Request for Information Modular Hot Cell Design and Fabrication

The Department of Energy is seeking industry interest and capabilities to design Modular Hot Cells and fabricate one Transloading Modular Hot Cell for the Radioisotope Production Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with RFI responses due October 23, 2026 at 5 p.m. EST. An anticipated Request for Proposal will be issued in late 2027, structured as a competitive Basic Ordering Agreement containing fixed-price and time-and-material task orders.

Place of performance is Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Work includes design of two hot cell types—Transloading MHCs for receiving irradiated targets from shielded casks and Processing MHCs for chemical, mechanical, and thermal operations—plus fabrication, shipment, and onsite installation of one fully functional Transloading MHC with options to fabricate six additional Transloading MHCs and seven Processing MHCs (14 total units at facility completion in 2034). The facility is a Hazard Category 2 nuclear facility designed to expand domestic radioisotope production from the High Flux Isotope Reactor.

Design requirements specify internal dimensions of approximately 6 ft × 6 ft × 8 ft, worker dose controls of 0.5 mrem/hr external to the cell, baseline shielding of 14 inches carbon steel (8.5 inches lead equivalent), negative-pressure operation with controlled confinement integrity, and off-site fabrication with onsite installation using air-skate transfer systems without overhead cranes. Acceptable liner materials include Inconel and PVDF-coated stainless steel. Design deliverables include conceptual and detailed design packages, shielding analysis, fabrication and quality assurance plans, shipment and handling procedures, installation and testing documentation, and lifecycle maintainability assessments. Compliance with 10 CFR Part 830 Subpart A, DOE Orders 413.3B, 425.1D, 420.1C, 414.1D, and ASME NQA-1-2008/09a or ISO 9001 quality programs is required.

RFI responses must be submitted electronically to Rachel Botes (botesre@ornl.gov) and include company location and capabilities, DOE/Federal work experience, two similar project examples, ESH&Q methodology, estimated proposal development duration, contact information, and budgetary cost range estimates under ISO-9001 or NQA-1 quality programs.