Contact Points
Primary Contract Specialist
Secondary Contracting Officer
Billerica, MA 01821
• In addition, there has been a nationwide shortage of liquid helium supply. Our long-term local supply cannot guaranty being able to provide us the product in a reliable manner.
The Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) Section needs to purchase liquid helium and an onsite service to fill liquid helium into our magnet.
We have a 11.7 Tesla super conducting magnet in our lab to do magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies. The magnet requires periodically liquid helium filling in order to keep very low temperature for super conducting coil working. Liquid helium is a time sensitive material that people do not obtain long time before the use. Otherwise, it will evaporate into gas.
Beginning 2021, there has been a nation-wide liquid helium shortage. In 2022, we have contacted our long-term local supplier (Roberts Oxygen which we have being used for 20 years) several times. We were told that due to nation-wide shortage of liquid helium and they could not guarantee to provide us the product at the time of we need. Based on more than 20 years' experience, if there is a nation-wide shortage of liquid helium, it is very difficult to get the product from third party liquid helium vendors.
Without the scheduled refill of liquid helium, the temperature inside the super conducting magnet may rise higher than the limit and may cause the magnet quench. Once it happens, it will be very expensive to re-ramp up the magnet.
Interested parties may identify in writing their interest and capability in response to this requirement. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.
All responses must be received by closing date and must reference the announcement. Responses may be submitted electronically to the attention of the contract specialist. Fax responses will not be accepted.
All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency.