Combined Synopsis Solicitation.docx

12.603, Streamlined Solicitation for Commercial Products or Commercial Services Combined Synopsis/Solicitation Request for Quote Number 1333ND23QNB610501

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial products or commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation is being issued under the authority of FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This solicitation is a Request for Quotations (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2023-04 published 06/02/23 and effective 06/02/23.

1352.215-72 INQUIRIES (APR 2010)

Offerors must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing to ranae.armstrong@nist.gov, no later than three (3) working days prior to the response deadline for the Government to respond prior to the post closing. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract.

(End of Provision)

EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BASIS FOR AWARD

The Government intends to award a single purchase order from this RFQ to the responsible offeror whose quotation, conforming to the solicitation, is the lowest price, technically acceptable quotation. The Government reserves the right not to award a purchase order.

Technically acceptable means that the offeror provides the equipment/services as specified in the Statement of Work (attached to the SF1449). No prototypes or demonstration models will be considered. Evaluation of technical capability shall be based on the information provided in the quotation. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will evaluate whether the offeror has demonstrated that its proposed equipment/supplies meet all minimum requirements. If an offeror does not demonstrate how the equipment/services meet the required technical specifications NIST will determine the offer is not technically acceptable.

The proposed pricing will be evaluated to determine that the total price is consistent with the technical portion of the quotation and is a fair and reasonable overall price to the Government.

NIST intends to evaluate quotations and issue a purchase order based on the initial quotes received. Therefore, the offerors initial quote should contain the offerors best terms from a price and technical standpoint. NIST reserves the right to request revised quotes from, or negotiate final contract terms with, one or more, but not all, Contractors if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary.

The Offeror must be an “active” registrant in the System for Award Management at the time the solicitation closes to be considered for award. The submitted quotation must include the vendor’s unique entity identifier number, SAM expiration date and Cage Code.

REQUIRED SUBMISSIONS

All Offerors shall submit the following:

1. For the purpose of evaluation of technical acceptability, the offeror must submit documentation that demonstrates the offered equipment/services meet the technical specifications and requirements as detailed in the Statement of Work.

2. Offeror shall provide a firm fixed-price offer for the following line items.

Line Item 0001:

Description: Flexible Borated Rubber sheet/roll Quantity: 1,100 sq feet (100 sq meters) Price: $

3. A completed version of all required solicitation provisions (see attached provisions/clauses document – required submissions highlighted in blue). THE BUY AMERICAN ACT PORTION OF THE RFQ MUST BE COMPLETED AND RETURNED WITH THE QUOTATION.

4. Any award resulting from this solicitation will contain the following statement: “The Government’s terms and conditions, identified herein, shall be the prevailing terms and conditions governing this award. In the event of a conflict between the Government’s and contractor’s terms and conditions, the Government’s terms and conditions take precedence.” If the Contractor objects to any of the terms and conditions contained in this solicitation, the contractor shall state “The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:” [Contractor shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s)]. It is the sole responsibility of the Contractor to identify in their quote any exceptions to the terms and conditions of the solicitation. If the contractor does not include such a statement, the submission of a quotation in response to this solicitation will be regarded as the Contractor’s acceptance of the Government’s terms and conditions for inclusion into the resultant purchase order as prevailing.

5. Offeror shall provide an active UEI # for the System for Award Management (SAM) registration.

Please note that this procurement IS NOT being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC). If a contractor submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price. However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant Purchase Order, not the terms and conditions of the contractor’s FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation.

DUE DATE FOR QUOTATIONS

All quotations must be submitted via e-mail to Ranae Armstrong, Contract Specialist at RANAE.ARMSTRONG@NIST.GOV. Submission must be received not later than August 11, 2023, 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. A quotation shall be considered received when it is received in the electronic inbox of Ranae Armstrong not later than the date and time identified herein.

PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES:

The clauses and provisions applicable to this solicitation can be found on the attached Applicable Clauses & Provisions. The full text of a FAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at https://farsite.hill.af.mil or www.acquisition.gov/far. The full text of a CAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at https://farsite.hill.af.mil or http://www.osec.doc.gov/oam/acquistion_management/policy/.

STATEMENT OF WORK/REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT

Title: Borated Rubber Purchase Request Requesting Lab: National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), Center for Neutron Research (NCNR)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The NCNR designs, builds, and maintains a suit of cold and thermal neutron scattering instrumentation used in the conduct of material structure research. A large portion of the design effort centers on the placement of neutron and gamma ray shielding such that unwanted radiation doesn’t interfere with personal safety, degrade the quality of data gathered, or cause damage to equipment and instrumentation. A typical shielding arrangement is a matrix of various materials, chosen for the way that the various forms of incident radiation react upon contact or penetration. The NCNR has had success using a flexible polymer matrix containing boron that has been enriched to give a high percentage of the 10B isotope. The flexible polymer matrix provides an excellent method for placing 10B where it is needed without causing secondary radiation problems and provides a uniform dispersion of the 10B atoms. Additionally, the material can be cut to size easily with shears.

Purpose/Objective: The purpose of this acquisition is to acquire Borated Rubber is a given thickness, size, and flexibility to carry our design and build efforts for the next phases of development.

SCOPE

The contractor shall deliver a quantity of 1,100 sq feet (100 sq meters) thick borated rubber sheet that falls within 0.080” to .125” (2.0 – 3.12mm) thickness, capable of bending to a .5”(12.7mm) radius without breaking, FOB Destination Delivery terms and a minimum 12-month warranty.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide a system that meets all technical specifications identified below. All items must be new. Used or remanufactured material. All line items shall be shipped in the original manufacturer’s packaging and include all original documentation and software, when applicable. The Offeror must submit a firm fixed-price quotation for all line items.

Line Item 0001:

Description: Flexible Borated Rubber sheet/roll Quantity: 1,100 sq feet (100 sq meters) A. Technical Specifications

a. Thermal neutron capture mean free path in the 10B is significantly smaller than the capture mean free path in the hydrogen (by at least a factor 50, i.e., a(10B)/ a(H) ≳ 50).

b. The single sheet attenuation factor for a 25.3 meV (2200 ms-1) “thermal” neutron beam incident perpendicular to the plane of the sheet should be no less than 20.

c. The shielding shall maintain its structural integrity for an absorbed gamma dose of at least 1×108 rads and a neutron fluence in excess of 2×1017 neutrons cm-2.

d. Thickness that does not exceed 0.080” to .125” (2.0 – 3.12mm) thickness

e. Capable of being bent onto a radius of 0.5” (12.7 mm) or less without cracking, even at the end of its radiation exposure lifetime.

f. The sheets do not have to be machinable but shall be readily and cleanly cut with shears.

g. Sheet dimension shall not be less than 1 foot (≈ 30.5 cm) but no greater than 4 feet (≈120 cm). The long sheet dimension could be indeterminate (for example a practically sized roll is desirable in that it would allow sheets to be cut to customized lengths for each application) – but there is a minimum of 2 feet (≈ 61 cm),

h. Material shall be non-flammable or self-extinguishing.

DELIVERABLES

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE/LEAD TIME

180 days or less ARO

DELIVERY TERMS

Delivery shall be FOB Destination and shall occur no later than (NLT) eighty-four (84) days after receipt of offer (ARO).

FOB Destination means: The contractor shall pack and mark the shipment in conformance with carrier requirements, deliver the shipment in good order and condition to the point of delivery specified in the purchase order, be responsible for any loss of and/or damage to the goods occurring before receipt and acceptance of the shipment by the consignee at the delivery point specified in the purchase order; and pay all charges to the specified point of delivery. The contractor shall deliver all Line Items to:

National Institute of Standards and Technology Shipping and Receiving 100 Bureau Drive Building 301 MS1640 C/O TBA Building 235 Gaithersburg, MD 20899

INSPECTION & ACCEPTANCE

In addition to the inspection and acceptance terms articulated in 52.212-4, the Government reserves the right to perform such performance tests and evaluations as defined below to verify specified system performance. Such tests and evaluations, if performed, shall be conducted within the environment that the system is to be operated. The Contractor has the right to be present during the tests and evaluations, if performed, at the Contractor’s expense.

Performance Tests:

1. The Government shall perform a test cut of the material, a radial bend test, and if desired a radiological test of the material.

NIST may choose at its discretion to forego this part of acceptance testing.

A visual inspection of the equipment will be performed by the NIST COR to identify surface defects or any form of indication that any material was damaged during transport to NIST. The Government shall have sole discretion to require replacement of damaged and/or nonconforming materials at no cost to the Government. The Government at any time prior to acceptance shall reject the material due to defects and/or nonconformance. The vendor is responsible for latent defects discovered any time after final inspection. However, the extent of its liability shall be prorated over the useful life of the equipment.

Ownership of the material shall transfer to NIST upon acceptance by the Government.

The Government will test, inspect, and accept or reject the material within thirty (30) working days of the receipt of the material unless otherwise indicated above. The extended testing and acceptance period is to allow NIST the opportunity to test a piece of the sheet in the Neutron Beam. The Government reserves the right to conduct quality assurance testing to confirm that a given material(s) meets the manufacturer’s and/or the Government’s performance specifications. It is anticipated that the material will meet all manufacturer’s specifications and/or the Government’s performance specifications identified.

WARRANTY

The contractor shall warranty the material for a period of a minimum of 1 year after receipt of the material and shall be in accordance with terms in FAR 52.212-4. Warranty shall commence upon acceptance of the product by the Government.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Advance payment is not authorized. The Contractor must invoice in arrears according to the payment schedule. The Contractor shall be paid, in accordance with Net 30-day payment terms, upon receipt and acceptance of a proper invoice, in accordance with the following schedule:

1. 100% after installation and/or acceptance by the COR AND

1. After the successful completion of the testing requirements set forth in this document AND

1. After successful demonstration by the instrumentation that it performs IAW the technical requirements set forth in this document AND

1. After receiving an invoice submitted properly, IAW the purchase order terms and conditions.

NOTE: Partial shipments and partial invoices will not be accepted, unless otherwise requested and accepted by the Contracting Officer prior to award offer. Proposed payment schedules shall be submitted with vendor’s response to the RFQ for consideration.