From Nuclear Research to Homeland Security

s in years past, the big-ticket items on the Energy Department's procurement list are contracts to manage and operate its production and laboratory facilities across the United States. Giant universities and engineering firms provide those services.

The University of California system is Energy's largest contractor, snatching up more than 20 percent of the department's total purchases in fiscal 2002-about $4 billion-to manage nuclear weapons laboratories. Construction titan Bechtel Group is a distant second, but still garnered $2.6 billion in contracts and 14 percent of Energy's procurement market last year.

Energy's other high-profile contract expenditures include environmental cleanup projects, such as at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site in Colorado. Researchers there have found that radioactive materials and chemicals were released for nearly 40 years beginning in the early 1950s, when the site was known as the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant.

As part of the government's increased emphasis on homeland security, Energy now plays a leading role as a hub for research and development of counterterrorism technologies. Congress granted the Homeland Security Department use of Energy's national laboratories, and the two departments recently struck an accord making laboratory technologies and research capabilities available to support the war on terrorism, says Richard Hopf, Energy's procurement director. The deal allows Energy contractors to provide Homeland Security with a vast array of services, from nuclear threat assessment to chemical and biological agent verification to advanced scientific computing.

Homeland Security agencies can contact the labs directly to discuss their needs, and the labs can help Homeland Security develop project proposals, he adds. Energy reviews those proposals to ensure they meet requirements for the scope of work and costs. "Early indications show that the process works well," Hopf says. It takes Energy labs less than two weeks to process and accept a proposal, he says.

Energy has shown some purchasing savvy of late, crafting an aggressive contract with one of the nation's top software makers. This spring, the department signed a deal with Oracle for a product tailored to meet its information security standards. Energy set those standards working with the Center for Internet Security. The deal is notable because the Office of Management and Budget has encouraged agencies to exercise their massive buying power to compel companies to create more secure products.

Energy will deliver its Oracle software throughout the department from a central location, so that all sites get the safest version automatically and so technology managers know precisely where the product has been installed.

In another show of innovative acquisition, Energy has issued contracts that allow agencies to implement energy-efficient technologies at federal facilities. Contractors pay for the initial installation of energy-saving lighting, air conditioning and other systems, and then they're rewarded over time with a share of the savings. Energy is considering proposing legislation that would extend a similar contracting style to the decommissioning and demolition of some of its buildings.