RECOVERY-First Article Shim Safety Rod

RECOVERY - THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. THIS REQUIREMENT WILL BE PROCURED ON A NON-COMPETITIVE BASIS UNDER AN EXISTING INDEFINITE DELIVERY/INDEFINITE QUANTITY CONTRACT FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE NIST CENTER FOR NEUTRON RESEARCH (NCNR). This Pre-Solicitation Notice is hereby issued in accordance with the guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This project is being funded using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. This acquisition will provide for the fabrication and delivery of the first article of shim safety rods (SSRs) based on the annotated documentation and work instructions (ADWI) as developed by Merrick and Company while executing Task Order Numbers 68342 and 69378. The first article for the SSR is defined as one set of four (4) SSR's built in accordance with the ADWI. Description of Services Among the main safety related components of the NIST Reactor are shim safety rods. The function of the shim safety rods is to regulate and control the nuclear reaction that is taking place in the core of the reactor. The operational part of the SSR is a sheet of cadmium metal (a neutron absorber) that is captured between two concentric aluminum cylinders in such a way that no cadmium can be in contact with the outside world. These cylinders do not have a circular cross-section. Their cross-section is better described as "oval" or, even better, as "race-track". Cadmium SSRs rods are consumables. As SSRs perform their function as control rods, the cadmium slowly "burns up" (which means, during use, the cadmium isotope that performs the control function is slowly replaced by another cadmium isotope that cannot be used to control the reactor). This dynamic means that the shim safety rods need to be replaced in a timeline of, approximately, every 4 years. Some work, specifically, review and update of NIST's existing quality assurance plan, and formal procedures and assemblies that will ultimately be utilized in the fabrication of the shim safety rods, was completed by Merrick and Company under Task Order Number 68342 in 2008. Documents were provided as Government Furnished Information for update and revision by the Contractor. Subsequently, NIST awarded Task Order Number 69378 under Contract Number SB1341-07-CQ-0016 to Merrick and Company in 2009. Task Order Number 69378 resulted in the fabrication and delivery of all tooling and fixtures for a prototype of a shim safety rod and further updates to assembly drawings, procedures and protocols (referred to above as ADWI) based on theories established, but not tested, under task order number 68342. Work under this task order is follow-on work to task order numbers 68342 and 69378 to manufacture the first article set of four shim safety rods in accordance with the ADWI. The task order is being awarded on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(iii).