Provision of Independent Research and Advice in the Area of Nuclear Graphite ee (GTAC) and Research in the Area of Nuclear Graphite Structural Integrity for the Office for Nuclear Regulation

SCOPE OF THE SERVICES REQUIRED

Provision of Independent Research:

Work programmes would include:

• development of fracture models of nuclear graphite.
• contribution to the development and maintenance of independent materials property models.
• sensitivity studies of stress analysis of graphite bricks using finite element analysis both static and dynamic; and
• modelling of brick-to-brick interactions as the core ages.

General work areas would include:

(i) detailed modelling and analysis.

(ii) preparing reports and presenting work, either to ONR or groups including licensee representatives.

(iii) providing ONR with an expert view on particular technical topics, which may include attendance at regulatory meetings.

(iv) attendance of one member of staff at an internationally recognised conference to disseminate their work.

(v) Attendance at and support to relevant GTAC meetings and sub-group activities.

Provision of Independent Advice

• For the provision of expert advice element of the contract, ONR requires the supplier to establish and maintain a Graphite Technical Advisory Committee (GTAC).

The supplier should ensure that:

• The GTAC panel should be comprised of around 12 suitably qualified and experienced independent experts, with demonstrable knowledge in graphite behaviour, ageing, assessment methodologies, and nuclear safety.
• The composition of the panel must reflect a balanced range of technical disciplines relevant to graphite core performance, inspection, modelling, and structural integrity.
• Members should be selected on the basis of competence, credibility, and absence of conflicts of interest.
• The GTAC should be capable of providing impartial, authoritative, and timely advice to support ONR's regulatory decision-making.
• The membership should be resilient and sustainable; where any member holds unique specialist knowledge and may potentially leave or retire during the contract period, the supplier shall identify and maintain suitable potential replacements to ensure continuity.
• Appropriate facilities should be provided to support the operation of the GTAC, including suitable meeting venues, refreshments, and associated logistics.
• Suitable contractual arrangements must be in place to enable additional experts to be engaged as required, either through co-option to the GTAC or via specific sub-contracts for discrete tasks.
• Adequate administrative support to be provided to manage the GTAC effectively, including:
• administration of all sub-contracts with members and additional experts
• recording of time and travel & subsistence (T&S) claims
• processing of timely payments and invoicing
• preparation and distribution of reports, and
• preparation and maintenance of accurate meeting minutes.
• All sub-contracting arrangements with GTAC members and other experts must fully comply with the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA) and all other applicable legislation and regulations relating to income tax, including due consideration of IR35 requirements.

It is expected that the functions of GTAC will be as follows:

(i) Four full GTAC meetings per year attended by all members, who may charge one full day for preparation and one day for attendance. Occasional additional meetings may be called by ONR.

(ii) Preparation of reports, expected to average about six per year, upon request of ONR. These reports are likely to require the formation of sub-groups of some members and associated meetings, drafting, revisions etc. ONR will normally present the questions at GTAC meetings. The sub-group leader will then provide ONR with an estimate of the number of day's effort required to address the question.

(iii) Attendance of individual GTAC members to provide advice at specific events, such as meetings between the licensee and ONR.

(iv) attendance of up to 2 members of at an internationally recognised nuclear graphite seminars / conference with ONR approval.

(v) Provision of all necessary administrative support to facilitate objectives (i) to (iii)

It is recognised that the work required of GTAC evolves as particular information becomes available e.g. on graphite ageing. It is anticipated that the total cost will be approximately within limits described below, but that in exceptional circumstances significant departures from the planned annual spend may occur with ONR approval.

Contract Duration / Timeframe

The period of delivery for this service requirement is for two years, with the option of an extension for a further two years in annual increments, if agreeable to both parties. This extension will be dependent on ONR's requirements and will be reviewed towards the end of the initial contract period.

The successful bidder must be capable of commencing effective delivery with minimal mobilisation delay. ONR requires that proposed personnel are already suitably experienced and knowledgeable in AGR graphite behaviour, ageing mechanisms, modelling techniques and the current regulatory context, such that there is minimal period required for staff to familiarise themselves with the technical issues. The contractor is expected to be able to provide informed analysis and advice from the beginning of the contract, in line with ONR's timescales.

Security of Personnel

All persons engaged in delivery of the services must have a minimum-security clearance to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). Suppliers should factor in the lead time to secure appropriate clearance, if not already obtained.

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Security of Information

For security reasons no data relating to sensitive ONR information should be held on servers outside of the UK, or personnel information outside of the EU.

• The security of company and personal data is essential and the bidder must comply with the relevant laws.
• Documentation should only be retained as agreed and any information used to inform an outcome should be destroyed/deleted at the end of the contract.
• Information may include personal data and information of a sensitive nature related to ONRs business, which must not be disclosed or shared elsewhere.

All services to be provided will be delivered in the UK and all ONR data must be hosted in UK Data Centres.

The successful supplier may be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

Conflict of Interest

A material consideration in relation to this contract is the independence of the Contractor from the licensee and bidders will be required to demonstrate such independence as part of their submission. Bidders and those external members of the proposed GTAC on this contract must declare any actual or potential conflicts of interests in relation to the graphite core activities of the AGR licensee and should set out how these are to be suitably managed or mitigated. Please note the tender submission requirements and evaluation criteria carefully

Staff engaged in the delivery of this contract will not generally be able to perform graphite related work funded jointly or in part by EDF. It is conceivable that some relaxation of this strict requirement could be made by exception, subject to ONR's approval, for example for training related activities. However for the most part, no contract work with EDF or its subcontractors in relation to graphite would be permitted.

In the context of this contract, ONR would consider a conflict of interest to exist if any of the people named i.e. for whom CVs are being submitted, would be working on projects paid for by the AGR licensee, EDF. Furthermore, if a bidder was to put forward CVs of people who were not working on projects funded by the licensee, but there was other work going on within the organisation that was funded by the licensee, then suitable management arrangements would need to be stated. These arrangements would be needed to ensure no further conflicts of interest did arise and would be likely to involve independence of management and separation and security of IT services.

However ONR recognises that for large organisations, it is unrealistic and unnecessary to expect that an organisation is performing no work for the licensee, especially if the work is in a different technical area. Additionally for those individuals who are named, it may not be considered a conflict of interest if they are involved in some part licensee funded projects that contribute to an overall understanding of nuclear safety issues. Examples in this category include joint industry and government projects. However work directly in support of the preparation of the licensee's safety cases would be considered a conflict of interest.

Similarly work in the recent past that has contributed to current EDF graphite safety cases should be declared and may be judged to be a conflict of interest

Accessibility

Any reports or outputs produced as a result of this work should meet accessibility standard WCAG 2.2.

Export Controls

Anyone sharing technical data and/or technical assistance with parties outside of the UK must ensure that they are compliant with UK Export Control Law.

ONR Standard Terms and Conditions

The contract will be let under ONR's Standard Terms and Conditions; the intention is to reach mutual agreement over terms and conditions of contract before award of contract.