ACTION CODE: SPECIAL NOTICE

CLASSIFICATION CODE: 68 - Chemicals & Chemical Products

SUBJECT: Purchase of Isotopic Enriched Carbon-12 and Carbon-13 Methane

SOLICITATION NUMBER: SB1341-17-RQ-0632

RESPONSE DATE: 10 days after posting

DESCRIPTION:
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (1), with Cambridge Isotope Laboratories located at 50 Frontage Road, Andover, MA 01810-5413 to purchase Isotopic Enriched Carbon-12 and Carbon-13 Methane.

The sole source justification is based on the following: The value of the Carbon-13 / Carbon-12 ratio is used in many applications including climate monitoring, forensic science, and geochemistry. Currently, this ratio is applied as a scale (δ13C) and is not traceable to the SI unit of mass (kg). The Material Measurement Laboratory's (MMLs) Gas Sensing Metrology Group (GSMG) within the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) proposes to produce a gravimetric suite of 400 µmol/mol methane (CH4) in real air (N2, O2, Ar only) with varying δ13C values (+20 ‰ to -90‰ in increments of 10 ‰), thereby linking the δ13C scale to the kg. The starting materials will be highly enriched Carbon-12 methane (12CH4), and Carbon-13 methane (13CH4). These primary standards must have a standard uncertainty of ≤ 1 ‰. Consequently, it is proposed to purchase 200 liters of 12CH4 (12C ≥ 99.999%), and 60 liters of 13CH4 (13C ≥ 99.9%).

Market research has shown that Cambridge Isotope Laboratories is the sole company who can provide this requirement to NIST.

Given these facts, Cambridge Isotope Laboratories is the only source reasonably available to provide these materials.

The resulting purchase order will be a Firm Fixed Price purchase order. The NAICS Code is 325120 with a size standard of 1,000 employees.

No solicitation package will be issued. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations; however, interested parties who regard themselves as capable of fulfilling these requirements are invited to submit responses to the Government for consideration. Responses received by 11:00 am EST 07/03/2017, will be considered by the Government.

A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.

Inquiry POCs:
[email protected] Primary
[email protected] Secondary
National Institutes of Standards and Technologies NIST
Acquisition Management Division (AMD)
100 Bureau Dr. Mail Stop 1640
Gaithersburg, MD. 20899-1640