Sources Sought for Examining Dose Assessment, Atmospheric Dispersion & Environmental Transport, and Emergency Response & Protective Actions

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Sources Sought for Examining Dose Assessment, Atmospheric Dispersion & Environmental Transport, and Emergency Response & Protective Actions

THE U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) is issuing this Sources Sought Synopsis as a means of conducting market research or as a market survey to determine the availability of potential qualified vendors with the technical capability to provide all management, supervision, administration, and labor for the Radiation Protection Computer Code Analysis and Maintenance Program (RAMP).

BACKGROUND

The purpose of the Radiation Protection Computer Code Analysis and Maintenance Program (RAMP) is to develop, maintain, improve, distribute, and provide training on NRC-sponsored radiation protection and dose assessment computer codes. RAMP includes user groups of domestic and international code users that share costs, analysis, and experiences to facilitate maintenance and usage of high quality radiation protection codes. The NRC allows distribution of its Radiation Protection Codes to domestic organizations (utilities, vendors, academic institutions, commercial enterprises) and international organizations located in countries that participate in the RAMP programs.

The goals of RAMP include the following:

• To ensure codes are appropriately updated.


• To ensure codes reflect computer programming language updates.


• Updates are in accord with International Regulations and Guidance Documents.


• Codes are updated based on lessons learned from events such as Fukushima.


• Centralized management structure for reporting, prioritizing and resolving code issues.

SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES

The NRC is seeking a vendor capable of performing research on Dose Assessment, Atmospheric Dispersion & Environmental Transport, and Emergency Response & Protective Actions. Tasks performed will be in support of software development and maintenance. This includes, but is not limited to, GUI development, maintenance, and modernization, as well as computer model development in the following areas:

(1) radiation and dose assessment for computer codes (such as VARSKIN and IMBA)

(2) atmospheric dispersion for computer codes (such as ARCON and PAVAN)

(3) environmental transport computer codes (such as NRCDose3)

(4) emergency response & protective actions computer codes (such as RASCAL)

REQUIRED CAPABILITIES

The organization/vendor must have the following capabilities:

1. Capability to perform graphical user interface development tasks, such as modernizing existing user interfaces, creating new user interfaces to call Fortran (or other compiled) libraries, and adding features and proper error handling to existing interfaces.


2. Capability to develop assessment and documentation (i.e. V&V) of the codes against new or existing experimental data.


3. Capability to conduct software quality assurance activities, including but not limited to configuration management, code verification, testing, and version control.


4. Capability to conduct software development activities in a system-level language such as Fortran, C, or C++.

The organization/vendor must have capabilities in at least one of the following areas:

1. Dose Assessment
   
   
   
   1. Capability to provide dosimetry analysis work to support licensing, inspection, and emerging needs including but not limited to licensing and inspection under 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 35 and 20 and associated regulatory guidance documents.
   
   
   2. Capability to provide internal and external dosimetry analysis support for NRC and Agreement State licensing and inspection actions and for regulatory guide support.
   
   
   3. Capability to support patient release work including but not limited to technical support for Regulatory Guide 8.39; providing updated equations for dose calculations; updating the dose and activity tables for releases; providing new data on emerging radioactive material for medical therapy; and to aid in making the guidance simpler and more explicit.
   
   
   4. Experience with medical use of radiopharmaceuticals, including conducting dosimetry evaluations for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
   
   
   
   


2. Atmospheric Dispersion & Environmental Transfer
   
   
   
   1. Experience with analyzing large datasets for observed and model-simulated weather and climate variables.
   
   
   2. Experience in numerical modeling meteorological phenomena.
   
   
   3. Capability to provide technical assistance with the following tasks:
      
      
      
      1. Calculate the transport and dilution of radioactive materials in the form of aerosols, vapors, or gases released into the atmosphere from a nuclear power station
      
      
      2. Developing and evaluation atmospheric transport and diffusion models, considering models such as particle-in-cell, plume element, and constant mean wind direction; elevated and ground releases; and removal mechanisms such as radioactive decay and wet and dry deposition.
      
      
      3. Calculating atmospheric relative concentration (X/Q) values, determining X/Q values on a directional basis, determining X/Q values on an overall site basis, and choosing X/Q values to be used in evaluations of the types of events.
      
      
      4. Calculating a fumigation X/Q for inland and coastal sites.
      
      
      5. Familiarity with the basic meteorological data needed to determine the environmental impacts of the plant, perform consequence assessments supporting routine release and design-basis accident evaluations, and support emergency preparedness programs and other applications at power reactor sites.
      
      
      6. Determine atmospheric relative concentration (X/Q) values in support of design basis control room radiological habitability assessments at nuclear power plants.
      
      
      7. Estimate radiation exposure for maximum individuals and the population within 50 miles including but not limited to doses from liquid effluent pathways, gamma and beta doses from noble gases discharged to the atmosphere, and doses from radioiodines and other radionuclides released to the atmosphere.
      
      
      
      
   
   
   
   


3. Emergency Response & Protective Actions
   
   
   
   1. Capability to provide technical assistance and recommendations associated with emergency response model development, including nuclear power plant severe accident simulations, atmospheric dispersion, and off-site dose calculations.
   
   
   2. Possess in-depth knowledge of nuclear power plant systems including reactor and containment systems for LWRs.
   
   
   3. Possess expertise in Health Physics, Protective Action Guidance (PAGs), and dosimetry in emergency scenarios.
   
   
   4. Familiar with atmospheric transport and dispersion.
   
   
   
   

Services will be provided remotely to the NRC located in Rockville, Maryland. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to this procurement is 541690.

THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This request for sources and vendor information does not constitute a request for proposal; submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred.

The purpose of this announcement is to provide potential sources the opportunity to submit information regarding their capabilities to perform work for the NRC free of conflict of interest (COI). For information on NRC COI regulations, visit NRC Acquisition Regulation Subpart 2009.5 (http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/contracting/48cfr-ch20.html).

All interested parties, including all categories of small businesses (small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, 8(a) firms, women-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and HUBZone small businesses) are invited to submit a response. The capabilities package submitted by a vendor should demonstrate the firm's ability, capability, and responsibility to perform the principal components of work listed below. The package should also include past performance/experience regarding projects of similar scope listing the project title, general description, the dollar value of the contract, and name of the company, agency, or government entity for which the work was performed.

Organizations responding to this market survey should keep in mind that only focused and pertinent information is requested. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements. Submission of additional materials such as glossy brochures or videos is discouraged.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

If your organization has the capability and capacity to perform, as a prime contractor, one or more of the services described in this notice, then please respond to this notice and provide written responses to the following information. Please do not include any proprietary or otherwise sensitive information in the response, and do not submit a proposal. Proposals submitted in response to this notice will not be considered.

1. Organization name, address, emails address, Web site address and telephone number.

1. What size is your organization with respect to NAICS code identified in this notice (i.e., "small" or "other than small")? If your organization is a small business under the aforementioned NAICS code, what type of small business (i.e., small disadvantaged business, woman-owned small business, economically disadvantaged woman-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, 8(a), or HUBZone small business)? Specify all that apply.

1. Separately and distinctly describe your organization’s ability to meet the capabilities indicated in the above section, required capabilities.

1. Indicate whether your organization offers any of the required capabilities described in this notice on one or more of your company's own Federal Government contracts (i.e., GSA Federal Supply Schedule contract or Government wide Acquisition Contracts) that the NRC could order from and, if so, which services are offered. Also, provide the contract number(s) and indicate what is currently available for ordering from each of those contract(s).

1. Is your organization currently performing or have in the past performed same or similar services as those listed above for any of the licensees regulated by the NRC? If so, which licensees? See http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/licensing.html for more information on NRC licensing.

1. Has your organization previously faced organizational conflict of interest issues with NRC? If so, what were they and how were they mitigated or resolved?

Interested organizations responding to this Sources Sought Synopsis are encouraged to structure capability statements in the order of the area of consideration noted above. All capability statements sent in response to this notice must be submitted electronically, via e-mail, Jeffrey Mitchell, at Jeffrey.Mitchell@nrc.gov , either MS Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), by January 9, 2025, close of business

DISCLAIMER AND NOTES: 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 potential capability and capacity to perform the subject work. 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. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in sam.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

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