THE U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) is issuing this Sources Sought Synopsis as a means of conducting market research or as a market survey to determine the availability of potential qualified vendors with the technical capability to provide all management, supervision, administration, and labor for the Testing and Characterization of Highly Irradiated Reactor Internals.  Specific activities include:  handling, machining, testing and characterization of highly irradiated materials.  Services are to be provided to the NRC in Rockville, Maryland.  The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to this procurement is 541715. 

THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME.  This request for sources and vendor information does not constitute a request for proposal; submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred.  

REQUIRED CAPABILITIES (if applicable):  

Equipment and Facilities

Hot cell facilities capable of receiving, handling, shipping, machining, and testing highly irradiated materials with activities up to the order of 100-1,000 Ci. Specific testing capabilities required include irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking growth rate (IASCC CGR) testing in light water reactor (LWR) environments, fracture toughness testing, and tensile testing. To accomplish these tests in a reasonable time, the hot cell must be equipped with two load cells with autoclaves to maintain an LWR temperature/coolant environment. It would be preferred to also have slow strain rate testing and creep/stress relaxation testing capabilities available.

In addition to testing capabilities, microstructural characterization capabilities are also needed. At a minimum, hardness or microhardness testing and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy is needed to assess fracture surfaces and microstructures following testing. It would be preferred to also have access to transmission electron microscopy capabilities to assess irradiated damage such as dislocation loops and cavities for correlation with mechanical properties. Other preferred (but not required) capabilities include field ion microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, atomic force microscopy, wavelength dispersive 

X-ray analysis, impulse excitation technique, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry.

To facilitate testing and characterization, the facilities must also be capable of receiving, handling, shipping, machining, and disposing of highly irradiated materials with activities up to the order of 100-1,000 Ci.

Experience

Principal investigator with the following qualifications:

• PhD in materials engineering or similar field and at least 4 years experience with irradiated materials testing and characterization, including performing IASCC CGR testing or

• MS in materials engineering or similar field and at least 8 years experience with irradiated materials testing and characterization, including performing IASCC CGR testing

The purpose of this announcement is to provide potential sources the opportunity to submit information regarding their capabilities to perform work for the NRC free of conflict of interest (COI).  For information on NRC COI regulations, visit NRC Acquisition Regulation Subpart 2009.5 (http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/contracting/48cfr-ch20.html).  

All interested parties, including all categories of small businesses (small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, 8(a) firms, women-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and HUBZone small businesses) are invited to submit a response.  The capabilities package submitted by a vendor should demonstrate the firm's ability, capability, and responsibility to perform the principal components of work listed below.  The package should also include past performance/experience regarding projects of similar scope listing the project title, general description, the dollar value of the contract, and name of the company, agency, or government entity for which the work was performed. 

Organizations responding to this market survey should keep in mind that only focused and pertinent information is requested.  If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements.  Submission of additional materials such as glossy brochures or videos is discouraged.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

If your organization has the capability and capacity to perform, as a prime contractor, one or more of the services described in this notice, then please respond to this notice and provide written responses to the following information.  Please do not include any proprietary or otherwise sensitive information in the response, and do not submit a proposal.  Proposals submitted in response to this notice will not be considered.

1. Organization name, address, emails address, Web site address and telephone number.

2. What size is your organization with respect to NAICS code identified in this notice (i.e., "small" or "other than small")? If your organization is a small business under the aforementioned NAICS code, what type of small business (i.e., small disadvantaged business, woman-owned small business, economically disadvantaged woman-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, 8(a), or HUBZone small business)? Specify all that apply.

3. Although no geographic restriction is anticipated, if responding organizations are located outside the Washington Metropolitan area (Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia), indicate how the organization would coordinate with the NRC program office located in Rockville, Maryland to provide the support services.

4. Separately and distinctly describe which of the required capabilities  listed above that your organization possesses and indicate your organization's role (prime contractor, first tier subcontractor, and/or supplier) in related contracts.  Please also provide the contract number, contract type, customer name, address and point of contact phone number and email address, contract value, thorough description of supplies and services included in the scope of that contract, indication of how they differ from the required capabilities described in this notice, period of performance (for services) or delivery date (for products), and any other relevant information.

5. For Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) product offerings relevant to this requirement provide completed Voluntary Product Accessibility templates or other documentation that addresses compliance with the applicable standards (add website link) for those products.  For any federal customers that your agency has provided information technology services within the required capabilities areas, indicate how your company complies with applicable Section 508 standards (see buyaccesible.gov).

6. For any federal customers that your agency has for the required capabilities, indicate how your company complies with applicable environmental laws and Federal regulations (See NRC’s Green Purchasing Plan at:  http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1219/ML12191A130.pdf).

7. Indicate whether your organization offers any of the required capabilities  described in this notice on one or more of your company's own Federal Government contracts (i.e., GSA Federal Supply Schedule contract or Government wide Acquisition Contracts) that the NRC could order from and, if so, which services are offered.  Also, provide the contract number(s) and indicate what is currently available for ordering from each of those contract(s).

8. Provide a standard, non-proprietary commercial price list or similar standard non-proprietary commercial pricing information for how your company sells, as a prime contractor, required capabilities described in this notice that your organization has experience providing.  Also, indicate what is included in that pricing.

9. Is your organization currently performing or have in the past performed same or similar services as those listed above for any of the licensees regulated by the NRC? If so, which licensees? See http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/licensing.html for more information on NRC licensing.

10. Has your organization previously faced organizational conflict of interest issues with NRC? If so, what were they and how were they mitigated or resolved?

Interested organizations responding to this Sources Sought Synopsis are encouraged to structure capability statements in the order of the area of consideration noted above.  All capability statements sent in response to this notice must be submitted electronically, via e-mail, to Emarsha Whitt, at [email protected], either MS Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), within 45 calendar days from the date of publication of this notice. 

DISCLAIMER AND NOTES:  Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s potential capability and capacity to perform the subject work.  Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.  After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities.  However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.