Loren Data's SAM Daily™

SAMDAILY.US - ISSUE OF JULY 11, 2024 SAM #8262
SPECIAL NOTICE

99 -- Notice of Intent to Sole Source - Nuclear Consulting Services (ATL Inc)

Notice Date

7/9/2024 8:56:32 AM
 

Notice Type

Special Notice
 

NAICS

541690 — Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
 

Contracting Office

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY US
 

ZIP Code

00000
 

Solicitation Number

AMD-SS24-NOI-0001
 

Response Due

7/23/2024 8:00:00 AM
 

Archive Date

08/07/2024
 

Point of Contact

Forest Crumpler, Donald Collie
 

E-Mail Address

forest.crumpler@nist.gov, donald.collie@nist.gov
(forest.crumpler@nist.gov, donald.collie@nist.gov)
 

Description

Notice of Intent to Sole Source for Follow-On Nuclear Consulting Contract Background The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) owns and operates a heavy water-moderated nuclear test reactor and associated neutron beam research facility.� The NCNR�s reactor is licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) under the name National Bureau of Standards Reactor (NBSR).� On February 3, 2021, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (event notification EN 55094) of an alert concerning elevated radiation levels at the NIST Reactor.� Pursuant to the event notification received from NCNR staff on February 3, 2021, the NRC initiated a special inspection at the NCNR.� On April 14, 2021, the NRC staff issued an interim special inspection report to provide an initial assessment of their understanding of the event sequence, consequences, and the NCNR�s response to the event (ADAMS Accession No. ML21077A094).� On March 16, 2022, the NRC released a final report of its initial conclusion from its special�inspection report. The final report confirms and expands on many aspects of NIST�s analysis of the incident, pointing to deficiencies in policies, procedures, training and safety culture as contributing to the incident.� On January 13, 2023, contract no. 1333ND23DNB610002 was awarded to Advanced Technologies and Laboratories (ATL) to provide independent nuclear safety consulting services.� Since that time, 11 task orders have been executed to perform assessments, in which 74 findings were identified, and preliminary work on implementing corrective actions identified in those assessments. The NCNR requires continued access to subject matter expertise to address these 74 findings, as the need for such expertise is greater than initially expected, necessitating a new contract. Description of Service NCNR requires continued access to an independent nuclear consulting contractor to assist in implementing the recommendations and corrective actions identified during the assessments conducted in 2023, and 2024. The contractor will also assist in program improvement initiatives to prevent the recurrence of the February 3, 2021 event or similar events at the NBSR. These services are a continuation of the services provided by the nuclear consulting contractor in the contract awarded in early 2023. The areas of interest identified in the NRC Confirmatory Order (CO) are as follows: Nuclear Safety Culture Problem Identification and Resolution (PI&R) Event Root Cause Training Procedures Design and function of Safety Assessment Committee (SAC) and Safety Evaluation Committee (SEC) Basis for Sole Source This requirement is directly responsible for addressing the mandated actions stated in the NRC Confirmatory Order.� A significant amount of work has been completed to date and NCNR cannot support the potential repetition of any work already completed.� Additionally, guidance received from ongoing discussions with the NRC strongly urges the importance of consistency and continuity of service to ensure the highest level of understanding of the work already completed and the tasks that are still outstanding.� Based on this guidance, the language in the NRC Confirmatory Order and the issues outlined below, NIST has determined that it is essential for Continuity of Operations (COOP) and continuation of site-specific experience to continue to work with a single contractor until the corrective actions are implemented.� The incumbent contractor has conducted seven Confirmatory Order mandated independent assessments since January 2023 and is working on a follow-up assessment, which the Confirmatory Order also mandates. The contractor has been integral in supporting the development of the implementation plan for the corrective actions and has started working on implementing corrective actions in safety culture, training, procedures, and communications. As part of the NRC Confirmatory Order, the contracted consultant was to complete three Independent Nuclear Safety Culture Assessments (INSCA), once per year of the award.� Two INSCA�s have been conducted so far, with 74 individual findings for corrective action.� The third INSCA is scheduled for 2025, which will likely result in additional corrective action findings. A new contractor would have to work with the findings of the incumbent contractor, fully understand the methodology of the incumbent contractor, and mimic that methodology to apply the same approach to future efforts.� These requirements would cause additional and significant delays and would not meet the �seamless� transition that has been suggested by the NRC Confirmatory Order. Based on these factors it is the intention of the NCNR to submit this contract as a sole source contract, issued to Advanced Technologies and Laboratories.
 

Web Link

SAM.gov Permalink
(https://sam.gov/opp/e3c9f9d1cd3b430c889c2fed843eca12/view)
 

Place of Performance

Address: Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA

Zip Code: 20899

Country: USA
 

Record

SN07120948-F 20240711/240709230107 (samdaily.us)
 

Source

SAM.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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