472077 Presolicitation Notice - DUNE VD CRP-SST

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), on behalf of the Department of Energy Office of Science, is seeking to procure sixteen charge readout plane support superstructures (CRP-SSTs) for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Vertical Drift detector located at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. The procurement involves the design, manufacturing, inspection, testing, and delivery of specialized fabricated stainless steel frames—both large frames (approximately 2,000 kg each) and small frames (approximately 450 kg each)—that will support anode planes and suspend cathode modules in a cryogenic liquid argon environment operating at -186°C. Contractors must comply with comprehensive quality assurance requirements including ISO 9001 or ASME standards, AWS welding codes, and either U.S. standards (AISC 360, AWS D1.1/D1.1M, RCSC) or European standards (EN 1090 EXC2) for design and fabrication. The solicitation will be issued as RFP-472077 under a Firm Fixed Price contract type with full and open competition. The pre-solicitation notice was posted on February 4, 2026, with questions or comments due by February 19, 2026, and an anticipated award date of June 2026.

This procurement is designated under NAICS code 332312 (Fabricated Structural Metal Manufacturing) with a small business size standard of 500 employees; no set-aside designations are being used for this acquisition. To qualify as a small business, offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) under the applicable NAICS code prior to proposal submission. BNL expects to make one award and reserves the right to use any information submitted by interested parties in any manner it determines appropriate. The contract will involve the procurement of sixteen complete CRP-SST frames, with production comprising one large first article due sixteen weeks after BNL approval of fabrication drawings, followed by serial production of the remaining frames (three small and eleven large) estimated to begin forty-eight weeks after approval of both frame types. Contract options include up to two additional small frames, two additional large frames, and cleaning/degreasing services prior to shipment, with all work to be performed within the United States and subject to Buy American Act requirements under FAR Part 25.