In 1990, the Morgantown Energy Technology Center in West Virginia agreed to handle technology development contracts with private companies for DOE's Office of Technology Development. METC was a logical choice because it had a history of working with the commercial sector, primarily in procurement and project management. Since then, METC has issued two Program Research and Development Announcements and two Research Opportunity Announcements for OTD. Issued in April 1994, the second ROA is open until April 28, 1995. In a telephone interview, Thomas Martin, a contract specialist at METC who serves as the administrator for the ROAs, said he is not sure if there will be another ROA issued when the current one expires, however, he believes there will be other solicitations from Morgantown that will seek research proposals related to a specific DOE focus area.
According to Martin, 26 proposals for the April 1994 ROA have been reviewed so far. Eight have been awarded. In the next round, there are 50 more proposals to be reviewed. Martin said, typically, one of eight proposals is accepted. Although 20 percent of the awards are set aside for small businesses, more than that---30 to 50 percent---actually go to small businesses. Martin welcomes questions from small businesses at his electronic mail address: tmarti@metc.doe.gov.
To review the latest environmental and waste management technologies being developed by small businesses through contracts with METC, a conference was held there in November 1994. Twenty papers were presented in three of DOE's five focus areas: mixed waste characterization, treatment, and disposal; contaminant plume containment and remediation; and facility transitioning, decommissioning, and final disposition. One of the papers was from UTD, Inc. about its penetrometer position locator---or POLO system (see related article in this issue). Participants also discussed the barriers affecting small businesses. According to the technical coordinator for the conference, Vijay Kothari, METC is planning another conference that will involve businesses of all sizes. The conference is currently scheduled for October 3-5, 1995. Call (305) 285-4108 for more information.
DOE's Morgantown Energy Technology Center
Research Contracts (1991 to 1995)
