6830--Research Gas

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. This is not a solicitation for bids, proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement. The responses received from interested contractors will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method. The intended contract is a firm-fixed price. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Network Contracting Office (NCO) 20, is conducting market research to identify potential sources which can provide a shielded x-ray cabinet as outlined below in support of the Veterans Health Administration, VA Portland Health Care System, 3710 SW U.S. Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR 97239-2964. Potential candidates having the capabilities necessary to provide for this requirement at a fair and reasonable price are invited to respond to this Sources Sought Notice via e-mail to Nazanin Kreiner at Nazanin.kreiner@va.gov no later than June 26, 2026, 1PM, Mountain Time. No telephone inquiries will be accepted. RESPONSES SHOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION: Company name, address, SAM UEI, and business size; point of contact name, phone number, and e-mail address; whether services are presently offered on a current GSA Federal Supply Schedule contract, NASA SEWP, or any other Federal contract. Please also state whether the product is Made in America. NAICS Code 325120 with size standard of 1,200 employees, is applicable to determine business size standard. Please indicate whether proposed system is manufactured in the United States. Any questions or concerns may also be directed via email to Nazanin Kreiner at Nazanin.kreiner@va.gov. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted. STATEMENT OF WORK 1. Contract Title: Research & Development Gas Delivery and Storage 2. Background The Portland VA Health Care System Research Service requires medical grade specialty gasses to conduct a wide array of scientific experiments. The Research Service constantly has over 200 VA funded research grants which encompasses over 490 active protocols for the various research studies. When a VA grant is awarded, it names a Principal Investigator (PI) that is responsible to complete the AIM and Scope of the project. Each Study is unique, and, in most cases, the PI has completed previous studies and/or has more than one active study. A hallmark of scientific discovery is consistency of reagents and supplies over many years so this itself does not become a variable. Consistent reagents, such as specialty gases mixed gases provided during each experiment or something of that nature allows for data integrity with results shared with other investigators and VA approved repositories. It is imperative that future experiments keep the same scientific continuity as previous experiments with 10-30 years of medical scientific value. The Research laboratories are located within the Portland VA campus in buildings 100,101,103,104 and 6. These specialty gasses which are case/study dependent are required at all these locations. Collection of scientific data is a continuum and future experiments are based upon previous results. In virtually all labs, the specialty gas comes in direct contact with living cells from many distinct tissue sources and maintaining viability of the cells is critically important. The baseline scientific data mentioned above was derived from many years and hundreds of research studies that included the use of gasses provided via contract. Due to the specific need to maintain this scientific continuity, the determined delivery schedule is exclusive to the Portland VA Research Service. 3. Scope The vendor must perform 100% of the contract. Any deviation from performance, the contractor is required to contact the research administration office immediately to ensure zero disruption of research efforts and plan a contingency in place with assigned COR. In the event of any emergencies, the contractor must deliver within 24 hours of initial report and plan future deliveries in the event of potential delays. The types of gasses needed are listed in Table 1 below along with the inventoried list at the bottom of the SOW. The number and type of cylinders that the Contractor will be providing, and maintaining, varies based on need and projects funded (see Table 1 for the list of requirements). Flexibility is required on the part of the Contractor to be able to handle specialty orders (custom gas mixes and sizes) as well as emergency orders (delivery within <24 hours of request, with applicable fees) regardless of inclement weather or holiday schedules. If contractor is unable to deliver, contractor will contact research administration within 24 hours. The contractor will visit the Portland Campus, replace empty gas tanks with a full tank on a regular schedule, each week on Tuesday and Friday. Aside from dry ice, Dewars are the only fillable items as needed. Tanks and/or cylinders will be replaced accordingly depending on their levels. The contractor will also deliver dry ice to specific locations identified by Portland Research. Deliveries scheduled for a federal holiday will be rescheduled for the date preceding the original delivery date thus accommodating to the delivery schedule of twice weekly at minimum. The contractor will notify Portland Research if they do not have the appropriate gas as specific below in the table and, provide a contingency timeframe of next availability of said gas. Large liquid nitrogen tanks will be filled as needed. Other tanks will be swapped as they are depleted. Specifically, the contractor must not disrupt research laboratories with gaps of service, tank hook-ups, cylinder/tank placements as this would alter or cause critical detriment to the VA facility structure. This is due to the plumbing; any alteration of this could cause critical damage to specimens and/or loss of years of research work with sensitive materials being stored. Gas consumption to include O2 & all specialty gasses are on an as needed basis with requests outside of delivery schedule. Deliveries must be made twice a week to ensure no interruption to study integrity. Company will provide O2 as requested. Table 1 Item List Account Item # Description CYLINDERS Item: AR PP1A Loc: All Argon, Prepurified, size 1A CYLINDERS Item: AR PP1L Loc: All Argon, Prepurified, size 1L CYLINDERS Item: AR UHP1A Loc: All Argon, Ultra High Purity, Size 1A CYLINDERS Item: AR UHP1L Loc: All Argon, Ultra High Purity, Size 1L CYLINDERS Item: BA 200 Loc: All Breathing Air, Size 250 CYLINDERS Item: BA 300 Loc: All Breathing Air, Size 300 CYLINDERS Item: CD 50 Loc: All Carbon Dioxide, size 50 DRY ICE Item: CD DRYICEPLT Loc: All Carbon Dioxide, Dry Ice pellets, per pound DRY ICE Item: CD ICEPELLETS Loc: All Carbon Dioxide, Dry Ice pellets, per pound CYLINDERS Item: HE UHP1A Loc: All Helium, Ultra High Purity, Size 1A CYLINDERS Item: HE UHP1L Loc: All Helium, Ultra High Purity, Size 1L CYLINDERS Item: HX G2687635 Loc: All 2% Chlorine, Nitrogen balance, Gravimetric grade, size 1P CYLINDERS Item: MX 5CDNTEMP Loc: All Carbon Dioxide 5%, Balance Nitrogen, Size E, Medical CYLINDERS Item: MX 5CDNTHM Loc: All Carbon Dioxide 5%, Balance Nitrogen, Size H, Medical CYLINDERS Item: MX 5CDOXHMV Loc: All Carbon Dioxide 5%, Balance Oxygen, Size H, Blood gas mix CYLINDERS Item: MX 5CDOXNTHM Loc: All Carbon Dioxide 5%, Oxygen 5%, Balance Nitrogen, Size H, Blood gas mix CYLINDERS Item: MX M024M200 Loc: All Medical Mix M024, Nitrogen 75%, Oxygen 20%, Carbon Dioxide 5%, size 200 CYLINDERS Item: MX M024ME Loc: All Medical Mix M024, Nitrogen 75%, Oxygen 20%, Carbon Dioxide 5%, size E LIQUID CONTAINERS Item: NI 160LLP Loc: All Nitrogen, industrial, 160 liter, Low pressure LIQUID CONTAINERS Item: NI 180LHP Loc: All Nitrogen, industrial, 200 liter, High pressure LIQUID CONTAINERS Item: NI 180LLP Loc: All Nitrogen, industrial, 180 liter, Low pressure CYLINDERS Item: NI 200 Loc: All Nitrogen, industrial, size 200 DEWAR FILLS Item: NI 20L Loc: All Liguid Nitrogen, 20 liters CYLINDERS Item: NI 230LLP Loc: All Nitrogen, industrial, 230 liter, Low pressure CYLINDERS Item: NI 250 Loc: All Nitrogen, industrial, size 250 DEWAR FILLS Item: NI 25L Loc: All Liguid Nitrogen, 25 liters DEWAR FILLS Item: NI 30L Loc: All Liguid Nitrogen, 30 liters DEWAR FILLS Item: NI 35L Loc: All Liguid Nitrogen, 35 liters DEWAR FILLS Item: NI 50L Loc: All Liquid Nitrogen, 50 liters DEWAR FILLS Item: NI 60L Loc: All Liquid Nitrogen, 60 liters CYLINDERS Item: NI UHP180LMP Loc: All Nitrogen, Ultra High Purity, 180 liter, Medium pressure CYLINDERS Item: NI UHP1A Loc: All Nitrogen, Ultra High Purity, Size 1A CYLINDERS Item: NI UHP1L Loc: All Nitrogen, Ultra High Purity, Size 1L CYLINDERS Item: NI UHPL180-350 Loc: All Nitrogen, Ultra High Purity, 180 liter, High pressure (350 PSI) CYLINDERS Item: OX M250 Loc: All Oxygen, Medical, size 250…