Inactive

THE U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) is issuing this Sources Sought Synopsis as a means of conducting market research or as a market survey to determine the availability of potential qualified... THE U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) is issuing this Sources Sought Synopsis as a means of conducting market research or as a market survey to determine the availability of potential qualified vendors with the technical capability to provide all management, supervision, administration, labor, and subject matter expertise for the project titled “Safety Assurance Case for Digital Instrumentation & Controls (I&C) Applications.” This project is part of a broader effort to enable the NRC staff to evaluate digital I&C applications based on safety goal focused, technology neutral, assurance case approaches. This Sources Sought notice seeks information on expertise and availability of commercial vendors to develop staff capability, including supporting tools and aids, for such evaluation. Services are to be provided to the NRC in Rockville, Maryland. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to this procurement is 541690, Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This request for sources and vendor information does not constitute a request for proposal; submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. The purpose of this announcement is to provide potential sources the opportunity to submit information regarding their capabilities to perform work for the NRC free of conflict of interest (COI). For information on NRC COI regulations, visit NRC Acquisition Regulation Subpart 2009.5 (http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/contracting/48cfr-ch20.html). All interested parties, including all categories of small businesses (small businesses, small - disadvantaged businesses, 8(a) firms, women-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and HUBZone small businesses) are invited to submit a response. The capabilities package submitted by a vendor should demonstrate the firm's ability, capability, and responsibility to perform the principal components of work listed below. The package should also include past performance/experience regarding projects of similar scope listing the project title, general description, the dollar value of the contract, and name of the company, agency, or government entity for which the work was performed. Organizations responding to this market survey should keep in mind that only focused and pertinent information is requested. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements. Submission of additional materials such as glossy brochures or videos is discouraged. Background A Safety Assurance Case is a document body of evidence that provides a demonstrable and valid argument that a system is adequately safe for a given application and environment over its lifetime. The purpose of this project is to develop technical bases for future guidance to enable the evaluation of a submittal organized in the form of a Safety Assurance Case. Using a Safety Assurance Case has the potential to improve the consistency of the review of applications, which are safety focused, performance based, and risk smart. The use of the Safety Assurance Case approach could streamline the docketed information and thereby improve the efficiency and effectiveness of licensing actions. Specifically, the Safety Assurance Case approach could be used to present and organize essential information by providing clear and concise evidence and reasoning for adequate safety. Experience in other industries has shown that the use of a performance based safety assurance case approach has the potential to improve regulatory flexibility. However, the introduction of a generic assurance case approach without any related guidance can result in inconsistencies in the quality of the application and of the associated review, and thereby lead to regulatory inefficiencies. To reduce the adoption hurdles and overcome such potential pitfalls, the NRC intends to access experts’ knowledge, gained from previous development and implementation of safety assurance cases in other application sectors. It is the goal of this project to integrate safety-assurance-case best-practices into the NRC domain specific framework for digital I&C licensing reviews. This framework should facilitate the demonstration that each regulatory requirement is met, connecting the evidence to the conclusion in a logical manner. SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES Develop a plan for the implementation of activities 2 through 5 (ex. task breakdown with timeline and resources allocated) , in consultation with NRC staff (before starting the activities). Extract relevant information from NRC documents relevant to the digital I&C at nuclear power plants, in consultation with NRC staff. Develop a domain-specific framework for a performance-based safety assurance case that is compliant with current regulatory requirements for safety analysis reports (i.e., 10 CFR 50.34) and consistent with terminology therein. This framework should support the applicant’s preparation and NRC’s evaluation of a safety analysis report that is organized in the form of a safety assurance case. For example, the framework may include a library of templates or patterns that have parameterized “prefabricated building blocks” and usage rules (and examples) which can be used to construct a specific assurance case. Identify and demonstrate methods and tools that may be used in the applicant’s preparation and NRC’s evaluation of a safety assurance case-based licensing application. Develop and execute workshops to build staff capability for performing a safety evaluation using the assurance case framework (Activity #3) developed for this application domain. REQUIRED CAPABILITIES The applying organization must have, with existing key staff and permanent facilities which enable the subject capabilities, in-depth expertise with a preferred minimum 10 year of experience in the following areas: 1. Demonstrated expertise in implementing or developing performance-based safety assurance case frameworks: In-depth expertise in methods and practices for planning, developing, and reviewing designs that use a safety assurance case methodology in safety-critical industries (e.g., energy, electrical power, aerospace, industrial, military). Experience in transforming organizational practices from compliance-based approaches to performance-based safety outcome focused approaches using the assurance case approach. Experience in building application domain-specific templates, models, libraries, or such other building blocks, and frameworks for creating safety assurance cases. Previously completed technical studies or reports about structured approaches to plan and execute safety demonstration in the licensing or design certification context. Experience in safety analysis of safety critical digital systems and providing R&D consultation support for safety-critical systems engineering. Experience in integrating different types of evidence to support the safety conclusion. Experience in identifying gaps in the needed evidence. Capability to create aids for identifying gaps in the evidence. Experience in identifying fallacies in the reasoning. Capability to create aids for recognizing fallacies in a submittal. Capability to elicit the needed knowledge from nuclear safety analysis experts (Capability #2) and assimilate that knowledge in an assurance case framework. 2. Sound engineering understanding of nuclear facilities (this expertise may be acquired through teaming): Expertise in domestic and international regulatory requirements applicable to I&C systems and components used in nuclear power plants. Knowledge of NRC’s I&C regulatory infrastructure, including knowledge of current regulations and design review processes is preferred. Expertise in nuclear power plant reactor systems and I&C systems and components. This includes digital I&C technology intended for use in boiling water reactors, pressurized water reactors, and advanced non-light water reactors. This expertise must include an understanding of how the I&C equipment impacts the safety of nuclear power plants. Deep understanding of “what can go wrong”, i.e., conditions which may degrade the performance of a safety function, e.g., conditions caused by engineering deficiencies, conditions in the environment of the system under evaluation. Knowledge of the types of evidence (including evidence resulting from math-based analytical methods) needed to ensure that the system is free of such conditions. 3. Capability to host a work environment for effective communication and collaboration that includes document repository for NRC’s review (e.g., Microsoft TEAMS, etc.). HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE If your organization has the capability and capacity to perform, as a prime contractor, one or more of the services described in this notice, then please respond to this notice, and provide written responses to the following information. Please do not include any proprietary or otherwise sensitive information in the response, and do not submit a proposal. Proposals submitted in response to this notice will not be considered. Organization name, address, emails address, Web site address and telephone number. What size is your organization with respect to NAICS code identified in this notice (i.e., "small" or "other than small")? If your organization is a small business under the aforementioned NAICS code, what type of small business (i.e., small disadvantaged business, woman-owned small business, economically disadvantaged woman-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, 8(a), or HUBZone small business)? Specify all that apply. Although no geographic restriction is anticipated, if responding organizations are located outside the Washington Metropolitan area (Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia), indicate how the organization would coordinate with the NRC program office located in Rockville, Maryland to provide the support services. Separately and distinctly describe your organization’s ability to meet the capabilities indicated in the above section, Required Capabilities. Specify which of the required capabilities listed above your organization possesses. Separately and distinctly describe your organization’s past performance in the areas described under the above section titled Required Capabilities. Please indicate your organization's role (prime contractor, first tier subcontractor, and/or supplier) in related contracts. Please also provide the contract number, contract type, customer name, address and point of contact phone number and email address, contract value, thorough description of supplies and services included in the scope of that contract, indication of how they differ from the required capabilities described in this notice, period of performance (for services) or delivery date (for products), and any other relevant information. For any federal customers that your agency has for the required capabilities, indicate how your company complies with applicable environmental laws and Federal regulations (See NRC’s Green Purchasing Plan at: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1527/ML15272A142.pdf). Indicate whether your organization offers any of the required capabilities described in this notice on one or more of your company's own Federal Government contracts (i.e., GSA Federal Supply Schedule contract or Government wide Acquisition Contracts) that the NRC could order from and, if so, which services are offered. Also, provide the contract number(s) and indicate what is currently available for ordering from each of those contract(s). Provide a standard, non-proprietary commercial price list or similar standard non-proprietary commercial pricing information for how your company sells, as a prime contractor, required capabilities described in this notice that your organization has experience providing. Also, indicate what is included in that pricing. Is your organization currently performing or have in the past performed same or similar services as those listed above for any of the licensees regulated by the NRC? If so, which licensees? See http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/licensing.html for more information on NRC licensing. Has your organization previously faced organizational conflict of interest issues with NRC? If so, what were they and how were they mitigated or resolved? Interested organizations responding to this Sources Sought Synopsis are encouraged to structure capability statements in the order of the area of consideration noted above. All capability statements sent in response to this notice must be submitted electronically, via e-mail, to Emarsha Whitt, at Emarsha.Whitt@nrc.gov, either MS Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), within 15 from the date of publication of this notice. DISCLAIMER AND NOTES: Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s potential capability and capacity to perform the subject work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.