Q301--Radioanalytical laboratory Analysis of swipe tests

The Baltimore VA Medical Center is conducting this Sources Sought to identify contractors who possess capabilities to provide the services described in the Statement of Work below.

As permitted by the FAR Part 10, this is a market research tool being utilized for the informational and planning purposes. Your responses will assist the Government in the development of its acquisition strategy.

Response is strictly voluntary it is not mandatory to submit a response to this notice to participate in formal RFQ process that may take place in the future. However, it should be noted that information gathered through this notice may significantly influence our acquisition strategy. All interested parties will be required to respond separately to any solicitation posted as a result of this sources sought notice.

Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. We appreciate your interest and thank you in advance for responding to the sources sought.

This service will be implemented using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541380.

If a small business is interested in this procurement, they must provide at least 51 percent of the services rendered.

NOTES

All Capability Statements/Responses to this Sources Sought Notice shall be submitted via email only to jennifer.elkins2@va.gov. Telephone, Fax, or any other form of communication inquiries will not be reviewed or accepted. Responses to this Sources Sought Notice must be received no later than September 08, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). This Sources Sought Notice may or may not assist the VA in determining sources only. A solicitation is not currently available. If a solicitation is issued, it may or may not be announced at a later date, and all interested parties shall respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the responses to this Sources Sought Notice.

DISCLAIMER

This RFI is issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked a proprietary will be handled accordingly in accordance with (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e), RFIs may be used when the Government does not presently intend to award a contract, but wants to obtain price, delivery, other market information, or capabilities for planning purposes. Responses to these notices are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses incurred associated with responding to this RFI.

VA Maryland Health Care System

SCOPE OF WORK for Radioanalytical Laboratory Analysis Services

1. Background

The VA Maryland Health Care System currently has a total of 30 research laboratories

that are approximately 500ft2 each on our footprint management plan that formerly used

radioactive materials. We are unable to locate copies of the closeout surveys for these

laboratories that previously used radioactive isotopes that were released for unrestricted

use. Maintaining these records is a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requirement

as per NRC NUREG-1556. The closeout surveys which include swipe surveys are

required for releasing a room per NRC regulations 10 CFR 20.1301 and 10 CFR

20.1402. The records documenting the swipe survey results must be kept on file until

the VA Maryland Health Care System (VAMHCS) no longer occupies the current

hospital location and decommission the facility. The swipe survey results are also

required by the National Health Physics Program (NHPP) in order to remove those

laboratories no longer using radioactive materials from our current Radioactive

Materials permit #19-01058-01. The VAMHCS currently does not have radioanalytical

analysis equipment to analyze the swipe surveys for surface contamination from

radioactive materials.

The VAMHCS Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) will be performing swipe surveys on

areas within each lab of 1m2, for a maximum of 50 swipe surveys per each of the 30

rooms for a total of 1500 swipe surveys. We are looking for a contractor to provide

radioanalytical laboratory services to analyze the swipe surveys and provide a report for

swipes the VA RSO has collected and dropped off.

2. SCOPE

Contractor shall have onsite radioanalytical laboratory services and be able to do

in-house evaluation of the swipe surveys collected by the VA Maryland Health

Care System (VAMHCS) Radiation Safety Officer (RSO)

Facilities providing radioanalytical laboratory services shall be located in the state

of Maryland

Contractor shall provide NIST calibration certification documentation for liquid

scintillation survey instrument/s being used

Contractor shall provide the supplies necessary to perform the swipe surveys

Contractor shall provide separate reports for each of the rooms swipe surveyed

o Each room will have up to 50 swipe surveys obtained by the VA

o Total of 1500 swipe surveys to be analyzed for all 30 rooms

The report shall include the below information

o Room number swipe surveyed

pg. 1

Scope of work for radioanalytical laboratory analysis services

o Separate line item for each sample with sample number noted

o Line item results for each swipe sample analyzed

o Written summary of the radioanalytical analysis results for each room

o Review and signature from a health physicist

Radioanalytical analysis equipment shall be capable of detecting the following

radioisotopes:

o Carbon-14 (C-14)

o Tritium (H-3)

Contractor shall sign off on chain of custody form for each set of samples

dropped off by the VAMHCS RSO