[Protest of DOE Contract Award for Technical Services]

A firm protested a Department of Energy (DOE) contract award for technical services, contending that DOE performed an unreasonable cost realism analysis, since it: (1) accepted the direct labor rates proposed by the awardee's subcontractor; and (2) did not calculate the subcontractor's probable indirect costs based upon its proposed ceiling rate. GAO held that DOE reasonably evaluated the subcontractor's: (1) direct labor rates as realistic since the subcontractor based its bid on the current rates it was paying its employees in comparable labor categories; and (2) indirect costs and determined that they best represented the subcontractor's probable cost. Accordingly, the protest was denied.