Notice Type: Special Notice Synopsis The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) intends to award a non-competitive, firm fixed price purchase order to Electric Power Research Institute, 1300 West W.T. Harris Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28262-8500 for the project entitled “Electric Power Research Institute's Digital Engineering Guide Training for Assessors” The acquisition is conducted under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b) which provides that contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name or industrial mobilization). The designated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 541690-Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services. The anticipated period of performance is one year. Background An engineering process based on the Systems Engineering discipline was identified and developed by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to enable the effective engineering of digital I&C systems in nuclear power plants. EPRI 3002011816, “Digital Engineering Guide: Decision Making Using Systems Engineering (or DEG)” is a comprehensive guidance document that uses a systems engineering process as the framework for all associated technical and process topics. The DEG is designed to be the single process by which engineers integrate digital technology into a new or existing nuclear power facility. Operating nuclear power plants are standardizing on the process for performing digital I&C upgrades based on EPRI DEG with full adoption by April 2021. A course has been developed for engineering practitioners and is being offered by EPRI to build competencies in using the EPRI Digital Engineering Guide (DEG) to plan and execute nuclear power facility modifications or new build designs that implement digital control or monitoring technology. This course was designed as a “deep dive” for industry practitioners and contains a greater level of detail than required for a regulator for assessing reasonable assurance of adequate protection. The training does not specifically address how to comply with the licensing basis and regulations, however it does provide guidance on including them within the bounding requirements and system requirements specification, which require verifications and validations. This U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requires customization of the existing training package with a shift in emphasis to include the information to be produced during the process, and where a regulator could find the information needed to reach a safety conclusion, integration of the licensing basis and regulations with the bounding requirements, system requirements specification, and downstream verifications and validations, and points in the process where an inspector would be able to perform their required activities. Objective The objective is to provide training on the Digital Engineering Guide for regulatory purposes (i.e., technical review of License Amendment Requests (LARs) and inspections of digital I&C modifications) that use the DEG at Nuclear Power Plants. Contact This Notice of Intent is NOT a request for proposal NOR a solicitation of offers; however, if any interested party believes they can meet the above requirements, it may submit a statement of capabilities. The statement of capabilities must be submitted in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow the government to determine if the party can perform the requirements. Additionally, in order to perform work for the NRC potential sources must be free of organizational conflict of interest (OCOI). For information on the NRC COI regulations, visit NRC Acquisition Regulation Subpart 2009.5 (https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/contracting/48cfr-ch20.html). A determination not to compete this proposed procurement based on responses to the notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All interested parties must express their interest and capabilities in writing via email to Jeffrey R. Mitchell, Contracting Officer via e-mail at
[email protected] no later than February 11, 2021 by 4:00 P.M. Eastern Time (i.e. 15 calendar days from the date this announcement was posted).