This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response.

This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the NIST for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST's use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data provided in the response.

NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME.

NIST is seeking information from businesses that are capable of providing a high-dose irradiator.

Summary of Requirements:

The requested equipment shall include but is not limited to the minimum specifications below. The potential offeror shall provide information demonstrating that the business entity is able to provide a high-dose irradiator that meets the following minimum specifications:

1) It must be a Self-Contained Dry Source Irradiator.
   a. The weight of the Self-Contained Dry Source Irradiator should not exceed 7500 kg.
   b. A minimum irradiation volume of 5L
2) All items must be new. Experimental, or prototype will not be considered. The use of "gray market" components not authorized for sale in the U.S. by the proposer is not acceptable.
3) Shielding shall consist of Steel, Lead, and Tungsten.
4) No Depleted Uranium shall be used.

5) The Self-Contained Dry Source Irradiator must adhere to ANSI/HPS N43.7-2018 for safe design of self-contained dry source storage irradiators.
  a. The Gamma irradiator shall contain shielding to limit user exposure to levels below <0.02mSv/hr @ 30 cm from the surface for all modes of operation
6) The Self-Contained Dry Source Irradiator shall use Cobalt-60.
  a. Sources shall comply with ISO 2919:2012 and ISO 9978:1992
  b. The Self-Contained Dry Source Irradiator shall incorporate source rotation around the chamber to improve Dose Uniformity.
7) The Self-Contained Dry Source Irradiator must have:
  a. An initial minimum irradiation dose of 3.5 Gy/s
  b. A maximum dose uniformity ratio of 1.6
  c. A dose variation of ± 1.0% (k=2) for all dosimeters within a single irradiation.
8) On-site loading/reloading/unloading of source material
  a. Accomplished without use of a hot cell
  b. Follow ALARA practices for transferring high activity sources
  c. The use of transfer shields to keep sources fully shielded at all times and minimize worker dose
  d. All process procedures shall be verified by simulation before execution, and Source Loading On-Site procedure will be reviewed

NIST is seeking responses from all responsible business sources, including small business. Small businesses are defined under the size standard of 1,000 employees associated with the applicable NAICS code, 334517 - Irradiation Apparatus Manufacturing. Please include company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice.

Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the requirements described herein.

Businesses able to provide the requested equipment are directed to email a detailed response describing their capabilities to [email protected] no later than the response date for this source sought notice. The report should include any information relevant to the organization's capabilities to meet the requirements detailed in Summary of Requirements. Also, the following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice:

1. Name of company/companies that are authorized provide product, their addresses, and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, fax number and email address).
3. Number of days, after receipt of order that is typical for delivery of product.
4. Indication of whether the product is currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracts or any other government-wide contracts. If so, please provide the applicable contract number(s).
5. Indication of whether the product proposed is a commercial item currently offered in the market place.
6. Interested vendors shall address their capability of providing Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts.
7. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum performance requirements.

Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages in MS Word or PDF format. NIST invites all interested businesses to submit any questions or comments regarding the Draft Summary of Requirements via email to [email protected] within 3 calendar days of the posting of this notice. NIST intends to then post an amendment providing responses to any questions received. Official responses to the Sources Sought Notice shall be submitted by July 10, 2019 at 11:59 pm EST.