Amendment No. 2 Question and Answers for Solicitation NRC-38-10-704.pdf

SOLICITATION: NRC-38-10-704

AMENDMENT NO. 2

Question and Answers Solicitation NRC-38-10-704

- The Solicitation is revised to reflect the changes shown below.

Question No. 1) Have objectives already been established or has a Job Task Analysis (JTA) of intended training audience been performed?

NRC Response: Yes, the program will be modeled after a currently administered program of a different BWR design that resulted from the equivalent of a Job Task Analysis. The course audience is NRC inspectors and examiners.

Question No. 2) Are Job Familiarization Guides (JFGs) or other qualification mechanisms for intended training audience to be developed?

NRC Response: There will be no dynamic training developed from this contract.

Classroom training only.

Question No. 3) What does “Alternate 2” on page L-1 refer to; is there an Alternate 1? It appears that bidders have the option of filling out the applicable sections of document RFP-NRC-38-10-704_Final.doc.rtf or submitting a separate stand alone proposal document.

NRC Response: I believe your questions relates to Section L.8, “2052.215-75 Proposal Presentation and Format-Alternate 2 (OCT 1999)”. There is no Alternate 1. Proposals shall address the evaluation factors listed in paragraph (e), under Section L.8.

Question No. 4) Are the NRC’s labor estimates on page L-6 individual or cumulative, i.e, 1920 hours for each training program specialist or in total from all three? We do not know the status of current material or the format and content requirements for deliverables.

NRC Response: 1920 hours is the sum for all 3 BWR SRO Certified Instructors. The estimate is based upon a staff of 5 working 640 hours to produce the deliverables.

Question No. 5) Is a copy of “Operation Procedure 0408; HRTD Training Course Manual Style Guide” available for reference during proposal preparation?

NRC Response: Yes, a copy of HRTD OP-0408 is attached.

Question No. 6) We do not fully understand the 2 months for security. Does it mean the instructors cannot work while the two month security process is underway? If so, that could be problematic whether the named individuals would still be available after not getting paid for that duration.

NRC Response: Vendor’s will be permitted to work in the NRC Technical Training Center upon contract award, however will be escorted by the visitor badging policy, until final security clearance is granted.

Question No. 7) Are there testing material deliverables?

NRC Response: No.

Question No. 8) Section C, Key Personnel indicates that the training program specialist(s), at a minimum, shall be certified and experienced as Senior Reactor Operator Instructors for Boiling Water Reactors (BWR). Section L.8.2), Personnel Qualifications Experience & Availability, states “As a minimum, all proposed training program specialists shall be Certified SRO Instructors,” omitting the BWR specific requirement.

Can personnel whose backgrounds include BWR SRO license/certification and operating experience, and/or BWR NRC License Examiner Certification and experience, and/or NRC Generic Fundamentals Examination subject matter expertise; coupled with qualification and experience as instructors in the Navy nuclear propulsion program and/or Department of Energy nuclear facilities, be considered as meeting the minimum requirements necessary to function as acceptable training program specialists?

NRC Response: The key personnel MUST have BWR specific experience as well as SRO instructor certification. We will consider the BWR certified examiner but all other considerations being equal, the preference is for a BWR certified instructor.

Question No. 9) Section L.12, Level of Effort, states the estimated total effort for the project and also states that this information is advisory for the development of the staffing plan.

Can other technical/instructor personnel with reactor operations/engineering experience (e.g. Navy nuclear or commercial nuclear plant engineers) be included in the labor mix to provide technical/instructional development support to the key training program specialist(s)?

NRC Response: The key personnel MUST have BWR specific experience as well as SRO instructor certification. We will consider the BWR certified examiner but all other considerations being equal, the preference is for a BWR certified instructor.

Question No. 10) Section C, Scope of Work, Place of Performance, Travel; Government Furnished Materials; and Section H3, Government Furnished Equipment/Property; all indicate that, with the exception of the Graphic Artist tasks, the other work (L.12, “the majority of the work”) is to be done in NRC Technical Training Center (TTC) facilities using NRC provided materials and computer hardware and software.

10a. Given the short duration of the period of performance, would an alternative approach that includes shorter period(s) of on-site presence to complete activities that can not be done remotely using electronic communications capabilities, coupled with course development at an off site location, be considered responsive and acceptable?

NRC Response: Alternative work locations are not an option. Some of the reference material is proprietary and we do not have the right to share it or release it for outside use. Also some of the reference material is only available in a single hard copy and labor intensive to reproduce and forward.

10b. Is there a requirement for the document specialist to perform work at the NRC TTC or may the document specialist provide support from a remote location, e.g. at the same site as the graphic artist? (Note: Section L.12 estimates the level of effort for the document specialists to be significantly less than full time over the duration of the contract.)

NRC Response: Again proprietary information concerns.

Question No. 11) Section L.12 states that the “majority of the work will be performed during normal business hours.” What are the normal business hours of the TTC, and if necessary, is it possible for contracted personnel to be authorized access to work beyond the normal business hours?

NRC Response: The TTC normal business hours are 0730 to 1615 M-F. We can explore alternative working hours but until badge security is complete and issued, the contracted staff must work hours that NRC staff is present.

Question No. 12) Has the NRC determined the desired structure of the BWR Technology Training Course design, including module topics and learning objectives? If so, how many modules, and how many learning objectives?

NRC Response: The course will be modeled after an existing BWR training program of a different BWR design. On the average, the course will be comprised of 60 one hour modules each containing 10 + or - objectives. (This is a rough estimate.)

Note: This Amendment No. 2 does not change the proposal due date on May 10, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. EST.