. He said that city officials had yet to meet with Bechtel because the WIPP management contract had not been finalized yet. He added that the protest period could generate “uncertainty” among the WIPP workforce which employs mostly local residents of the Carlsbad and Hobbs areas. He also said that workers were unlikely to be affected by the hiring of a new contractor. Volpato said, “It puts an air of uncertainty onto the workers, but it should not impact them. If I was them, I’d want to know who my boss was going to be.” Volpano went on to say that he hoped that the process would result in a contractor who was the “best fit” for the WIPP project and Carlsbad. He added, “We want the best fit for our community, and the people with the best resources to operate the project. We want the project to be a success. If Bechtel is the one, we really want to meet with them to talk about their role.”