Upgrade to NIST SSICs - ULCA

Announcement Type:

Special Notice Classification Code:

6695 Announcement Number: NB682040-24-02796 (NOI)

Subject: Notice of Intent to Noncompetitively Acquire Upgrade to Secondary Standard Ionization Chambers (SSIC) - Ultrastable Low-Noise Current Amplifiers (ULCAs) The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Physical Measurements Laboratory (PML), Radioactivity Group maintains the standard for the unit of radioactivity, becquerel of a radionuclide. Previous primary measurements of individual radionuclides are maintained by maintaining a factors for two secondary standard ionization chambers (SSIC).

Operation of these SSICs require metrological measurements of low currents over a large range, 20 fA to 5 nA with low uncertainty and a linear response. This notice is not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued and quotations will not be requested. This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) via FAR 13.106-1(b). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing.

The purpose of the requirement is to reduce the linearity, long term stability, and potential to be traceable to national electrical standards.

Re-entrant ionization chambers, which record the electrical current generated in the system by radioactive decay, are an essential tool for the radionuclide metrology mission at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to maintain the US national measurement standards that support nuclear medicine, safe nuclear power, environmental stewardship, border security, and other applications. After thorough evaluation, it has been determined that the SSIC from manufacturer, Magnicon GmbH, is essential for several reasons:

Technical Specifications: The requirements for this top-level metrology demand that systems must be precise and stable to 0.1 % over many years (due to the various half-lives of the radionuclides measured) and linear from 10?14 A to 10?8 A (due to the sensitivity needed, particularly at low activity levels). Historically, laboratories have depended on sealed sources to generate reference currents in these systems but aging electronics and decreasing availability of sealed sources threaten the current paradigm.

Ultrastable Low-Noise Current Amplifiers (ULCAs) have shown promise and are currently being deployed at the BIPM (International Bureau of Weights and Measures) as an alternative for the International Reference System (SIR) on-going measurement comparison of radioactivity for National Metrology Institutions. ULCAs for the existing ionization chambers at NIST are required to be able to continue a critical National metrology program, including active participation in international measurement comparisons.

The Magnicon GmbH-manufactured system is the only system identified that meets NISTs requirements for the range of radioactive sources, half-lives, and activity levels measured in this laboratory. Other low current measurement devices have 100x to 100x larger uncertainty on the measurement, which would intolerably expand the uncertainty on final metrological results and are more sensitive to temperature fluctuations.

NIST conducted market research from April 2023 – June 2024 by internet searches, discussions with sources, conferences, and a sources sought posting. Sources sought NB682040-24-02796 was posted from July 11, 2024, to July 25, 2024 with no responses. The results of that market research revealed that only Magnicon GMBH, BARKHAUSENWEG 11, HAMBURG, 22339 DEU, UEI: CUWTMWLD7HS3 appears to be capable of meeting NIST’s requirements.

However, any sources that believe they are capable of meeting NIST’s minimum requirements are encouraged to respond to this notice by the response date to provide the following information at a minimum: Company Unique Entity Identifier number in https://sam.gov; details about what your company is capable of providing that meets or exceeds NIST’s minimum requirements; whether your company is an authorized reseller of the product or service being cited and evidence of such authorization; and any other information that can help NIST determine whether this requirement may be competitively satisfied.