[Protest of DOE Rejection of Bid for Glass Melter Demonstration]

A firm protested the Department of Energy's (DOE) rejection of its bid for a glass melter technologies demonstration, contending that: (1) DOE improperly evaluated the technical proposals; and (2) one of the bidders should have been excluded from negotiations because of a conflict of interest. GAO held that: (1) DOE reasonably determined that the protester's bid was nonresponsive; and (2) the protester was not prejudiced by DOE use of another bidder's employees on the source evaluation board. Accordingly, the protest was denied.