Services consultatifs nucléaires

Trade Agreement: NONE
Tendering Procedures: All interested suppliers may submit a bid
Attachment: None
Competitive Procurement Strategy: N/A - P&A/LOI Only
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Nature of Requirements:
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)
FOR
NUCLEAR ADVISORY SERVICES FOR THE RESTRUCTURING OF ATOMIC ENERGY
OF CANADA LIMITED'S (AECL's) NUCLEAR LABORATORIES (LABORATORIES).

IMPORTANT NOTE TO POTENTIAL SUPPLIERS

The material in this Request for Information (RFI) package is
for the purpose of feedback only. Responding to this RFI is not
a prerequisite to receiving any resulting Request for Proposal
(RFP) for the Nuclear Advisory Services for the Restructuring of
AECLs Laboratories.

However, all potential suppliers are encouraged to indicate
their level of interest by sending their comments or questions
to the Contracting Authority (at the e-mail address provided
below).

The publication of the RFI must not be construed as a commitment
on Canada's part to issue a subsequent Request for Proposal
(RFP) for Natural Resources Canada's requirement and no other
form of commitment will be entered into with any potential
supplier based on its participation to this RFI. This RFI must
in no way be considered as authorization by Canada for potential
suppliers to undertake any work, which would result in costs to
Canada. Canada will not be liable for, nor will it reimburse any
potential supplier for any costs, fees or expenses which any
potential supplier incurs in the participation to this RFI.
Canada will not be bound by any information stated herein.
Canada reserves the right to reject or take any comment in
account or to change, at any time, any or all parts of the
requirement as it deems necessary.

OBJECTIVES OF THE RFI

The two main objectives of this Request for Information (RFI):

" To notify the industry of Canada's intentions with respect to
the requirement to Nuclear Advisory Services and encourage
industry to prepare to meet the requirements of future
solicitation.
" To offer industry the opportunity to comment on the
availability of services to support this DRAFT Request for
Proposal (RFP) and whether there are concerns or recommendations
on the requirement. Find attached the Draft RFP. This Draft RFP
may subject to change, if required.

Clarification

PWGSC may require clarification of written responses received
and/or comments received. Requests for clarification will be
submitted in writing by email and a response will be requested
within three (3) working days of transmission of the
clarification questions.

Canada will not provide any guidance on how to prepare the
responses or of any acceptable response strategy.

Potential suppliers are advised that any information submitted
to Canada in response to this RFI may be used in development of
a subsequent RFP. Potential suppliers will not be bound by any
aspect of their response to this RFI. All responses to this RFI
will be held by Canada on a confidential basis (subject to
applicable legislation), and remain the property of Canada once
they have been received.

Closing Date

Responses to this RFI will be accepted until 2:00 PM Daylight
Saving Time (DST) on March 18, 2013. Responses to this RFI are
to be submitted in writing or electronically to the Contracting
Authority stated herein.

BACKGROUND

The restructuring of AECL, a Crown corporation, is a long-term
initiative that the Canada announced in 2009 to reduce the cost
and liability risks facing AECL and Canada. The restructuring
focussed first on the divestiture of the former CANDU Reactor
Division (CRD), which successfully closed in October 2011 with
the sale of the assets of the CRD to Candu Energy Inc. (Candu),
a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.

In February 2012, Canada issued a Request for Expression of
Interest (RFEOI) No. 23240-120758/A to assess stakeholder
interest in managing, investing in or partnering with AECL and
received 46 responses from a variety of stakeholders including
the private sector; local communities, academics and academic
interests, provincial government organizations; industry
associations; and employees, employee groups and retirees.

Based on the responses received through the RFEOI process and
internal analysis, Canada is proceeding with restructuring the
Laboratories with a view to: clarifying their mandate,
governance, and accountabilities; aligning funding and resources
to explicit objectives, goals and priorities anchored in federal
roles and responsibilities; and moving to full-cost recovery for
goods and services provided to AECL's customers. Building on
lessons learned from other countries (e.g. U.K. and U.S.),
Canada is seeking to benefit from private sector rigour and
management of the Laboratories, while moving nuclear science &
technology (S&T) to be more industry-driven.

Overview

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), on behalf
of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), is seeking the services of
an experienced independent contractor, on an as and when
requested basis, to provide Nuclear Advisory Services related to
the restructuring of (AECLs) Nuclear Laboratories (Laboratories).

The objectives of the Work are to obtain expert advice and
services to assist the Government of Canada (Canada) in (i)
developing a sound and competitive staged procurement process
for the selection of a contractor to manage and operate the
Laboratories under a Government-Owned, Contractor-Operated
(GoCo) contract, and (ii) to provide advice and support to
Canada in monitoring and assessing the performance of the
Contractor under the GoCo Contract.

The Contractor must provide advice and services to Canada in
specific areas relating to contracting for management and
operating services for nuclear laboratories. The services and
advice to be provided may include but are not limited to: (i)
nuclear laboratory benchmarking and performance assessment; (ii)
performance indicator setting; (iii) nuclear laboratory
management advice; (iv) radioactive waste management advice; (v)
assessment and valuation of waste liabilities and waste
liability management; (vi) performance-based contracting for
management and operations services; (vii) laboratory capability
assessment; (viii) site improvement plan development; as well as
(ix) studies and market research relating to the nuclear energy
research area.

The contract period will be from Contract date to March 31, 2014
with one additional irrevocable one (1) year option period and
(5) additional irrevocable optional periods of six (6) months
each.

Security Requirement

1. The Contractor must, at all times during the performance of
the Contract, hold a valid Facility Security Clearance at the
level of SECRET, with approved-Document safeguarding at the
level of SECRET, issued by the Canadian Industrial Security
Directorate (CISD), Public Works and Government Services Canada
(PWGSC).

2. The Contractor personnel requiring access to CLASSIFIED
information, assets or sensitive work site(s) must EACH hold a
valid personnel security screening at the level of SECRET,
granted or approved by the CISD, PWGSC.

3. Processing of CLASSIFIED information electronically at the
Contractor site is NOT permitted under this Contract.

4. Subcontracts which contain security requirements are NOT to
be awarded without the prior written permission of CISD/PWGSC.

5. The Contractor must comply with the provisions of the:
(a) Security Requirements Check List and security guide (if
applicable);
(b) Industrial Security Manual (Latest Edition).

Sponsorship Request

Bidders whose organizations currently do not hold a valid
Facility Security Clearance (FSC), issued by the Canadian
Industrial Security Directorate (CISD) of PWGSC, at a level of
information of SECRET are encouraged to initiate the security
clearance process immediately to meet the above noted security
requirements by requesting sponsorship from the PWGSC Contacting
Authority by e-mail at the address provided.

It is the responsibility of the Bidders to ensure that the
information required concerning the security clearance is
provided on time to either the requesting authority or the CISD
of PWGSC.

The request should include the following information:
" Legal name of the company:
" Business Name, if different from legal name:
" Mailing address:
" Civic address, if different from mailing address:
" Company telephone number:
" Company fax number:
" Surname and Given Name of the contact person (Canadian
Official):
" Title of the contact person:
" Telephone number of the contact person:
" E-mail address of the contact person:
" Language preference (English or French);

The CISD of PWGSC will then send to the interested respondent
the paperwork, which needs to be completed.

For any inquiries concerning any security requirements, the
respondents should contact CISD at 1-866-368-4646, or (613)
948-4176 in the National Capital Region, CISD Website:
http://ssi-iss.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/index-eng.html.

There are no direct costs charged to respondents wishing to
obtain a Facility Security Clearance (FSC). However, the Bidder
may incur indirect costs, which results from being required to
meet the minimum standards such as installing mechanisms for
document safeguarding, if applicable.

Mandatory Criteria on National Security Exception

1. To protect its essential security interests, including
ensuring compliance with its national nuclear policies and its
international nuclear non-proliferation agreements, Canada has
invoked the National Security Exception for this procurement,
which excludes this procurement from all of the obligations of
the trade agreements to which Canada is a party.

2. In order to be allowed to submit a bid, a Bidder (as defined
in Article 4 of the 2003 Standard Instructions - Goods or
Services - Competitive Requirements (2012-11-19)), and any
parent of the Bidder must be domiciled in
(a) Canada; or
(b) a country that has:
(i) a government-to-government arrangement with Canada for the
exchange and safeguarding of protected and classified
information and assets
(http://ssi-iss.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/ssi-iss/int/si-is-en…);
and
(ii) a Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with Canada.

3. The Successful Bidder will be prohibited from transferring
outside of Canada any controlled nuclear information and/or
technology. The phrase "controlled information and/or
technology" means nuclear information such as design
specifications, technical data, drawings and models subject to
the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, the Export and Import
Permits Act, the Nuclear Non-proliferation Import and Export
Control Regulations and the Export Permit Regulations.

4. If the Bidder is comprised of two or more Persons, each
Person that comprises the Bidder must also meet the requirements
set out in section 2. Prior to contract award, the successful
Bidder and each Person comprising that Bidder must hold a valid
organization security clearance as required in Part 7 (Resulting
Contract Clauses) or an equivalent security requirement from a
country that has an arrangement referred to in section 2(b)
above.

5. Each Bidder must, in its bid:
(a) Submit detailed information on its organizational structure,
including the jurisdiction(s) in which any parent of the Bidder
is organized, and in which the headquarters of the Bidder and
any parent of the Bidder is located; and
(b) Identify all Persons having Control of each Bidder, its
parent(s) and any other affiliate in the corporate chain between
the Bidder and its parent(s), including the country in which the
Person having Control is domiciled.
6. (a) A Bidder must immediately notify PWGSC of any changes to
the information that, pursuant to section 5, is required to be
included in its bid.
(b) The successful Bidder will be required, during the term of
the Contract, to immediately notify PWGSC of any changes to the
information that, pursuant to section 5, it was required to
include in its bid. Canada may, in its absolute discretion,
terminate the Contract if it determines that the successful
Bidder no longer meets the requirements of section 2 or section
7.

7. All Bidders meeting the requirements in section 2 will be
subject to pursuant to Canada's nuclear safety,
non-proliferation and security considerations. Canada may, in
its absolute discretion, consider and determine whether the
Bidder is eligible to continue to participate in the RFP
process. Should the review of a Bidder raise national security
concerns, PWGSC will notify that Bidder that it will not be
permitted to participate in the RFP process, and any Bid
submitted by that Bidder will not be accepted.

8. For the purposes of this clause only:
(a) "Control" means with respect to a Person (i) any other
Person, or one or more other Persons acting jointly or in
concert, having beneficial ownership (whether directly or
indirectly) of more than 20 percent of the shares or ownership
interests of the first Person, or (ii) having the power to elect
a majority of the directors of a Person that is a corporation or
otherwise control the decisions made by or on behalf of that
Person;
(b) "domiciled" means:
(i) with respect to a Bidder, the country in which the Bidder
and any parent of the Bidder is legally organized and
(ii) with respect to any Person that Controls the Bidder,
(a) the country in which that Person is legally organized, or
(b) if an individual, the country in which that Person is
resident.
(c) "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership,
firm, joint venture, syndicate, association, trust, governmental
authority or other form of legal entity.

PROCUREMENT BUSINESS NUMBER

In order to do business with the Federal Government, the
potential Bidder must be registered with Buyandsell.gc.ca
(formerly Contracts Canada) and obtain a Procurement Business
Number (PBN). For that purpose, they need to call the Info Line
1-800-811-1148 for general inquiries regarding Buyandsell.gc.ca
and federal government procurement practices and activities.

CONTRACTING AUTHORITY:

Pierre Rocan
Supply Specialist
Professional Services Procurement Directorate
Acquistions Branch
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Tel: 819-956-1374
Email: p••••••••@••••••••.••.ca
Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any
procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.