Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Administration, Division of Contracts and Property Management, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD, 20852-2738

99 -- TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT NRC LICENSING OF A MIXED-OXIDE (MOX) FUEL FABRICATION FACILITY -- CRITICALITY CODE VALIDATION REPORT REVIEW SOL Reference-Number-NMSS11-19-99 DUE 120999 POC Sally Adams, Contract Specialist, Phone (301) 415-6588, Fax (301) 415-8157, Email saa2@nrc.gov WEB: Visit this URL for the latest information about this, http://www.eps.gov/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS?ACode=R&;ProjID=Reference-Num ber-NMSS11-19-99&LocID=2206. E-MAIL: Sally Adams, saa2@nrc.gov. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuing a Request for Proposal to provide technical assistance to support NRC licensing of a mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility. Technical assistance for the license review will include contractor assistance in the review of the Criticality Code Validation Report and to determine whether the report is adequate to support a finding that the SCALE-4.4 code (or any other codes and calculational methodologies to be employed) can be used safely to determine subcritical limits for MOX process. The review will address: (1) selection of critical benchmark experiments, (2) determination of the calculational bias, (3) the area of applicability (AOA), (4) specific validation for MOX processes, (5) trends in the bias, and (6) compliance with ANSI/ANS-8.1-1983. Areas of required technical capabilities include, application of an appropriate quantitative analysis, such as sensitivity/uncertainty (S/U) analysis, to the supplied benchmarks and applications; reviewing available design and process information related to plutonium or MOX fuel fabrication to identify significant criticality safety issues that may pose special difficulty during the licensing review. Particular attention will be given to potential weaknesses in the criticality safety codes and data, to complications introduced by the shift from reactor-grade to weapons-grade plutonium, and to issues that have caused the greatest safety concern in other plutonium processing facilities. Experience required to perform this work must include a strong background and credentials in nuclear criticality safety, including chemical and mechanical processing of plutonium; expertise in code validation and verification, to current industry standard; direct knowledge and plant experience in criticality safety as applied to plutonium processing technology; and experience performing criticality calculations in a plutonium processing environment. Interested firms should submit written capability statements to the NRC at the address shown above. The capability statements shall address the technical capabilities and required experience as specified above, and shall be limited to 20 pages or less (not including resumes). The closing date for capability statements is 14 days after the issue date of this sources sought. This is not a request for proposals. Posted 11/24/99 (D-SN403651). (0328)

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