The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks information on commercial vendors that are capable of providing an X-ray Generator.

This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified business sources. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible.

NOTE: This notice is strictly for obtaining Market Research. There will be no Question & Answer period under this Sources Sought Notice.
Background/Scope:

The mission of the Physical Measurements Laboratory, Radiation Physics Group is to provide national standards, methods, measurement services, and data for applications of ionizing radiation (x and gamma rays, electrons, neutrons, radioactivity, etc.) for protection of workers and the general public, radiation therapy and diagnostics, radiography, industrial processing, nuclear and alternative energies, national defense and security, space science (including cosmogenesis) and environmental protection.

The RPG requires a High-Stability X-Ray Generator that will power the custom demountable x-ray source attached to the vacuum tank of the Vacuum Double Crystal Spectrometer (VDCS) [1]. The x-ray tube itself has been custom designed and fabricated at NIST [2]. The X-ray Generator includes a high power (6 kW) high voltage (30 kV) power supply to energize the anode of the x-ray source (positive polarity) and a connected high current (20 A, 20 V) power supply to power the filaments for electron generation. The connection between the two power supplies is essential for safe and stable operation of the x-ray source. This connection used to be created by a programmable logic device that regulates the ramping of the high voltage on the anode and the current on the filament of the x-ray source.

The built in programmed logic should be potentially replaced by higher level programming (LabView code) to provide more flexibility, viz., adjustment of voltage and current ramp-up times and feedback time constants regulating beam current. To perform high precision (ppm) x-ray wavelength measurements, stability is essential which in turn informs the requirements. The x-ray source needs to operate reliably at constant power with constant x-ray output during scans of the x-ray spectrum with the VDCS. These scans are performed in the time frame of several hours at a time ranging up to constant operation of a day or two during which stable operation of the x-ray generator needs to be ensured.

General Requirements:

The Contractor shall provide documentation to demonstrate their products capabilities for x-ray generator:

High-voltage power supply (e.g. Spell man STR30P6 or similar)
•0 to ≥ 30 kV positive polarity, continuously adjustable
•0 to ≥ 200 mA emission current, continuously adjustable
•Power output: ≥ 6 kW
•Line Regulation: ± 0.005 % for ±10 % line change, or better
•Load Regulation: ±0.005 % for a full load change, or better
•Ripple: < 0.1 % peak to peak
•After 30 min warm up, long-term drift is < 0.01 % of full-scale output voltage in any 8 h period.
•Temperature Coefficient: 25 ppm/°C HV divider; 10 ppm/°C current sense resistors
•Digital meters indicating high voltage output and emission current
•External interlock and warning lights
•Ethernet connectivity for monitoring and control

Filament power supply (e.g. Sorensen DLM 20-30 (M130) + DLMRK or similar)

•0 to 20 VDC, ground referenced
•0 to 20 A
•Ripple & noise: Less than 1 % RMS
•Emission current regulated to 0.05 % or better after 30 min warm up
•Ethernet connectivity for monitoring and control
Synchronization of the x-ray generator system, stability control

•Surge suppression network for the filament PS protecting against flashovers from the high voltage
•Emission Current stabilization software (LabView) to be installed on lab computer
•Monitors emission current and adjusts filament current according to possible changes
•Monitors emission and filament current with x-ray source vacuum to indicate anode faults, vacuum leaks and other mishaps. Built in shut down security

After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed and specifications are developed for the instruments that can meet NIST's minimum requirements, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a Purchase Order. If at least two qualified small businesses are identified during this market research stage, then any competitive procurement that resulted would be conducted as a small business set-aside.

NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large, foreign, and small businesses. Small businesses are defined under the associated NAICS code for this effort, 334517, as those domestic sources having 1000 employees or less.
Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice.

Companies that manufacture the required system with the above capabilities are requested to email a detailed report describing their abilities to [email protected] no later than the response date for this sources sought notice.

The report should include achievable specifications and any other information relevant to your product or capabilities.

Also, the following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice:

1. Name of the company that manufactures the system components for which specifications are provided.
2. Name of company(s) that are authorized to sell the system components, their addresses, and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, fax number and email address).
3. Indication of number of days, after receipt of order that is typical for delivery of such systems.
4. Indication of whether each instrument for which specifications are sent to [email protected] are currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracts and, if so, the GSA FSS contract number(s).
5. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum specifications and finalizing its market research.
Point of Contact

Lynda Horton Contracting Officer, Phone (301) 975-3725, Fax (301) 975-8753, Email [email protected]

Bid Protests Not Available