Office of Acquisition and Project Management (2020 Presidential transition)

Book 3 - Organization Overview
Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020

The Office of Acquisition and Project Management (NA-APM) enables NNSA to accomplish defense, nonproliferation and counterterrorism, emergency operations, and security missions at the best value to the taxpayer through contract placement, and administration and capital construction project management. NA-APM awards all contracts, financial assistance instruments, and Inter-Agency Agreements on behalf of NNSA. The majority of NNSA’s procurement funds are obligated on Management and Operating (M&O) contracts at seven major sites on DOE/NNSA’s behalf. Over 90% of NNSA’s budget is spent via contract.

NA-APM oversees all construction projects over the minor construction limit (currently $20 million) and ensures disciplined, upfront project planning to establish objective performance measures that demonstrate achievement of program objectives within approved cost, schedule, and performance parameters. Projects include complex, first-of-a-kind nuclear facilities that are of profound importance to national security. NA-APM’s work spans the entirety of NNSA’s national security mission and saves taxpayer funds by providing Federal oversight and contractor accountability while delivering mission- critical projects on schedule and on budget.

Mission Statement

Safe, Quality Construction on Budget. Timely, Best Value Acquisition Solutions.

Budget

NA-APM funding is included in the Office of the NNSA Administrator.

Human Resources

FY 2020 authorized full-time equivalents (FTEs): 187

History

NNSA created NA-APM in 2011 to bring discipline to NNSA acquisition and project management and address the longstanding project management challenges identified by internal and external stakeholders. Establishing an independent, integrated acquisition and project management organization, separate from the requirements owner and resource sponsor, is in line with practices in other federal agencies and the private sector. It allows for the systemic implementation of policies, practices, and procedures for delivering best value acquisition and capital asset project solutions, while maximizing available resources. NA-APM was designed to ensure that best value acquisition plans are developed, and to perform the necessary critical evaluation of a project’s cost estimating; design and technical maturity; requirements definition; and change control for the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security (Administrator) and associated Program Offices. NA- APM provides independent dedicated acquisition, project management, and oversight that aligns contract incentives with taxpayer interests; provides clear lines of authority and accountability for federal and contractor personnel; manages assigned projects within the original scope and cost baselines, ensuring completed projects meet mission requirements; improves cost and schedule performance; and strengthens cost estimating, and alternative assessments and evaluation.

Functions

NNSA’s missions require an industrial and laboratory infrastructure that is secure and able to meet immediate and long-term operational needs. NA-APM provides the corporate integration for the development and execution of NNSA’s facilities management policies and programs and project management systems. Similar to the roles and responsibilities of integrated acquisition and project management organizations in other federal agencies, NA-APM ensures NNSA implements federal acquisition and project management policies and regulations. NNSA, as a semi- autonomous agency, has its own procurement authority through the Administrator to the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) in NA-APM. NA- APM works closely with the DOE SPE to ensure consistency across the Department. NA-APM’s Federal Project Directors (FPDs) lead all capital asset line-item projects from completion of Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) through Critical Decision (CD)-4, Approve Project Completion

Recent Organization Accomplishments

Delivered $2.0B of projects 3.5% under budget through improvement in staff capability; firm requirements documentation before setting baseline; refined tracking and project oversight; clear lines of authority and responsibility; rigorous change order discipline, and independent oversight and review.

The $6.5B Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) has remained on budget and schedule for seven consecutive years. Three of the seven subprojects have completed, all on or under budget and schedule ($150M combined value). Over 1,000 construction workers are continuously on-site in Oak Ridge, TN, with the workforce expected to peak at near 2,000.

Tracking $1.03B baselined scope on Chemistry & Metallurgy Replacement Project under budget/ ahead of schedule for four years.

MOX Contract ($5B+) was terminated, laid-up, and a settlement reached within 13 months.

The Exascale Class Computing Cooling (E3CE) project at Los Alamos obtained CD-4, Approve Project Completion, 10 months ahead of schedule and $20M under budget.

The Expand Electrical Distribution System (EEDS) project at LLNL reached CD-4, Approve Project Completion, five months early and $1M under budget. The project provides redundant underground power between Western’s Livermore Substation (WLS), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia-California.

Device Assembly Facility (DAF) Argus Installation – Interior Protection Project obtained CD-4, Approve Project Completion, 5 months ahead of the schedule and $4M under budget. The project replaced the PECOS in the DAF with Argus components, including Argus Field Panels and Remote Access Panels, reducing fire loading and facilitating future DAF maintenance

The Digital Infrastructure Capability Expansion (DICE) project at Los Alamos achieved CD-0, Mission Need Approval. With the expansion of networking

and communications capabilities on the campus, the DICE project will play a critical role in meeting new digital infrastructure demands.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) awarded the DOE an “A” grade for its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 small business and socio-economic contracting achievement. The Agency substantially exceeded its goals in prime small business procurement and subcontracting, while also surpassing its goals for graded socio-economic contracting

Leadership Challenges

Staffing

Insufficient staffing remains the priority issue. Authorized billets have grown from 175 in 2016 to 187 in 2020, while the project portfolio has grown from $5B to $22B over the same period. The success in delivering projects on time and on budget has contributed to the growth of funding appropriated for NNSA’s infrastructure recapitalization. To continue this positive trend, NA- APM must increase quality federal staffing to meet the growth in construction.

Acquisition Strategy

NA-APM is diversifying NNSA’s contracting methods to accomplish capital asset line-item projects, which requires adoption and creation of new policies, processes, people, and culture. Rather than defaulting to cost reimbursement efforts via M&O contracts, alternative contracting agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Tennessee Valley Authority, are being used. Firm-fixed price, design-build contracts have been let, and independent contract line items within the broader M&O contract have also been established. Additionally, cost-savings incentives have been added to M&O contracts. Identifying the proper, non-nuclear projects that would benefit from an alternate approach and ensuring that all stakeholders understand the benefits and new processes takes leadership engagement and education.

Requirements Development

The early and definitive statement of requirements for capital line-item projects is essential to project success. To improve the probability of success, NA-APM now leads projects from conceptual design forward but establishing firm technical requirements for unique projects; requiring multi- year technology development and maturation; and having a stable and predictable budget remains a critical risk factor to on-time/on-budget delivery.

Critical Events and Action Items

As a capital asset (construction or major item of equipment) progresses through the various Critical Decision (CD) phases, NNSA’s program managers are responsible for the mission need, requirements, alternative selection, and budgeting, while NA-APM develops the acquisition plan and executes the project decision, construction, or assembly in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract. The following major events are expected in early 2021: