Framework Contract for the Supply of Vacuum Engineering Support to the ITER Project

Call for Nomination

Purpose

The purpose of the framework contract in question is to provide vacuum engineering support to the ITER project. The support to be provided is described, in general terms, in the technical specifications. The detailed definition of the required support, including deliverables and expected durations will be described in specific task orders to be raised against the framework contract in question.

Background

ITER will be the largest and most complex vacuum system yet to be built. Situated in Southern France, adjacent to the French CEA Cadarache site, the ITER International Organisation (IO) facility covers approximately 190 hectares and is designed to study the fusion reaction between the hydrogen isotopes tritium and deuterium.

As reliable vacuum performance is key to successful ITER operations the design, manufacture, testing and installation of ITER vacuum systems and equipment with a potential to perturb the operation of the ITER vacuum systems must be the subject of high standards and strict quality control. To minimise the risk of vacuum leaks being built into the ITER vacuum systems, which become in-accessible for subsequent test and repair, all vacuum boundaries shall be subjected to leak testing.

In support of the ITER construction is it is necessary to develop and validate leak testing methodologies and procedures. It is also required to assess system design for leak testability during manufacture and subsequent installation.

To insure vacuum performance of proposed materials it is required to perform vacuum qualification (outgassing) tests on such materials. On successful qualification the materials are added to the ITER accepted materials lists which remade available to the suppliers for material selection.

Scope of work

The scope of work of this contract includes the following activities

Vacuum Engineering

Design of test fixtures and fittings required for validation of leak testing procedures

Analysis of designs with respect to vacuum acceptance testing

Analysis of ITER system design(s) with respect to installation leak testing

Development of pressure / leak testing procedures

Practical validation performance of pressure / leak test procedures

Vacuum testing support at IO and Supplier premises Suppliers’ premises may be in any of the IO partner countries, India, Korea, Europe, Japan, Russia, China and the United States of America

Preparation of vacuum test equipment

Performance of material tests (outgassing) for material qualification

Specific tasks to be performed and expected deliverables will be detailed in the individual task orders.

The work will be carried out on a full time basis at ITER Organization and will include several travels to the IO partners’ countries.

The supply of any equipment required to perform the services outlined in this technical specification are outside of the scope of this framework contract.

Experience

  • The Contractor and its personnel shall have experience in the non-destructive testing of nuclear devices – including leak testing by tracer gas method.
  • The Contractor and its personnel shall have experience in mechanical engineering over all phases of the project life cycle from specification, through design, to manufacture.

Estimated duration:

The duration of the framework contract will be two years with options to extend it up to three years.

Task orders will be issued for specific scope of work. The duration of each task will depend on the scope of work.

The first task order is expected to start in September 2013.

The anticipated level of support for the first two years is given below as guidance:

2013: 2 man-year

2014: 2 man-year

Timetable

The tentative timetable is as follows:

Launch call for tender / End May 2013
Submission call for tender / July 2013
Contract placement / August/ September 2013
First Task Order / September 2013

Candidature

Participation is open to all legal persons participating either individually or in a grouping (consortium) which is established in an ITER Member State. A legal person cannot participate individually or as a consortium partner in more than one application or tender. A consortium may be a permanent, legally-established grouping or a grouping, which has been constituted informally for a specific tender procedure. All members of a consortium (i.e. the leader and all other members) are jointly and severally liable to the ITER Organization.

The consortium groupings shall be presented at the pre-qualification stage. The tenderer’s composition cannot be modified without the approval of the ITER Organization after the pre-qualification.

Legal entities belonging to the same legal grouping are allowed to participate separately if they are able to demonstrate independent technical and financial capacities. Candidates (individual or consortium) must comply with the selection criteria. The IO reserves the right to disregard duplicated reference projects and may exclude such legal entities from the pre-qualification procedure.