THOR Request for Information (RFI)

NOTE : On April 18, 2023, the RFI is updated to inform industry that solicitation 70RWMD23R00000004 was posted at SAM.gov. NOTE: On March 31, 2023, the RFI has been updated to Include the Industry Day 7 through 9 Questuons and Answers pdf and the TIBr Industry Day 2023 Combined Presentation. NOTE: On January 24. 2023. the RFI has been updated to include the QuestionsAnswers and Clarifications pdf document and the Foreign Nationals Document. NOTE: On January 19, 2023, the RFI has been updated to contain information for the Industry Day Events prospectively held on February 7, 8, and 9, 2023. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP or Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). This RFI does not commit the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) to contract for any supply or service. DHS CWMD is not seeking proposals at this time. Responders are advised that the CWMD will not pay any cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP or BAA. In order to receive an award from any resultant solicitation, should one be issued, the successful offeror must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). The SAM website is https://sam.gov. It is the responsibility of the potential responders to monitor the website for any information that may pertain to this RFI. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. All submissions become the property of the CWMD and will not be returned. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the government to form a binding contract. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's capabilities. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Proprietary, confidential, privileged commercial or financial information submitted in the RFI response should be marked accordingly to ensure appropriate handling and disposition by the Government. No classified information shall be submitted in the RFI response. Do not use Government security classification markings. Do not mark the entire response as proprietary. Small Business Set-Aside No decision has yet been made regarding the small business strategy for a possible acquisition. All businesses Small, Medium, and Large, irrespective of minority status, are encouraged to attend the Industry Day if you have relevant experience. INTRODUCTION The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office's (CWMD) mission is to enable operational partners to prevent weapons of mass destruction use against the Homeland and promote readiness for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. CWMD continually assesses, develops, and procures radiation detection equipment for deployment by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies to enhance the Nation's ability to detect and prevent terrorists and other threat actors use of radiological and nuclear (rad/nuc) materials. DHS has led research and development (R&D) efforts to develop Thallium Bromide (TlBr) gamma detection capability as a viable technology for over 15 years, first through the work of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office followed by that of CWMD. Recent findings demonstrate the viability of incorporating TlBr as a method to achieve CWMD's goal of significantly improving the technical performance of current rad/nuc detectors while significantly lowering costs. CWMD will host an all-day Industry Engagement Day on-line using Microsoft TEAMS on February 7, 2023, to share the current state of the TlBr technology research and the CWMD vision for future TlBr detection equipment. Also, on February 8 and 9, 2023, CWMD will offer follow-up one-on-one session opportunities to start gathering feedback as to how to meet the CWMD technology transfer goals described below. CWMD foresees a need for Radiological Isotope Identification Devices (RIIDs) in support of Government users. CWMD is interested in collaborating with industry in this CWMD effort to demonstrate viability of TlBr technology as a suitable gamma detector for next-generation RIIDs. RIIDs are handheld devices used in primary and secondary security screening procedures to find rad/nuc material in a small area. Examples of small area environments include cars, trucks, small vessels, train engines, and small or medium sized aircraft. Secondary screening is a purposeful search to localize, identify, and classify rad/nuc materials detected during a primary screening. Next generation RIIDs must increase the probability of detecting and identifying radiation sources while being relatively light-weight, compact, easy to use, rugged, mobile, and of sufficiently low-cost to support widespread deployment. PURPOSE OF RFI This RFI announces CWMD's upcoming TlBr RIID Industry Engagement Day and seeks information about interested parties wishing to attend. Interested parties are being asked to submit information regarding their experience in developing radiation detectors, previous products, and interest in participation for future TlBr-based RIID prototype development in order to register for the event. The TlBr RIID Industry Engagement Day is aimed at sharing the current state of the TlBr technology research and the CWMD vision for future TlBr detection equipment with the interested potential industry partners. CWMD is also anticipating collecting feedback utilized to support market research and obtain information about the interest and capability of industry to collaborate with CWMD on the development of TlBr-based RIID prototypes. The NAICS code is 334519 - Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing. This is not a Solicitation. ATTENDANCE INSTRUCTIONS For all interested parties wishing to attend the TlBr RIID Industry Engagement Day event, please submit completed Industry Event Registration Form by emailing it to CWMDIndustryEvents@hq.dhs.gov and CWMDSecurity@hq.dhs.gov by January 31, 2023. The subject line of the email should contain the RFI number (70RWMD22RFI00000014). Proprietary information should not be included in this RFI response. Please be advised that all submissions become government property and will not be returned. CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS Foreign Nationals planning to attend the TlBr Industry Day are required to submit their Incoming Foreign National Visit Form prior to the event to allow CWMD to process security requirements. Please send names, contact information, and filled out Incoming Foreign National Visit Form to CWMDSecurity@hq.dhs.gov no later than January 31, 2023. QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS Vendors may submit questions or comments regarding this RFI in writing by e-mail to the points of contact indicated below. Any questions or comments are to be submitted via e-mail to Evelyn Dean, Contracting Officer, at evelyn.dean@hq.dhs.gov and Samantha Leap, Contract Specialist, at samantha.leap@hq.dhs.gov no later than 5:00pm (Eastern) on January 31, 2023. Questions/comments will not be accepted via telephone. The subject line of the email should contain the RFI number (70RWMD22RFI00000014). Proprietary information should not be included in emails containing questions or comments on this RFI. Please be advised that all emailed questions or comments become government property. (END to RFI Update on January 19, 2023) NOTE: On October 6, 2022 the RFI was extended to close on October 7, 2022 at 5 pm NOTE: As of September 30, 2022, the data call link has been updated to include the optional Question 1, which requests company name and POC. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP or Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). This RFI does not commit the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) to contract for any supply or service. DHS CWMD is not at this time seeking proposals. Responders are advised that the CWMD will not pay any cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP or BAA. In order to receive an award from any resultant solicitation, should one be issued, the successful offeror must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). The SAM website is https://sam.gov. It is the responsibility of the potential responders to monitor the website for any information that may pertain to this RFI. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. All submissions become the property of the CWMD and will not be returned. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the government to form a binding contract. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organizations capabilities. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Proprietary, confidential, privileged commercial or financial information submitted in the RFI response should be marked accordingly to ensure appropriate handling and disposition by the Government. No classified information shall be submitted in the RFI response. Do not use Government security classification markings. Do not mark the entire response as proprietary. CWMD THOR team is requesting industry's assistance in providing an updated itemized rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimate for the effort. The Thallium Bromide Human Portable Radiation Detection Systems Objective Resolution (THOR) team continues its efforts toward establishing the program aiming at the development of Radioisotope Identification Device (RIID) prototypes utilizing Thallium Bromide (TlBr)-based detectors. In preparation for that, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) intends to conduct a follow-on THOR Industry Day during which an updated status of the Thallium Bromide (TIBr) research will be presented including a TlBr detector demonstration. Tentatively, the Industry Day is planned to occur at the beginning of the 2023. The Industry Day is intended to also gather feedback on the proposed THOR strategy, which would allow for making any necessary adjustments prior to releasing a formal THOR prototype integration later that year. At this point it is anticipated that the THOR strategy as well as the THOR prototype technical requirements will be similar to those announced in the previous SAM.gov posting titled "THOR pre-solicitation" (Notice ID: RWRD-21-0026 accessible at: https://sam.gov/opp/898093f93d9a4604886735135ae1d5cd/view) and discussed during the October 2021 THOR Industry Day. In general, the effort would consist of development of 2-3 TlBr-based RIID prototypes per vendor to be delivered to CWMD for performance testing and operational assessment at the conclusion of about a 12-month effort. It is assumed that the THOR RIID integrators will supply any necessary technology needed for building the prototypes. This includes the TlBr detectors, which can be acquired through vendor-to-vendor agreements with the current participants of the CWMD TlBr R&D projects. It is also anticipated that the integrators will budget for conducting their own detection performance testing prior to submitting the RIID prototypes to CWMD. To support our program planning activities, the THOR team is requesting your assistance in determining the itemized rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimate for the effort. Any updated input regarding the cost and proposed contract structure would be extremely valuable. Please fill out survey here (https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=bOfNPG2UEkq7evydCEI1ShO7KMd5SLFPkCrUOdzFQbVUQ0lNU002NkUzS0RHRVkzSFIyQ0tVOTUxWC4u) to provide any responses by 5 October 2022. If there are any questions please contact the CWMD Industry Events team at cwmdindustryevents@hq.dhs.gov.