QandA.pdf

QUESTIONS

RFP #444510

17 January 2025

1. Exception to Section 3.1.B of Attachment C- Technical Specs

Original:

“Diameter mean value and variation shall be 1.00 +/- 0.01 mm, RMS ≤0.02 mm.”

Proposed:

“Diameter shall be 1.00 mm nominal +/- 0.02 mm acceptable range, RMS ≤0.02 mm.”

Comment:

Our manufacturing system accepts and rejects fiber based on diameter acceptable range (min-max) and not on diameter mean value, which was requested. To proceed with this specification without exception, Vendor would need to reengineer the manufacturing and measurement systems. Vendor is happy to discuss such an engineering project if the Requestor is interested.

We believe the modified specification meets the needs of the Requestor’s application, with no additional engineering required on the Requestor’s side.

Our manufacturing system meets the requirements we encounter across many customers and applications, including high energy physics.

Answer: BNL accepts the vendor’s modification.

2. Exception to Section 3.1.E of Attachment C- Technical Specs.

Original: “Batch to batch or lot to lot variation of attenuation length <10%.”

Proposed: “Batch to batch or lot to lot attenuation length variation of +/- 15%”

Comment: All attenuation length would be >4m per Technical Spec 3.1.C.

Question: Could you explain the need for this spec? Having context will enable Vendor to give the best result for the project. For example, is there a reason to not always produce the maximum attenuation length fibers as long as they exceed 4m attenuation length?

3. Exception to Section 3.1.G of Attachment C- Technical Specs.

Original: “Scintillation decay time <3ns”

17 January 2025 Proposed: “Scintillation decay time <=3.2ns”

Comment:

The fiber decay time is in-control based on manufacturing process control of additives. These control measures allow for a consistent decay time of 3.2ns for all Vendor Solutions BCF-92XL fibers.

4. Exception to Section 3.1.I of Attachment C- Technical Specs.

Original: “Delivery method in canes. Length of fibers 4.55 meters +/- 0.01m.”

Proposed: “Delivery method in canes. Length of fibers 4.54 meters +0.02/-0.00m.”

Comment:

Vendor’s cutoff machine is configured so that the cutoff length is 20mm greater than the specified length to allow you to perform additional cutting/polishing as desired. To proceed with this specification without exception, Vendor would need to reengineer the manufacturing system. Vendor is happy to discuss such an engineering project if the Requestor is interested.

5. Exception to Section 4.6.1 of Attachment B- Statement of Work.

“Final acceptance of the fibers shall take place following the successful completion of final testing at BNL.”

Proposed modification:

“Final acceptance of the fibers shall take place following the successful completion of final testing at BNL and/or ANL. This final testing shall be conducted per the test description stated in the Contractor’s Technical Proposal – Volume 1 Tab 3 or per a test procedure mutually agreed upon in writing between BSA and the Contractor prior to First Article Acceptance.”

17 January 2025 Comment:

We did not see the final testing defined within the Statement of Work nor in any documents associated with the Draft Contract.

6. Exception to Section 3.5.3 of Attachment B- Statement of Work.

“Factory acceptance testing for fibers performed by the Contractor will be documented and all results will be relayed to BSA. Site acceptance testing for fibers will be performed by UCLA upon delivery.”

Proposed modification:

“Factory acceptance testing for fibers performed by the Contractor will be documented and all results will be relayed to BSA upon delivery. Site acceptance testing for fibers will be performed by BNL and/or ANL upon delivery. Best-effort will be made to communicate any concern with site acceptance test results to the Contractor as soon as possible, for example within 20 days of delivery.”

Answer: BNL accepts the vendor’s modification, with modified last sentence: Any concerns with site acceptance test results will be communicated to the Contractor as soon as possible, within 90 days of delivery.

7. Is it true that Option 1 would potentially be exercised at or before the original award of contract?

a. The draft contract states Option 1 exercised by 5/27/25 and Option 2 exercised by 3/27/26.

b. We request at least 16 weeks lead time to allow adequate planning to continue production. Meaning, the deadline to exercise an Option would be at least 16 weeks before its shipments would start.

Answer: BNL is in agreement with Contractor (e.g. implementing 16 week lead time before shipment is expected to start). Dates options will be corrected prior to award.

17 January 2025

8. Regarding scoring of Technical Proposal – Tab 3 Design and Technical Capabilities. Are any of these (Tab 3A thru 3G) considered dealbreakers? Meaning, a proposal would be significantly disadvantaged or not seriously considered due to not meeting a given item in Tab 3?

Answer: BNL will evaluate every requirement separately, assigning a score, with no sharp cutof implied for items related to light yield and light attenuation (the more light yield and longer attenuation length the higher the score). However diameter tolerarance and delivery (in canes) requirements are more strict.

9. For work under this contract that would be accomplished outside of the US, generally what would change about the contract? Is the following saying that all work must be within the

US?

The draft contract reads: “Should a portion of the work covered under this Contract be accomplished outside the United States of America, the following articles shall be made inapplicable, insofar as they relate to work performed outside of the United States. All General Provisions of the Terms and Conditions are in full force and effect for any work performed within the United States.”

Answer: No, it is not saying all work must be within the United States. If work is completed outside of the United States then the Articles listed shall be made inapplicable.

10. Regarding Quality Assurance document paragraph 3.3 Could you tell us the detail of ‘Buyer requirements’? You show the example ‘part number, model number, etc., but what kind of item does ‘etc’ include?

Answer: E.g. technical specifications

11. Regarding Quality Assurance document paragraph 3.7 Is JIS(Japanese Industrial Standards) included in ‘some other recognized national or international standard’?

Answer: Yes, JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) is included in ‘some other recognized national or international standard’.

12. Regarding Quality Assurance document paragraph 3.20 Is fiber included in ‘chemicals’? We think the fiber is not including ‘chemicals’ because it is polymer.

Answer: BNL agrees this paragraph is not relevant to scintillating fibers

13. Regarding Quality Assurance document paragraph 4.18 Does ‘first article’ mean the 100pcs samples submitted with technical proposal and price proposal? And do we need to provide first article sample each shipment and get approval before these will be shipped?

Answer: “First article” relates the 100 sample fibers submitted with technical proposal.

14. Regarding Attachment C. Technical/Performance Characteristics in item 3.1. The spec of Attenuation Length is listed as ‘Attenuation length for blue light > 4m.’ Could you tell us equipment configuration and measurement methods and procedure? We recognize that the numerical value of the attenuation length varies greatly depending on the measurement conditions such as the characteristics of the detector. If it is difficult to match equipment settings, methods and procedure, we would like to discuss specifications while checking correlation of mesurement value between Vendor and BNL.

Answer: BNL used a 373 nm UV LED and a Hamamatsu calibrated S2281 photodiode.

The LED was scanned perpendicularly to the fiber. That’s the way it was done for GlueX fiber-based calorimeter (at Jefferson Lab) with details described in the journal paper Nucl. Instr. Meth. A715 p.48-55 (2013).

15. Should Tab (3B) be revised to reflect Tech Spec 3.1.A?

Tab (3B) Light yield shall exceed 8000 photons/MeV (assessed via methods mutually acceptable to the BSA and subcontractor)

Tech Spec 3.1.A:

Light yield: the average response to a Sr-90 source shall be greater than 3.5 photoelectrons measured using a bialkali photomultiplier tube (e.g. Hamamatsu R329-02 or similar) 200 cm from the source, and the opposite end blackened (or assessed via other methods mutually acceptable to the BSA and Contractor).

Answer: Yes.

16. Regarding SOW 3.8 Packaging. Our recommendation is that a G-force shock indicator is not needed, as there’s very low risk that the plastic fibers would be damaged by shock in transit. They’ll be packaged in shipping foam in a roughly 400-pound, 15 foot long wooden shipping crate. Is the shock watch necessary in this scenario?

Answer: BNL agrees, it is not necessary.