In a plan to save what it says will be between $7 million and $9 million annually over the next five years, CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. is changing its subcontracting policies in hiring firms to help manage nuclear-waste remediation and demolition at the U.S. Energy Dept.'s Hanford site in central Washington. The changes come as cleanup budgets at the former weapon-production complex are expected to flatten or decline.

The company, a unit of CH2M Hill Cos., manages cleanup of Hanford's 75-sq-mile Central Plateau, a onetime major production area. In its first five-year contract, which ended in 2012, the firm chose subs from a list of 11 preselected companies to accelerate work. In its second contract, subcontracting will be more of a competitive-bid process. "This allows us to go back to the marketplace to look for fresh ideas," says Vicki Bogenberger, the firm's CFO. She says it will still award at least 17% of contracts to small businesses.