National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition & Assistance Div., Bldg. 301, Rm B117, Gaithersburg, MD 20899

66 -- POSITION-SENSITIVE NEUTRON PROPORTIONAL COUNTER AND DATA ACQUISION SYSTEM SOL 53SBNB860076 DUE 082898 POC Contract Specialist, Tamara Grinspon (301)975-4390, Contracting Officer, Pauline Mallgrave (301) 975-6330 WEB: NIST Contract Homepage, http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/contract.htm. E-MAIL: NIST Contract Office, Contract@nist.gov. THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPARTS 12.6 AND 13.5, AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED.*****This solicitation, #53SBNB860076, is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-05. The associated Standards Industrial Classification Code (SIC) for this procurement is 3829, and the small business size is 500 Employees. *****The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a requirement for (CLIN #001) a quantity of one (1) ORDELA Model 2660N, or equal, Position-Sensitive Neutron Proportional Counter (PSPC) and Data Acquisition System (DAS). The Contractor shall supply a large area (64 cm x 64 cm active area), high resolution (0.5 cm spatial resolution), high count rate (100,000 neutrons per second), neutron position-sensitive proportional counter (PSPC) and data acquisition system (DAS) for use on a 30-meter Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) instrument at NIST's Center for Neutron Research (NCNR). The PSPC shall meet the following physical, functional and performance specifications: [1] Minimum Active Area: 64 cm x 64 cm; [2] Spatial Resolution: 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm, full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) or less; [3] Picture Elements (pixels): at least 128 x 128 (16384 total); [4] Counting Gas: Helium-3; [5] Stopping Gas: Carbon Tetrafluoride, CF4; [6] Detection Efficiency: 80% for 0.5 nm neutrons, 65% for 0.3 nm, 50% for 0.2 nm; [7] Event Processing Time: < 1 microsecond; [8] Count Rate Capability: 100,000 neutrons per second (10,000 neutrons per pixel per second) for 10% coincidence losses; [9] Gas Multiplication Factor: < 50; [10] Spatial Uniformity: +/- 2% integral, +/- 10% differential; [11] Linearity: +/- 1 mm integral, +/- 0.5 mm differential; [12] Bias Voltage: < 3500 V; [13] Body and Window: Aluminum; [14] Overall Dimensions: < 122 cm diameter, < 85 cm high; [15] Window Thickness: < 8 mm total window thickness; [16] DAS shall provide programmed control of all essential PSPC operations such as acquire, stop, clear, time slicing, data storage, and display; [17] All PSPC electronic tuning parameters (e.g. amplifier gains and discriminator levels) shall be remotely adjustable from the DAS; [18] DAS shall include a programmable pulse generator to allow simulating neutron pulses at any pixel location; [19] DAS shall allow individual digitized event positions to be transferred to external histogramming memory without interruption of the counting process; [20] DAS shall display a color or gray-scale image of the full detector pixel array, and update display at least every 10 seconds without interrupting data collection; [21] DAS shall include an Ethernet interface for data transfer to a remote computer system; [22] PSCP shall operate in a vacuum environment; [23] All PSPC electronic circuits shall be contained in a sealed enclosure located on the PSPC back plane. This enclosure shall contain at least two ports for venting to atmosphere to allow operation of the electronics in air; [24] PSPC shall be supplied with an operations manual and documentation of test results that verify the above performance specifications; [25] The Contractor shall provide a 12 month warranty on all parts and labor for PSPC and DAS. *****Delivery is desired within 9 months After Receipt of Order (ARO) and required within 12 months ARO. Delivery location is the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Building 301, Receiving Room, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-0001. The FOB Point shall be Destination, Gaithersburg, Maryland. *****The following FAR provisions apply to this solicitation: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial; 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items. ***** Evaluation Criteria to be included in paragraph (a) of provision 52.212-2 are, in descending order of importance, with (A) and (B) of approximately equal value and (C) approximately half the value of (A) or (B), as follows: (A) Technical capability to meet or exceed the Government=s specifications (offerors shall submit a quotation addressing all required specifications, and shall provide descriptive literature to include specifications, drawings and functional diagrams which fully describe the operation and performance of the PSPC and DAS; (B) Past Performance (offerors shall provide information indicating prior experience in supplying large area position-sensitive neutron counters with comparable characteristics to those specified in this synopsis/solicitation; a list of references [including contact person's name, company/organization, phone number and fax number] shall be provided by offerors; (C) Available Facilities and Personnel [offerors shall provide information that demonstrates that offeror has the necessary facilities and qualified personnel to carry out the construction and testing of the PSPC (essential facilities include a clean room environment for assembling the PSPC, a neutron source and electronic test equipment sufficient to verify all aspects of PSPC performance, and gas handling, mixing and purification equipment-and personnel shall have experience with the mechanical and electronic design of large area PSPC's)]; and (D) Price. Technical evaluation criteria, when combined, are significantly more important than price. ***** The Government anticipates awarding a purchase order resulting from this combined synopsis/solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quotation, conforming to this synopsis/solicitation, will offer the best value to the Government, price and other factors considered. Offerors shall address all requirements in this combined synopsis/solicitation, and shall provide clear evidence of understanding and the ability and willingness to comply with the Government's specifications of need. Failure to address a specification/requirement will be construedby the Government as inability to meet the need, or the offeror's taking exception to it.*****All vendors are to include with their quotes, a completed copy of provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, which may be downloaded from http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/repcert.htm. The clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition, including subparagraphs (1) 52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Goverrnment, with Alternate I; (3) 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns and Small Disadvantaged Business Concerns; (6) 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity; (7) 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Special Disabled Vietnam Era Veterans; (8) 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers; (9) 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; (11) 52.225-9, Buy American Act-Trade Agreements Act-Balance of Payments Program; and Department of Commerce Agency-Level Protest Procedures Level Above the Contracting Officer, which can be downloaded from the NIST Web Page located at http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/protest.htm. *****All interested, responsible firms should submit quotes (original plus one copy of quote and enclosures), by 3:00 PM, Washington, DC time, on August 28, 1998, to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Acquisition and Assistance Division, ATTN: Tamara Grinspon, Building 301, Room B117, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-0001. Faxed quotes will NOT be accepted. Copies of above-referenced clauses are available upon request, either by telephone or fax. Posted 08/13/98 (W-SN236679). (0225)

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