Fission Gas Restraint Hot Isostatic Press

Expression of Interest Fission Gas Restraint Hot Isostatic Press I. scope Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA), managing and operating contractor of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-owned Idaho National Laboratory (INL), is seeking an Expression of Interest (EOI) from prospective offerors to provide a custom-built hot isostatic press (HIP) and the associated structures and equipment that will form a significant part of the Fission Gas Restraint (FGR) system. The FGR system will be used to measure trace amounts of fission gas released from irradiated test specimens under over-pressure restraint. The testing consists of constraining an irradiated test specimen under high-pressure helium gas and monitoring it for fission gas release at elevated temperatures. To maximize the collection efficiency of fission gas released from the test specimen, the HIP needs to be equipped with an atmosphere isolation chamber that is located solely in the hot zone of the HIP. The isolation chamber requires a nominal internal volume of 500 ml and will allow for the gas surrounding the specimen to be isolated from the gas in the furnace and pressure vessel. This chamber will permit smaller overall gas volumes in the monitored gas system and result in higher concentrations of fission gas. Additionally, the isolation chamber shall be held at a slight negative pressure separate from the furnace to prevent the fission gas from escaping into the pressure vessel in the event any leaks develop in the monitored gas system. The chamber will also eliminate the problem of dead spots due to the cold zones created by the water-cooled pressure vessel. The system shall be capable of evacuating the HIP and isolation chamber, backfilling with helium gas, pressurizing to desired set point (maximum of 15,000 psi) at room temperature, and ramping to desired set temperature (maximum of 1372'C). The maximum desired temperature ramp is 25'C/min. Very fine control of the gas stream exiting the isolation chamber will be required. The gamma spectrometry monitoring system located on the discharge side of the isolation chamber should be designed to handle gas flows from .5 to 5 slpm (standard liters per minute). All pressure and temperature ramping of the system will have to be precisely controlled to stay within this gas flow range. Due to the radiation dose associated with the proposed test specimens, remote operation of the HIP will be required. The HIP must be located in a shielded hot cell where equipment assembly, maintenance, and repair can only be conducted remotely. Once in the hot cell, the equipment will never again be accessible by direct human contact. In-cell equipment shall be designed such that it can be assembled, operated, and maintained by use of a master-slave manipulator, electro-mechanical manipulator, or in-cell cranes. The in-cell exposure is estimated to be about 5 - 107 rads/yr. Radiation fields in the vicinity of the expected furnace location are approximately 23 rem/hr. Due to the presence of radiation fields inside the hot cell, resistance to degradation by radiation is desired in all components. Because radiation fields are difficult to specify, it shall be assumed that polymer materials will require periodic change out. Some fluorocarbon polymers may be used if they are known to have acceptable lifetimes in the hot cell environment. Some materials, such as Teflon and nylon, have demonstrated poor reliability in the hot cell environment and shall not be used. Remote operations for the furnace will be designed to utilize master slave-manipulators and electromechanical manipulators. Remote handling operations would include but are not limited to the following: Loading and unloading the specimen Replacing the insulation assembly as a single unit Replacing the furnace element as a single unit Replacing any thermocouples or other instrumentation Replacing the seals (e.g., O-ring, Cu, grafoil, etc.) of the pressure vessel or other components. The pressure vessel/furnace assembly will need to be remotely located from its support systems, with all utilities passing through the hot cell wall. The subcontractor would not be responsible for installation of the system, but needs to be aware of the remote design constraints. The utilities passing through the hot cell wall would include: Electrical power for the furnace Wiring for instrumentation Water lines for vessel cooling Control wiring Gas piping. The subcontractor shall provide a turn-key HIP system capable of operating for extended periods of time without operator or technician intervention. At a minimum, the unit shall consist of the following components: Water-cooled pressure vessel Isolation chamber Internal furnace and associated insulation package Internal structure for support of test specimens Vacuum system Pressurized gas supply and compressor system Venting system with overpressure protection Closed loop cooling system Control and data acquisition system. The pressure vessel inspection criteria will have to be addressed at an early stage. Section VIII of the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Codes and Standards (ASME 2015) provides guidelines for inspections based on the magnitude of the pressure for each cycle and the number of cycles. Because visual inspection of the vessel in a hot cell would be impractical, the usable life for the system must be well defined and agreed upon in advance of installation in a remote facility. II. RELEVANT CONSIDERATIONS In response to this EOI, interested firms shall submit a qualification package demonstrating compliance to the following criteria: Experience and expertise with building HIPs for use in the commercial and/or DOE environment within the last 5-year period. Any experience in a nuclear environment is beneficial and should be noted. Experience and expertise incorporating an atmospheric isolation chamber into the design and operation of a HIP. Experience and expertise building a HIP that can be maintained utilizing remote operational requirements. Established/implemented quality assurance program, which meets the applicable requirements of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) NQA-1-2008/1a-2009 addenda. III. Submittal Interested firms shall submit a qualifications package via e-mail to George Wood, Contract Specialist, by the close of business on 2 weeks after it goes live on Fed Biz Ops. Sufficient written information must be included that confirms the responder's qualifications as a potential offeror under the request for proposal (RFP). Note that qualification packages must be no more than 5 pages in length. Only potentially qualified offerors will receive the RFP for this procurement. Questions and/or comments regarding the EOI should be addressed to George Wood, Contract Specialist, at (208) 526-7085 or George.Wood@inl.gov. Please note that any technical/scope-related questions must be submitted in writing via e-mail.