Helium-3
This is a Notice of Proposed Contract Action under the FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This notice is for information only; a solicitation will not be issued. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION. No contract will be awarded on the basis of offers received in response to this notice. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 325120 with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees.
The Government intends to negotiate a sole source contract with:
Linde Gas North America LLC
200 Somerset Corp. Blvd.
Suite 7000
Bridgewater, NJ 08807
AFRL requires specific cylinders of Helium-3 approved by the Department of Energy (DOE). The Government has determined that no other source has commercial offerings that can meet this requirement. The U.S. DOE's Isotope Program is the sole domestic producer of Helium-3. There is no other producer as Helium-3 is produced from decay of radioactive tritium in nuclear weapons. It is recovered and sold solely for Government research applications. Linde is the sole purification and dispensing contractor in the U.S.
This is a notice of proposed contract action and not a request for competitive proposals; however, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement or proposal, which shall be considered by the agency. All inquiries should be sent by email to Ashley.Ellinger@us.af.mil. Responses must be submitted by the date/time listed on the notice. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government in future procurements.
Responses received will be evaluated; however a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government anticipates an award date on or before 16 August 2019.
A Sole Source Justification will be attached to the subsequent Notice of Award in accordance with applicable regulation.
Ashley Ellinger, Contracting Officer, Phone 315-330-4496, Fax 315-330-2555, Email Ashley.Ellinger@us.af.mil
