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INTRODUCTION

Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA) Management & Operating Contractor of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) owned Idaho National Laboratory (INL), is seeking an Expression of Interest (EOI) from prospective offerors who would like to work with the National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) in the planning process for the design, funding, authorization, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and expected support from other entities that may be required to complete the testing of experimental reactors through final disposition.

BACKGROUND

DOE’s NRIC is developing facilities and processes to provide the infrastructure for hosting experimental reactors developed by industry. BEA/NRIC is looking for interested reactor vendors to complete the Front-End Engineering and Experiment Design (FEEED) process, which is used to plan the design, fabrication, construction, and testing of experimental reactors at NRIC’s Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) testbed. At the successful completion of FEEED there will be a detailed program plan which includes a detailed program schedule and associated cost estimate and describes the end-to-end experimental reactor testing campaign. The required engineering documentation will also include a conceptual design, master documents list, reactor authorization plan, and NEPA compliance plan.

PROCESS

Responses to this EOI will be evaluated by DOE, BEA, and NRIC. The decision to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the FEEED process will rely on the assessments of qualified EOI responses and will also consider the number of EOI’s received. Criteria for selection for an RFP will be based on the proposed project schedule, funding, technical maturity, alignment with NRIC’s objectives, uniqueness of the reactor concept or design, and readiness as described in the EOI. Note, all respondents invited to participate in the anticipated RFP will be required to register with System for Award Management (SAM.gov) and INL Vendor Portal.

EOI evaluation criteria includes, but is not limited to the following areas:

• General project plan


• General project schedule


• Reactor type and size


• Reactor maturity level (TRL)


• Fuel type and availability


• Previous regulatory experience


• Company profile


• Quality Program Plan (NQA-1)


• Unique characteristics, attributes, or applications distinguishing from other potential responses

If a decision is made to issue an RFP, responders to this EOI may receive an RFP that will require detailed technical and price proposals be provided for evaluation and ranking under a source selection process. Note, this EOI request does not constitute a solicitation and does not guarantee inclusion in the anticipated RFP solicitation and/or subsequent solicitations. Rather, selections of qualified respondents for inclusion in the anticipated RFP solicitation and/or subsequent solicitations will be at the sole discretion of DOE, BEA, and NRIC.

The contract type for FEEED is anticipated to be a cost-type contract with a minimum 20% cost share from the reactor developer and a maximum of $1.5M in government funding per award.

The RFP release is anticipated as soon as July of FY 2023. Initial source selections/awards are anticipated prior to the end of FY 2023 following proposal receipt, with planned authorization to start in September of FY 2023. Note these dates are subject to change at the sole discretion of BEA.

With this EOI, BEA is developing a solicitation list for a formal RFP solicitation. If your organization would like to be considered for participation in the FEEED RFP solicitation, please complete the submission requirements listed above in this EOI. BEA will select qualified organizations based on responses to the criteria listed above.

SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS

Interested reactor developers are requested to provide expressions of interest (via email) to the undersigned by close-of business on 07/07/2023. Responses must include sufficient written information confirming the responder’s qualifications that addresses each of the EOI evaluation criteria listed under section 3 above.

Note that responses must be no more than ten (10) pages in length in PDF format. Only select respondents, as determined by BEA, will receive an invitation to participate in the anticipated RFP solicitation.

If you have questions, or need additional information, please contact Robert Murdock, Contract Specialist, via email at Robert.Murdock@inl.gov and Tracie Butler, Contract Specialist, via email at Tracie.Butler@inl.gov with the subject line “Response to NRIC FEEED EOI.” Technical questions must be submitted in writing via email.

Proprietary Information

Because information received in response to this EOI may be business sensitive or proprietary to the responding party, respondents must mark information in their responses accordingly.

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