QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR SOLICATION Final List - R0.docx

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR SOLICATION # 36C24125Q0030 AMENDMENT 0001

1) We would like to know if this is a brand-new contract OR if there is (was) an incumbent performing these services. If not brand new, could you please provide the current / previous contract number? This is a brand-new contract. There is no previous contract. We have used Bionomics, Inc periodically in the past on Government Purchase Card.

2) Previous Incumbent: Could you please inform us who the previous contract holder was for this service? This information will help us gauge the benchmark standards and the expectations from the service provider. In the past, the contractor that has performed the radioactive waste disposal services has been Bionomics, Inc.

3) Could you please provide us with the Purchase Order number. There is no previous contract, only Government Purchase Card transactions, such as:

Disposal of C-14 cancer study materials (11/30/2022) Disposal of 66 old sources and 150 Vial standards from JP (9/22/2023) Disposal of 5 radioactive sources from WX (9/22/2023)

4) Contract Value: We would also appreciate it if you could share the contract value of the previous period. This will assist us in ensuring that our proposal is competitively and appropriately priced. There is no previous contract, only Government Purchase Card transactions. This is not a routine need; the last disposal of Radioactive Material (RAM) was in 2023. We cannot discuss pricing during an active solicitation.

5) Are there any security clearances or access restrictions the contractor needs to be aware of? Will the contractor need to check in/out with facility management? The vendor does have to come onsite to complete the packaging of the radioactive material, however they will be escorted at all times, so no security clearance is necessary.

6) Are there available funds for this opportunity? Yes, Government funds are available.

7) Are there any post-award submittals that we should be aware of? If so, could you please provide the relevant information? There are no post-award submittals.

8) Can we have a site visit for a walkthrough of the facility? Yes, we can schedule a walk through. There are two primary storage locations for radioactive material in JP and WX. Let me know when you went to visit, though there isn’t much to see. Contact Tara Dossiema via email at Tara.Dossiema@va.gov or phone 603-624-4366 x5129.

9) Maximum Budget: Could you please specify if there is a maximum budget allocated for this contract? Understanding the budget constraints will help us tailor our proposal to meet both the project's needs and financial guidelines. We cannot discuss funding and BPA ceiling limits during an active solicitation, this contract will be utilized with a few task orders per year.

10) Site Visit: How do we schedule a pre-bid site visit? Contact me and I can arrange this site visit. There isn’t much to see though, just one facility in Jamaica Plain and one or two rooms in West Roxbury. Contact Tara Dossiema via email at Tara.Dossiema@va.gov or phone 603-624-4366 x5129.

11) Was there any issue with the previous company that you would like to see improved on?

There was no previous contract, only Government Purchase Card transactions.

12) To better prepare our proposal, could you kindly provide the following details:

· An inventory of the radioactive waste requiring removal.

We have no inventory at this time of the waste that is requiring removal.

· Safety Data Sheets (SDS) related to the materials in question.

Attached is the SDS for Lu-177 Pluvicto.

· If available, any photos that may assist in gaining a better understanding of the scope of work and the conditions on-site.

The only photos would be the waste storage rooms that we would use to make the pickup as clean as possible.

13) What is the size/measurement of the (1) Plastic Pale that you are requesting service for? The Solicitation states that" The quantity of waste would normally be limited to less than two (2) Plastic 55-gallon drums per pickup, and one (1) plastic pale, but may be more depending on frequency of medical procedures and unusual circumstances that may occur (e.g. spill cleanup)." Please provide an estimate of the "unusual circumstances" that may arise. Whether it's based off of historical data, or anticipation.

The pale would be a 5-gallon pale with a locking lid. In the unlikely circumstance where there was a significant spill and spread of contamination, there are two to three 55-gallon drums that would contain all the waste that we would need to have removed.

14) Also, is there an incumbent? If so, please provide the total contract value and length. Is the scope of work the same as the previous contract? We have never had a contract for the disposal of this kind of material. We would use issue 2-3 task orders per year, for decay-in-storage the Lu-177 waste for 10 to 20 half-lives, then find out is there are long-lived impurities that would preclude further decay-in-storage. We would then utilize this BPA to dispose of the remaining material.

15) Could you please clarify the form of the Lu-177 and Y-90 material to be disposed of? Are they in the form of sealed sources, or liquid/solid waste? Considering the short half-lives of these isotopes, is it correct to assume that the activity level during pick-up would be relatively low, in the micro- or nano-curie range? We are starting to perform a protocol that uses the Lu-177 in a slurry form (liquid with small granules). The waste generated would mostly be dry active waste generated from the procedure rooms, and possibly unused doses when procedures are canceled. Again, we would decay-in-storage all the material and survey thoroughly to ensure that there are no long-lived impurities. If there were long-lived impurities, then they would probably be microcurie / nanocurie ranges of activities.

16) Can you provide an estimate of the number of 30-gallon and 55-gallon containers we might typically need to exchange during each waste pick-up? We estimate that a single 30-gallon drum would be able to collect the Lu-177 waste.