U.S. Department Of Energy, Idaho Operations Office, 850 Energy Drive -- MS1221, Idaho Falls, ID 83401-1563

66 -- AUTOMATED IRRADIATOR CONTROL SYSTEM SOL DE-AF07-97ID00061 DUE 082997 POC Kathleen Stallman, 208-526-7038 or T. Wade Hillebrant, Contracting Officer, 208-526-0547 The Idaho Office for the Department of Energy (DOE) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Hopewell Designs Inc. for an Irradiator Control System, under authority of FAR 6.302-1. The system will interface with government owned equipment and include both hardware and software. The control system will be similar to the automated irradiator control systems at other DOE sites such as the Savannah River Site and Pantex who have radiation/calibration facilities comparable to the DOELAP Dosimeter Irradiation Facility at the INEEL (CFA-638). The government supplied hardware will be five COMPAQ Deskpro 466 computers with 32 Mbyte RAM, 1 Gbyte hard drive, Windows NT Workstation, and networked using Ethernet and TCPIP protocol. Also furnished will be the following irradiators: 1000 Curie, Cesium-137; 20 Curie, Cesium-137; 7 Curie, Americium-241; 30 millicurie, Thallium-204; 50 millicurie, Strontium/Yttrium-90; and a Phillips 320 kV X-ray machine. Wiring from the vendor supplied control boxes to the irradiators will also be provided. The LabVIEW data acquisition package from National Instruments must be used for system control, to maintain compatibility with previously purchased software. The supplier must be a National Instruments ALLIANCE member which demonstrates a certain proficiency with the LabVIEW software. National Instruments hardware must be used to provide compatibility with the LabVIEW software. The supplier must provide complete, modifiable LabVIEW code that will work with existing irradiators and safety interlocks, and duplicate the existing methodology of performing irradiations of the DOELAP dosimeters including calibrations, testing, and report generation. The system will include a Asystem manager@ database or table that will include specific information for each irradiator and the X-ray. This information will be used by the software to control the irradiators to generate a specific DOELAP category of radiation type and strength. The activation of an irradiator will require the control of a 24 volt or 115 volt solenoid to allow air pressure to position an irradiator to the exposed position. The system will AOPEN@ and ACLOSE@ the irradiator shutters as necessary and communicate with a Keithley 617 electrometer which measures ion-chamber charge to determine the dose delivered while the irradiator is in the exposed position. Limit switches on the irradiators will be monitored to determine if the irradiator is in the exposed position and to control warning lights. The supplied software will be capable of calculating irradiator dose rate using decay time and initial strength, a dose from a requested exposure time, and an irradiation time from a specified dose. The control of the X-ray irradiator will require communication with the X-ray control panel and the remote adjustment of High Voltage and Current of the X-ray tube to generate a specific type and strength x-ray beam. The system will include links to existing and future databases such as FOXPro or Oracle and also allow the data to be saved in a spread sheet for analysis, reports, and transferred to other systems. The types of information saved will include but is not limited to an irradiation identifier, date/time, irradiator identifier, information from the Asystem manager@ database used to generate this irradiation, pressure, temperature, and dosimeters irradiated. The supplier will also provide an atmospheric pressure instrument and five temperature instruments that can be monitored by the workstations to calculate delivered dose corrections. The software will include links or expansion capabilities that will allow the addition of linear positioning capability for each irradiator target. The supplier will provide National Instruments DIO-24 and GPIB cards for each computer for irradiator control and monitoring and electrometer communication. Supplier will also provide hardware required for pressure and temperature monitoring. The control panel (vendor supplied) will be mounted under or near the computers and include emergency stop, expose, source return and power switches as well as the racks for input/output modules, junction blocks and cable connectors. One week of training for operation and maintenance will provided as will one year warranty. During this warranty the supplier will provide whatever services are required to insure the system is installed and operating as agreed upon. Unlimited telephone support would be provided. At the end of the one year warranty, a service agreement option will be provide that will allow up to 2 trips for a technician to travel to the INEEL site as required. Unlimited telephone support will be provided and any software upgrades issued during the agreement will be provided at no additional cost. The agreement will cover software problems and minor enhancements as well as hardware repairs and maintenance. The irradiator system will include a full set of installation, operation, maintenance, software user=s and component manuals as well as a parts list. This project has a specific window of time that will be available for completion. Once the purchase order is placed the supplier will have up to 90 days to install the system and perform the site acceptance test and to train the staff. This notice is published for information only. All interested parties may submit a proposal, which shall be considered by the agency. All interested parties must submit their capabilities no later than August 29, 1997. (0224)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0529 19970814\66-0030.SOL)