SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Assessment of Condition Monitoring Methods of Electrical Cables - Draft SOW
- Notice Date
- 7/13/2012
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Administration, Division of Contracts, 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, Maryland, 20852-2738, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20852-2738
- Solicitation Number
- RES-12-327
- Archive Date
- 8/4/2012
- Point of Contact
- Adelis M. Rodriguez, Phone: 301-492-3623
- E-Mail Address
-
adelis.rodriguez@nrc.gov
(adelis.rodriguez@nrc.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Draft SOW 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 and potential technical capability of the business community to provide all management, supervision, administration, and labor for confirmatory research to assess and evaluate condition monitoring methods on electrical cables subjected to aging under normal operating conditions and design basis event (accident conditions). Services are to be provided to the NRC in Rockville, MD. It is estimated that approximately 8,800 staff hours will be needed to provide the requested supplies and/or services. The acquisition will be for one period of sixty months. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to this procurement is 541712. The Draft Statement of Work for this effort is attached THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This request for capability 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. BACKGROUND: Electrical cables are important for nuclear safety and a variety of environmental stressors in nuclear power plants that can influence the aging of electrical cables, such as temperature, radiation, moisture / humidity, vibration, chemical spray, and mechanical stress. Exposure to these stressors over time can lead to degradation that may go undetected unless the aging mechanisms are identified, and electrical, mechanical, or physical properties of the cable are monitored. Condition monitoring is essential for assessing the health and aging degradation of electrical cables to ensure reliable operation of safety-related equipment, instruments, and controls during normal operations and design basis events. The purpose of the confirmatory research is to assess and evaluate condition monitoring methods on electrical cables subjected to aging under normal operating conditions and design basis event (accident conditions). The objectives of this electrical cable research are: 1) to confirm the adequacy of condition monitoring methods, 2) confirm the condition-based qualification methodology, 3) confirm acceleration factors for the accelerated aging process, and (4) validate service life prediction. SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES: New and naturally-aged cables will be acquired and a comprehensive test plan will be developed. Baseline values for the cable properties, using condition monitoring methods, will be established prior to testing. The first phase of the project will focus on assessing condition-monitoring techniques during normal operational aging. Thus, cables should be subjected to normal operating conditions (temperature, radiation, humidity) in both mild and harsh environments to simulate up to 40 years. The second phase will focus on cables subject to accident conditions and located in harsh environments. These cables should be exposed to a simulated accident (temperature, pressure, humidity, radiation, chemical/steam spray). The condition-monitoring techniques will be evaluated for the capability to predict proper operation of cables during and after the accident (post-accident period). A NUREG/CR report will delineate the assessment of condition monitoring techniques and confirming the adequacy of the condition monitoring tests of electrical cables. CAPABILITY SOUGHT: The technical personnel that may be performing work shall have expertise and/or experience in the following key areas: 1. Extensive experience in materials science and polymer aging. 2. Extensive experience in the service life prediction of polymeric materials exposed a variety of environmental stressors (temperature, radiation, humidity, moisture/vibration, chemical spray, and mechanical stress). 3. Extensive experience in measuring chemical, physical, mechanical, visual, and electrical property changes in polymeric materials as they degrade. 4. Extensive experience in developing test plans for experiments. 5. Extensive experience in providing assessments and evaluations, as a result of tests/experiments. 6. Knowledge and experience in writing technical reports. 7. Knowledge and experience in health physics and the effects of radiation exposure. 8. Knowledge of condition-based qualification methodology. 9. Knowledge and experience with the in the regulations and guidance, as applicable to electrical cables and equipment qualification, of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission and in applicable laws and requirements, or equivalent experience in understanding regulatory requirements and associated regulatory guidance. Market Research Questions (Responses should be submitted in MS Word and/or MS Excel format and include the following information). Page Limit - The response to all questions shall not exceed five pages. 1. Organization name, address, email address, web site address and telephone number 2. What type of business is your company (i.e., small, 8(a), service-disabled veteran-owned, etc.)? 3. Has your company worked for any of the licensee's regulated by the NRC in the past year? 4. Has your company previously faced organizational conflict of interest issues with NRC? How were they resolved? 5. Does your company have the capability and appropriate license to handle, accept, and store radioactive materials? 6. Does your company have the ability to store the materials away from direct sunlight, at temperatures between 40˚F and 100˚F, and at less than 50% humidity? 7. Does your firm possess equipment for testing polymers, specifically to measure mechanical, dielectric, and chemical properties? 8. Does your firm possess or have access to equipment to perform simultaneous thermal and radiation aging of polymers? If so, a. Is the equipment suited to hold up to 30 feet of cable around a mandrel, not to exceed the bend radius of the cable? b. Is this equipment available to perform aging on samples for up to 18 months? c. Is the equipment available for use? 9. Does your firm have or have access to equipment to test nuclear power plant accident conditions? If so, a. Is the equipment suited to hold up to 30 feet of cable around a mandrel, not to exceed the bend radius of the cable? b. Is the equipment able to accurately measure the parameters of the accident (temperature, pressure, humidity, oxygen)? c. Is the equipment available for use? d. Does the equipment allow for the samples to continuously be exposed to oxygen? 10. Does your firm have the capability to acquire new safety-related cables that are to be used in new nuclear power plant designs, with relevant equipment qualification documentation, from manufacturers? 11. Does your firm have experience in writing technical bases for evaluating rules and regulations and providing recommendations for improving standards or rules and regulations? 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. Organizations responding to this market survey should keep in mind that only focused and pertinent information is requested. Submission of additional materials such as glossy brochures or videos is discouraged. If your organization has the potential capacity to perform these contract services, please provide the following information: 1) Organization name, address, email address, Web site address and telephone number as well as size and type of ownership for the organization; and 2) Tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. 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. Taking into account the magnitude of the scope of this professional recruitment effort, organizations also should address the capacity of their financial infrastructure to coordinate and deliver contract performance. Although no geographic restriction is anticipated, if responding organizations are located outside the Washington Metropolitan area, indicate how the organization would coordinate with the NRC program office located in Rockville, MD to provide support to (insert agency locations) multiple sites. The Government will evaluate market information to ascertain market capacity to 1) potentially provide the services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated; 2) potential capacity to secure and apply the full range of corporate financial, human capital, and technical resources required to successfully perform similar requirements; 3) potential capability to implement a successful project management plan that includes: compliance with tight program schedules; cost containment; meeting and tracking performance; hiring and retention of key personnel; and risk mitigation; and 4) potential to provide services under a performance based service acquisition contract. Interested firms 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 Mrs. Adelis M Rodriguez, at Adelis.rodriguez@nrc.gov, in either MS Word, WordPerfect or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), within 5 business days from the date of publication of this notice. This market survey is being conducted through the FedBizOpps to reach the widest possible audience and to gather current market information. 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. The Government may provide access to the information contained in the response to a contractor providing acquisition planning and strategic technical assistance support to the Government. 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.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/NRC/OA/DCPM/RES-12-327/listing.html)
- Record
- SN02802899-W 20120715/120713235644-e3761f63fcd1c10d6d115019c1f42093 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |