Tritium analysis

The U.S. Geological Survey Office of Acquisitions and Grants seeks a single firm-fixed-price Blanket Purchase Agreement contractor to provide tritium laboratory analysis services, with quotations due September 21, 2026, and questions due September 15. This is a Women-Owned Small Business set-aside, foreclosing competition outside that category.

Place of performance is the National Water Quality Laboratory in Lakewood, Colorado. The contractor must provide low-level tritium analysis using two methods: tritium enrichment and gas counting achieving a minimum detection concentration of 0.3 pCi/L with a 45-day turnaround time (estimated 500 units annually), and standard tritium gas counting at 10 pCi/L with a 35-day turnaround time (estimated 100 units annually). All required instruments and equipment must be purchased, set up, and verified before contract award. Subcontracting of analytical work is prohibited. The contractor must comply with 40 CFR requirements and the Multi-Agency Radiological Laboratory Analytical Protocols Manual (MARLAP).

The contract period runs from October 21, 2026, through October 20, 2031, with an optional six-month extension. The BPA ceiling is $1,177,500. The NAICS code is 541380, Testing Laboratories and Services, with a small business size standard of $19 million in annual revenue.

Evaluation criteria include technical capabilities, experience, past performance, work plan, quality systems, and price, with non-priced factors significantly more important than price. Samples must maintain chain-of-custody procedures with data reporting only to the Contracting Officer's Representative. The contractor must retain residual samples for 90 days post-analysis and all analytical records for the contract life, and must participate in external performance testing studies including the International Atomic Energy tritium comparison study. Submit quotations to yvette_sornberger@ios.doi.gov.