A Case Study for Using A Systems Engineering Approach to Demonstrate Assurance Against Common Cause Failure in Operating and New/Advanced Reactor Technologies.

Quick Summary

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a Sources Sought Synopsis to conduct market research for a project titled "A Case Study for Using A Systems Engineering Approach to Demonstrate Assurance Against Common Cause Failure in Operating and New/Advanced Reactor Technologies." The NRC is seeking qualified vendors to provide technical, management, supervision, administration, and labor for subject matter expertise in this area. Responses are due by February 26, 2026.

Scope of Work

The objective is to refine and validate a technical basis for assuring protection against common cause failure (CCF) through a case study of a reactor trip system. This involves evaluating safety requirements using performance-based criteria, identifying hazardous interactions, formulating safety constraints, and addressing secondary contributing factors. The project will build upon existing NRC research in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Safety Assurance Case (SAC), and Hazard Analysis (HA). Services are to be provided remotely to the NRC in Rockville, Maryland.

Contract & Timeline

• Type: Sources Sought / Market Research
• NAICS: 541330, Engineering Services
• Set-Aside: None specified (open to all businesses, including small businesses of all categories)
• Response Due: February 26, 2026, by email to Aracelis.Perez-Ortiz@nrc.gov
• Published: February 11, 2026

Required Capabilities

Vendors must demonstrate expertise in:

• Formulating and evaluating performance-based safety requirements for safety-critical cyber-physical systems.
• Independent Validation and Verification (IV&V) of high-criticality cyber-physical systems for design certification or licensing.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in related activities, including hazard identification, safety constraint formulation, and architectural specification evaluation.
• Familiarity with regulatory approval considerations for safety-critical systems (e.g., aerospace, nuclear).
• Capability to perform a case study using correct-by-construction model-based system/software engineering methods and organizing safety analysis in a safety assurance case.
• Thorough understanding of NRC research publications related to hazard analysis and safety assurance cases.

Preferred Capabilities

Preferred capabilities include expertise in transforming performance-based requirements into correct-by-construction safety-critical cyber-physical systems, familiarity with NRC regulations (e.g., 10 CFR 50.34), and experience in applying correct-by-construction techniques and leveraging engineering models for hazard identification.

Submission Requirements

Capability statements should not exceed 10 pages and must address:

• Organization name, address, contact information, and size status (small/other than small, and specific small business categories).
• Detailed descriptions of how the organization meets each required and preferred capability, including past performance examples (contract number, type, customer, value, description, period of performance, role).
• Indication of whether required capabilities are offered on existing Federal Government contracts (e.g., GSA, GWACs).
• A standard, non-proprietary commercial price list for relevant services.
• Information on past services for NRC licensees and any organizational conflict of interest (COI) issues.

This is a request for information only and does not constitute a solicitation.