Amendment I- Clarification Questions with Responses.pdf

AMENDMENT 1 to Notice ID # 1333ND20QNB640444

Clarification Questions and Responses for High-Purity Iron and Ultrahigh-Purity Iron for

Reference Material Development

1. Question: For the high-purity iron chemical composition, is it acceptable for some elements to be out of the target range?

Answer: NIST requires a composition that meet the ranges in Table 1 of the requirements in Section

2a on page 3.

2. Question: Does the high-purity iron need to be vacuum melted if it still meets the necessary chemical composition and homogeneity requirements?

Answer: The requirements do not call specifically for vacuum melting. They require the fabrication of solid rods from material that was at one time melted into a single batch as part of the manufacturing process. See Task No. 1b on page 3.

3. Question: The high-purity iron we supply is not produced from re-melted high purity iron input stock

(it is instead produced through different melting and purification processes). Will post-production chemical composition testing be acceptable in this case?

Answer: Task No. 1a in the table on page 2 calls for selection or creation of an iron within the required compositions in Table 1. If by “post-production” the inquirer means at that point and prior to fabrication of rods, an analysis at that point would meet the requirement.

4. Question: For the Ultra-High Purity Iron chemical composition, is it acceptable for some elements to be out of range?

Answer: NIST requires the composition to meet all ranges listed in Table 2 of the requirements on page 4 in the Special Material Requirements.

5. Question: Would it be acceptable for more than one heat to be generated by Vacuum Induction Melting and then subsequently put through an additional melting process to generate a single heat of larger size?

Answer: Yes, the requirements are that the single heat meet the composition requirements just prior to fabrication of the rods.

6. Question: Can you accept a larger quantity of the Ultra-High Purity Iron than the noted 225 kg?

Answer: The NIST requirement is for 225 kg of material, not more. The final paragraph of Part 3 of the Special Material Requirements on page 5 discusses, among other things, consideration of acceptance of a partial batch.

7. Question: Will a contract be awarded prior to required chemical composition and homogeneity testing conducted by NIST?

Answer: Yes, a contract will be awarded prior to production and any testing to be performed by either the contractor or NIST.