Support for FORMOSA/PARCS Coupling

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) intends to enter into a sole source contract with the North Carolina State University to provide technical expertise to support FORMOSA/PARCS Coupling. The period of performance for this contract will be one (1) year.

The authority to enter into a contract on a sole source basis with the North Carolina State University is made under the authority of 41 U.S. C. 253(c)(1) and Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1 which provides for limiting competition in those situations where the supplies or services are available from only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy the agency requirements.

This is a new requirement, and the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services). The F6 software, developed at North Carolina State University’s Reactor Dynamics and Fuel Modelling Group, enables the automation of PWR core (i.e., loading pattern) design.

F6, the latest iteration of the well-known FORMOSA optimization software [1], uses a parallel simulated annealing technique to optimize loading patterns against user-defined constraints by manipulating user-specified design variables. F6 has been integrated with core analysis software common in the nuclear industry (e.g., SIMULATE-3, Westinghouse’s ANC), and has proven to efficiently develop loading patterns that meet safety and economic requirements. NC State is the sole owner of the F6 software.

Substantial effort has already been invested in code development to enable the coupling of F6 and PARCS; specifically, NRC staff and NC State faculty have already added source code to F6 for the purpose of coupling to PARCS. Hence, NC State’s unique qualification is that their optimization software already has a limited capability to optimize PARCS PWR core models.

The objective of this this acquisition is to improve and expand the F6/PARCS capabilities into a production-level tool for optimizing PWR core loading patterns. The target applications are:

Single-cycle loading pattern optimization Multicycle loading pattern optimization Equilibrium cycle Transition cycles for changes such as: Power uprates Cycle length extensions Fuel upgrades This Notice of Intent is neither a request for proposal nor a solicitation of offers. A determination not to compete this proposed procurement based on responses to the notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. In doing so, interested sources must submit technical capabilities and any other information that demonstrates their ability to meet the NRC's needs. Detailed capability statements shall be submitted to Mr. Geoffrey Coleman via FedConnect no later than February 19, 2024 by 4:00 pm (EST). Telephonic/Email responses and responses providing insufficient information for evaluation by the NRC will not be considered.