Pre-Solicitation Notice for
Request for Proposal Number/Title: 89243222RNE000026, High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) Cascade Demo Completion and Extended Production
Background: The DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) is funding a demonstration of high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) production. The demonstration was on schedule to produce between 200 kg and 600 kg of HALEU using 16 AC100M centrifuges by June 1, 2022, at the Piketon, Ohio, facility owned by DOE; however, the demonstration was affected by COVID-related supply chain cost and schedule issues near the completion of the work and the Administration supports longer-term demonstration of production capability. The HALEU enrichment demonstration contract was initially planned to conclude in June 2022; however, it is in the process of being adjusted to allow for a competition for the continuation of the demonstration program. These adjustments were necessary to acknowledge the supply chain issues and increased requirements for a material storage area.
The new contract will be a competitive award in early 2022 to complete the HALEU demonstration and produce HALEU in the most expeditious manner possible.
The HALEU demonstration was begun in May 2019 under contract to DOE. This new procurement will require the successful bidder to complete construction of the AC100M cascade and operate the completed cascade to demonstrate HALEU production at a minimum annual rate of 900 Kg 19.75% U-235. This contract will require the successful bidder to produce a minimum of 900 Kg UF6 enriched to a nominal 19.75% U-235 during each year of operations. DOE acknowledges it could take up to 1 year to begin demonstration of HALEU production but encourages production as expeditiously as possible.
The Department's goal in supporting this procurement is to help the industry to develop a sustained production capability for HALEU (which could potentially be expanded to meet emerging market demand). It is important for the U.S. to demonstrate a leadership position in a clean energy economy and supporting union jobs while preventing adverse impacts to communities potentially affected by the HALEU demonstration. All aspects of this procurement will require compliance with energy justice policies.
DOE would foremost see the objective of this procurement to begin demonstration of HALEU production as expeditiously as possible. The AC100M technology represents the culmination of many years of domestic development and while being a complex design, it is also one of the most capable in terms of enrichment capacity. The second objective would be to sustain the demonstration through minimum annual production of 900 Kg of uranium enriched to a nominal 19.75 weight percent U-235. Such enriched uranium would be used to begin to satisfy the needs of the reactor community. A third objective would be to collect operations data to document the performance and reliability of the completed cascade when configured using the AC100M centrifuges.
The contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the tasks and deliverables described in the Statement of Work (SOW). This includes procurement of the required feed material.
The place of performance will be at the DOE-owned American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. As of January 1, 2022, the current HALEU contractor has completed approximately 84% of the activities required for demonstrating production of HALEU. Manufacturing of the centrifuges is complete; however, the construction of the cascade requires the installation of the centrifuges. The installation of the centrifuges was put on hold until the new SOW is placed under contract. The Fissile Material Storage area is approximately 90% complete and the offeror would need to complete this work. Other balance of plant and cascade infrastructure needed for the operation of the facility have been completed. Some testing of those systems will be required once the centrifuges have been installed and process gas (feed material) has been introduced. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will oversee readiness reviews prior to the introduction of the feed material to the cascade.
Once the HALEU demonstration cascade is operational, the successful bidder will be required to produce on an annual basis a minimum of 900 Kg UF6 enriched to a nominal 19.75% U-235. Such produced material must be withdrawn from the cascade, securely stored, and prepared for shipment to customers as needed. Finally, collecting and documenting operational data associated with the cascade would be included as a requirement for the new contract.
The Department of Energy will make available the American Centrifuge Plant through a lease arrangement with the successful offeror. The terms of such a lease would be negotiated separately following the award of this contract but would be expected to cost approximately $200,000 per month during the first year, and $175,000 per month in subsequent years. Actual incurred cost would be trued-up on an annual basis.
The offeror should prepare a description of how it would provide maintenance to the centrifuges including any required business partnerships to assure centrifuges can be prepared following repairs or maintenance to include rotor balancing.
The possession and operation of the facility would require the offeror to hold or obtain Nuclear Regulatory Commission fuel cycle license.
DOE intends to award a single contract from this solicitation. DOE also intends to use a two-phase approach with options during the period of performance comprising the second phase. The completion of the Cascade Demonstration will be the first phase, including one initial year of 900 kg of HALEU production. DOE anticipates utilizing three (3)x three (3) year options after the initial phase of Cascade Demo Completion including the first year of production, for a combined total of 10 years of production after Cascade Demo completion. Performance of phase one does not guarantee the Contractor will be authorized to perform successive phase/options of production based on the availability of funds and contractor performance.
FOREIGN INTERESTED PARTIES: The anticipated contract is restricted to U.S. owned companies, as defined in 32 CFR 2004.34. A certification statement is required to validate those offerors meet this requirement. All proposals will be subject to a review of foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) review as defined in DEAR Clause 952.204-2(j) and 32 CFR 2004.34
Offerors are advised that the apparent successful offeror will be evaluated for any apparent conflicts of interest pursuant to the requirements of FAR Subpart 9.5 and DEAR Subpart 909.5. DOE reserves the right to deny award based on any apparent conflict of interest that cannot be avoided, mitigated, or neutralized.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) document is anticipated to be released and posted to the http://www.sam.gov web site, via the FedConnect website portal (www.fedconnect.net), on or about March 1, 2022, with an anticipated RFP closing response date of March 31, 2022. Contract awards are estimated to be completed on or about May 5, 2022.
The DOE anticipates holding a Pre-Proposal Conference in Piketon, Ohio on March 14, 2022. The meeting will start at 8:00 a.m.; however, the venue is yet to be determined and will be released in the RFP document.
This procurement will be issued as a 100% small business set aside. All responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered. DOE National Laboratories may participate as a subcontractor but may not participate as the prime contractor. The award size for the resulting contracts is dependent on the availability of DOE Program funding. The NAICS code is 221113, titled Nuclear Electric Power Generation (Size Standard: 750 employees).
For any questions or further details, please contact Gregory J. Tomlinson by email at tomlingj@id.doe.gov. This notice is NOT a Request for Proposal, Request for Quote, or Invitation for Bid. The Government is in no way obligated to purchase any services as a result of this notice.
