NASA acquisition of helium

NASA/KSC plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the following Commercialitem: Approximately 240,244,000 standard cubic feet of gaseous helium and 12,513,380liters of liquid helium refined in accordance with Military performance specificationMIL-PRF-27407 (Revision C). Note: Figures above reflect the combined best estimatedquantities of 17 locations (i.e., NASA Centers and other responsible sites) over acontemplated 5-year performance period. Additionally, this requirement constitutes amajor helium requirement as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.501; andtherefore, must be purchased from only Federal helium suppliers (i.e., private heliumvendor that has an in-kind crude helium sales contract with the Bureau of LandManagement). The NAICS Code and Size Standard are 325120 and 1,000 employees respectively.The anticipated release date of RFP NNK09290805R is on or about June 1, 2009, with ananticipated proposal due date of on or about July 6, 2009. NASA/KSC contemplates awardof 5-year (includes base and option periods), fixed-price requirements contract(s) with(1) price adjustment for variances in Government-controlled crude helium prices; and (2)economic price adjustment (i.e., adjustable delivery fee) for variances in retailon-highway diesel fuel prices. Each locations cylinder, dewar, and bulk heliumrequirement will be separately identified in the RFP by contract line item number (CLIN). Each CLIN will be individually competed unless otherwise specified in RFP NNK09290805R. The Government anticipates award of multiple contracts.All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered by the agency.An ombudsman has been appointed. See NASA Specific Note "B".The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over theInternet. These documents will reside on a World-Wide Web (WWW) server, which may beaccessed using a WWW browser application. The Internet site, or URL, for the NASA/KSCBusiness Opportunities page ishttp://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=76 Prospective offerors shall notify this office of their intent to submit an offer. It isthe offeror's responsibility to monitor the Internet site for the release of thesolicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible fordownloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Any referencednotes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.Note: Prior to release of RFP NNK09290805R, NASA/KSC plans to release the followingdocuments: (1) DRAFT Schedule of Supplies; and (2) DRAFT RFP. The DRAFT Schedule ofSupplies will be released in advance of the DRAFT RFP on or about April 17, 2009. TheDRAFT Schedule of Supplies indicates the estimated yearly quantities by location. DRAFTRFP NOTICE: The DRAFT RFP will be issued to seek industry comments. POTENTIAL OFFERORSARE ADVISED THAT THE DRAFT RFP IS NOT A SOLICITATION AND NASA/KSC IS NOT REQUESTINGPROPOSALS. The anticipated release date of the DRAFT RFP is on or about April 27, 2009. Prospective offerors are invited to submit comments on ALL aspects of the DRAFT RFP,including requirements, schedules, proposal instructions, and evaluation approach. Moreover, in accordance with NASA Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement1815.201(c)(6)(A), prospective offerors are also requested to identify any unnecessaryand/or inefficient requirements. INDUSTRY COMMENTS IN RESPONSE TO THE DRAFT RFP ARE DUEMAY 13, 2009. Submission of comments shall be via email to Marcus Orr atMarcus.C.Orr@nasa.gov. All responses MUST reference the solicitation number in thesubject line of the email.