Alanine ESR Dosimetry System

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Marketing and Regulatory Programs Business Services (MRPBS), Acquisition and Asset Management Division (AAMD) has issued this sources sought announcement on behalf of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ), Science and Technology (S&T) Program in order to determine if there are domestic sources capable of providing a Spectrometer and Dosimeter Reader meeting the agency’s needs.

The NAICS code for this acquisition is 334517 Irradiation Apparatus Manufacturing, and the small business size standard is 1,200 employees. The market reseach conducted identified the ESR5000D alanine ESR dosimetry system as the only system that could meets the agency’s needs and found that this system is widely used in phytosanitary irradiation. The market research findings are as following:

1. This system has unique and specific features that provide the regulatory-required research-grade sensitivity and reliability in a format that requires minimal infrastructure, including the precision required by phytosanitary irradiation and APHIS.

2. The reader must meet the specifications of the alanine dosimeter used by APHIS and the commercial phytosanitary irradiation facilities for the alanine ESR dosimetry system to function properly.

3. The ESR5000 is the exclusive model utilized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), APHIS and APHIS-approved phytosanitary irradiation facilities both domestically and internationally when alanine dosimetry is employed.

4. This system enables the program to perform traceability calibration and dose cross-checks among NIST, APHIS and commercial facilities using the same system error and type of alanine dosimeters. This is not a request for proposals, but instead market research to determine if there are existing domestic sources capable of meeting the specialized requirements and if this effort can be successfully competed prior to proceeding with the requirement.

A determination by the Government on the method to compete this requirement has not been established. The Government will not award a contract based on this sources sought notice or any information received, and there will be no reimbursement for preparing or submitting information in response to this notice. If a firm believes it can meet the requirements, it must furnish information about its product to the Contracting Officer, Stephen Tees at stephen.tees@usda.gov by the closing date of this notice.

Supporting evidence must be furnished in sufficient detail to demonstrate the ability to comply with the requirement including: 1) a brief Statement of Capability (no more than two pages), 2) business name, point of contact, email, and phone number, 3) the contractor’s SAM UEI number, and 4) business size and if small, indicate the program. Telephonic inquiries will not be honored. Interested sources who submit data are responsible for appropriately marking information if it is proprietary in nature.

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract action based on this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Responses received after the response date or without the required information will not be considered.