The Department of Energy has extended Fluor Hanford's contract to provide support services at Hanford until July 15.

The contract extension will serve as a bridge until a new mission support contractor is picked and the transition is completed, according to DOE.

Fluor Hanford will continue to be responsible for such essential services as utilities, security, fire protection and information technology until then.

"We hope this extension will settle some of the uncertainty we have experienced," Fluor Hanford President Bruce Hanni wrote in a message to the company's 1,700 employees Friday. Fluor Hanford's latest contract extension expired Thursday.

Fluor Hanford will be discussing with DOE the details and work scope that will be covered in the contract extension next week, according to Hanni's message.

DOE awarded a $3 billion contract in early September to provide support services sitewide to Mission Support Alliance, a limited liability corporation led by Lockheed Martin Integrated Technology and including Jacobs Engineering Group and Wackenhut Services.

The Mission Support Alliance was to have finished the transition between contractors and be in charge of support services Jan. 1. However, the contract award was challenged by Computer Sciences Corp., which had teamed with Battelle to submit a bid for the contract.

The Government Accountability Office dismissed the protest in late December after DOE agreed to address concerns raised by the GAO after reviewing issues raised in the protest. GAO indicated concerns with DOE's cost evaluation.

DOE will re-evaluate the bidders' final proposals and supporting documentation, then revise the solicitation or request revisions to the proposals if necessary, the GAO said.

"In any event, following the corrective action, a new source selection decision will be made," the GAO decision said.

Fluor Hanford's contract was to have expired Sept. 30, 2008, the start of the fiscal year, before the previous two extensions.

Also this week, the Computer Sciences Corp. team filed a request for reimbursement for certain costs related to the protest. Details of the request have not been made public. A GAO decision is due April 22.