Defense Nuclear Agency, 6801 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 22310-3398

A -- BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT - PART II SOL DNA001-BAA01-96 POC Thomas L. Cox, Negotiator, (703) 325-1196, Scott G. Morton, Contracting Officer, (703) 325-1200. Continued from BAA PART I - Proposals are solicited for the following TECHNICAL AREAS (Note that the word ''INNOVATIVE'' is implied in each Subtopic):AREA A - Weapons Effects - Enhanced Paylaods Program - Exploring innovative technologies to enhance warhead lethality against threat Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) targets. Of interest are concepts which extend lethality range to effect and/or which may produce either physical or functional WMD kills. Innovative concepts, methodologies, and experimental techniques will be considered. AREA B: Nuclear Operations - Nuclear Weapon System Safety Assessments - New and innovative concepts to improve on traditional probabilistic risk assessment techniques and methodologies, as well as operations are desired to increase the overall safety of these assets are required. Abnormal environments that may be encountered include mechanical insults (e.g., drops, vehicle accidents), thermal insults (e.g. fuel fires), electrical insults (e.g., lightning, electrical power), and combinations of these environments. Concepts should employ innovative ideas and make use of new and emerging technologies. AREA C: Nuclear Hardening/Survivability - EMP Protected Composite Materials - Composite materials are becoming increasingly prevalent in high technology military applications. These materials need to be fashioned in such a manner as to afford intrinsic EMP and electromagnetic environmental effects (E3) protection. This protection must not come at the cost of diminished strength or significant change in weight. AREA D: Space Nuclear & Propulsion Technology, TOPAZ International Program - Critical Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion Technology Development. DNA is interested in developing key technologies (at the component or sub-component level) supporting thermionic and/or thermoelectric space nuclear power systems, and key technologies supporting direct thermal or electric nuclear propulsion systems. Successful offerors must demonstrate that their proposed technology is key in indicating cost/mass/volume or performance characteristics of a thermionic, thermoelectric or propulsion space nuclear system, and requires dditional development before such indicators can be determined with confidence. AREA E: Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Effects - Data Presentation and Evaluation. Develop new and innovative techniques for presenting and analyzing nuclear effects data generated for system designers and operators. Starting from the output of already developed prediction tools, develop new ways of data presentation which will be fast running and simple to use. AREA F: Pulsed Power Technology - Subtopic (1) - LINAC Replacement for Piece Parts Testing - Feasibility study for a replacement for Linear Accelerators (LINACs) for radiation hardened piece part certification testing. The proposal should indicate innovative basic design concept feasibility and the research leading to development of a new, improved, affordable replacement for LINACs currently used for piece part upset testing. For advanced piece parts with small feature sizes and short carrier lifetimes, the structure in the time history of traditional L-band LINACs will result in part responses producing spurious upset thresholds and photo current outputs when compared to nuclear weapon radiation. Such testing capability requires improved temporal and spectral fidelity, increased reproducibility and reliability, low life-cycle cost for operation and maintenance, low cost per shot, light weight, and high shot repetition rate, and should be user-friendly. Desired design goals are: Ability to produce nuclear weapon radiation responses in advanced piece parts and packages, dose rates ( 1.0E+12 rad(Si)/s and doses of (30,000 rads (Si) average over an area of (10 cm 2 with a dose uniformity of ((2%, (2-5 ns rise time (10-90%), 20-100 ns pulse width (FWHM), ((2% shot reproducibility, and (10 pulses/s repetition rate. A long pulse (100 ns - 1 ms) capability is also desirable. An E beam and x-ray capabilities are desired. Subtopic (2) - Combined Effects Testing Pulser - Feasibility study for a compact x-ray pulser for combined effects testing. The proposal should indicate innovative basic design concept feasibility and the research leading to development of an affordable and compact pulser for use with the Nuclear Infrared Clutter Simulator/Nuclear Optical Dynamic Display System (NICS/NODDS), other ''drop-in'' applications for operability/performance evaluations, and for Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) applications. The objective is to identify the technicl approach for developing a compact high fidelity x-ray pulser and as well as any barriers to its implementation by users. Innovative technology is required to develop a pulser which would provide ''drop-in'' testing capability for addressing such emerging issues as system operability and system degradation which require a high repetitive exposure rate. Such testing capability requires improved temporal and spectral fidelity, increased reproducibility and reliability, low life-cycle cost for operation and maintenance, low cost per shot, light weight, and high shot repetition rate, and should be user-friendly. Desired design goals are:(140 kV end point voltage, (1.0E-4 cal/cm2 average fluence,(200 rads (Si) average dose over an area of 1000 cm2 with a dose uniformity of (10%, (2.0E+10 rad (Si)/s average dose rate, (20 ns rise time (10-90%), 20-30 ns pulse width (FWHM), ((10% shot reproducibility, (12 pulses/hr repetition rate. AREA G: Radiation Hardened Microelectronics - Radiation Hardened/Tolerant Microelectronics and Photonics. Development and demonstration of radiation hardened/tolerant microelectronics, photonics and electronic packaging technology including hardness assurance, advanced diagnostics, silicon insulating materials, compound materials and quantum mechanics. AREA H: Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) - Electromagnetic Effects Modeling. Innovative and cost-effective methods to model the effects of EMP and other high-energy environments in a form amendable to modeling and simulation. Methods of bounding error are also of interest. AREA J: Testing Hardware - Optical Materials. A systematic investigation of the physical processes resulting from the interaction of radiation with optical materials. This understanding would allow us to take the DNA correlated knowledge based on known materials and extrapolate to new future materials. This analysis capability would ameliorate the void resulting from the UGT moratorium and allow the use of existing AGT's to verify the suitability of optical materials for systems that must survive in hostile radiation environments. AREA K: Environmental Quality - Environmental Technology Program. Technology Thurst Areas for research, development and testing of environmental technologies, address the technology's applications, and/or demonstrate/validate the technology to meet environmental requirements. The examples cited are intended to be representative, notexclusive nor directive. Subtopic (1) - Cleanup - Assess, monitor, characterize, investigate, develop remedial techniques and technologies to achieve more efficient and effective environmental cleanup of soil, sediment, groundwater, surface water and structures already contaminated by past practices with hazardous materials (including unexploded ordnance), radioactive (low-level or mixed wastes) and toxic substances located at DoD and DOE facilities. Subtopic (2) - Compliance - Develop and address technologies, perform marine risk assessments, and monitor, control, manage and support waste treatment and disposal, not directly related to site restoration, but related to meeting current and future environmental compliance requirements. Subtopic (3) - Pollution Prevention - Reduce or eliminate the creation of pollution. Subtopic (4) - Conservation - (1) Research, develop, test and/or demonstrate technologies to assess, conserve, protect, preserve, restore and manage the facility's natural and cultural resources, including conservation of wetlands, forests, threatened and endangered species, historic and archeological sites, rivers and waterways, and coastal barrier islands, (2) Provide access to training and testing areas for benefits such as recreation, agriculture, forestry, and multiple uses, and (3) Comply with national and local environmental laws. AREA L - Technology Transfer - Unique and innovative proposals to promote the transfer of DNA-sponsored and/or DNA-relevant technologies, to include spin-on applications of technology developed outside DoD to meet DNA requirements, spin-off applications of DNA technologies outside of DoD, and dual-use development of technologies to simultaneously respond to both DNA/DoD and non-DoD needs. Dual-use proposals are particular, but not exclusive, interest. DNA has particular interest in proposals that promote technology transfer to and from, and thereby contribute to, sustainment of competence within the nuclear weapons effects R & D contractor base. Proposals should not be for long-term R & D: All proposals must clearly show how the proposed effort will be likely to involve significant technology transfer (spin-on, spin-off, or dual-use) within 24 months following award. Because of potential commercial application, all proposals must address cost sharing/matching funds. These funds may be from any non-DNA source (e.g. business partner, corporate IRD, or other sources). Proposal where cost sharing is not otherwise appropriate will be given consideration. While the appropriateness of the cost sharing/matching funds will be considered for each proposal, there are no predetermined ratios or requirements. General topic areas of principal concern to DNA include: structural dynamics, testing technology, underground technologies, safety, modeling, pulsed power and electromagnetic applications, and microelectronics. AREA M (GRANT PROPOSALS ONLY) - Bioenvironmental Hazards Research - In accordance with DoD Appropriations Act FY 95 for continued bioenvironmental hazards research and in compliance with U.S.C. 2361 the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) is soliciting proposals from major research universities working in close collaboration with a historically black college or university to conduct bioenvironmental hazards research specializing in topics of concern to the DoD. This effort, initiated in FY 89, has been and is currently performed under a grant to Tulane University working in collaboration with Xavier University. The program will consist of a DoD-focused interdisciplinary effort covering such diverse disciplines as toxicology, medicine, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, cell and molecular biology, chemistry, ecology and information sciences. The grant recipient is expected to have the necessary infrastructure in place to support the depth and breadth of the proposed program. Information on DNA solicitations, already released, can be obtained by calling the DNA Hotline at (703) 325-1173. Reference Synopsis No. 96-03 (0290)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0003 19951018\A-0003.SOL)