DESIGN BASIS THREAT AND TARGET SETS (DBT)

Notice Type:              Special Notice

Agency:                      U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Title:                           Design Basis Threat and Target Sets (DBT)

Date:                           June 25, 2026

Classification Code: U008 - Education/Training- Training/Curriculum Development

NAICS:                       611430 - Professional and Management Development Training         

Synopsis:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) intends to award a non-competitive, firm-fixed-price contract to the City of Chattanooga, TN (Police Department), 101 E. 11th St. Chattanooga, TN 37402, for the project entitled, “Design Basis Threat and Target Sets.”  This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation pursuant to (FAR) 6.103-1 in accordance with the Revolutionary Far Overhaul which provides for limiting competition in situations where the supplies or services are available from only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy the agency’s requirements. The designated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 611430 - Professional and Management Development Training.  The performance period is estimated from September 01, 2026, through August 31, 2031.

Background

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the NRC determined that enhancements needed to be made to physical security at NRC licensed facilities.  In addition, NRC personnel, contractors and Agreement State inspectors needed to receive specific physical security training to understand and inspect these enhancements as part of their regulatory duties and responsibilities.  Additionally, certain international students needed to enhance their understanding of the NRC inspection program to help their inspectors fulfill specific inspection missions.

To meet these challenges, inspectors must possess and maintain a thorough understanding of the various weapon systems, tactics, explosives and breaching techniques employed by terrorist groups as well as their effects on plant personnel and equipment.  Likewise, the inspectors must be familiar with the licensee’s integrated response from Local Law Enforcement Agencies (LLEAs) and must be able to assess the survivability of the licensee physical security programs against acts of terrorism to perform their regulatory duties and responsibilities.

Purpose and Objective

The objective of this acquisition is to obtain expert technical assistance to support the NRC with security training designed to qualify NRC staff in performing inspections at NRC licensed facilities. The inspections ensure that licensees adequately protect against DBT with reasonable assurance to protect public health and safety and advance the nation’s common defense and security. Expert technical assistance will be provided by trained and qualified law enforcement and bomb technician instructors/staff.

Requirements

The performance of this contract must be conducted within twenty miles of the NRC Technical Training Center (TTC) in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This allows NRC staff to conduct the required DBT training that is designated safeguards information (SGI) in an NRC approved SGI classroom using the Safeguards LAN and Electronic Safe (SLES) while remaining near the firearms and explosives range training facility to conduct live-fire demonstrations.

The contractor will be responsible for providing a firearms and explosives range training facility with a classroom for up to 24 students within twenty miles of the TTC. The range training facility will be sufficient to demonstrate detonations of various types of explosives up to ten pounds trinitrotoluene (TNT) equivalent. Additionally, the range training facility will be capable of supporting firearms demonstrations up to and including .50 caliber. The contractor will provide trained, qualified and certified law enforcement and bomb technician instructors/staff to develop, deliver and demonstrate training on following tasks:

1.         Weapon systems and ammunition, including automatic weapons and other weapon technologies (e.g., optics, thermal scopes, etc.),

2.         Current adversary tactics, techniques and procedures,

3.         Integrated response protocols associated with NRC licensed facilities (e.g., power reactors to include advanced reactors, etc.) to include response to bomb threats, and

4.         Types of explosive charges and breaching techniques used by an adversary to defeat barriers (fences, walls, doors, etc.). 

The contractor will also be responsible for providing the following:

• Explosives and breaching charges as well as the explosives and breaching support materials (e.g., boosters, blasting caps, etc.) and barrier materials.
• Firearms of various calibers and other firearms training aids and materials (e.g., target backers, optics, etc.).

This curriculum will consist of lectures, hands-on training and demonstrations on various adversary attack modes and characteristics described in the NRCs Design Basis Threat. It will allow students to understand the types of threats targeting NRC licensed facilities as well as the security measures (protective strategy) implemented to protect target sets against the DBT. 

The curriculum will cover all five DBT attack modes as described in 10 CFR 73.1:

• External assault
• Internal threat
• Land vehicle bomb
• Waterborne vehicle bomb
• Cyber attack

The training will allow students to observe certain DBT characteristics and capabilities as well as their effects on personnel and equipment. For example:

• Explosive charges and breaching techniques used by adversaries within the scope of the DBT.
• Weapon systems, technologies and ammunition available to an adversary within the scope of the DBT.
• Tactics, techniques and procedures used by an adversary within the scope of the DBT.

Additional curriculum covered in the course:

• Blast effects on personnel and equipment
• Understanding and determining stand-off distances and overpressures
• Barrier capabilities and defeat methodologies
• Fundamentals of marksmanship
• Firearms and range-safety
• Disassembly and re-assembly of firearms
• Identification of target set equipment for light water and advanced reactors
• Cyber-attack threats, capabilities and target sets
• Internal threat types and capabilities
• Protective strategies for light water and advanced reactors
• Law enforcement integrated response protocols for light water and advanced reactors

Note: Curriculum can be revised as needed by the NRC

This Notice of Intent is NOT a request for proposal or a solicitation of offers; however, if any interested party believes they can meet the above requirement, they may submit a statement of capabilities. The capabilities statement must be submitted in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow the government to determine if the party can perform the requirement.  Additionally, to perform work for the NRC potential sources must be free of organizational conflict of interest (OCOI). For information on the NRC COI regulations, visit NRC Acquisition Regulation Subpart 2009.5 (https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/contracting/48cfr-ch20.html).

A determination not to compete this procurement based on responses to the notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All interested parties must express their interest and capabilities in writing via email to Desiree England, Contract Specialist via e-mail at Desiree.England@nrc.gov no later than July 25, 2026 by 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time (i.e. 30 calendar days from the date of this announcement).