The Department of Energy issued a Request for Information (RFI) / Source Sought Notice yesterday on the FedBizOpps website seeking information on railcar design, testing, and approval for the transportation of High-Level Radioactive Material. DOE has begun laying the groundwork, as outlined in the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future’s recommendations, to begin taking a closer look at rail transport of HLW. “The purposes of this RFI/Sources Sought Notice are (1) to solicit ideas from all sources on how DOE should acquire the capability to transport casks of commercial used nuclear fuel, (2) to determine if any small businesses are available to perform the work contemplated by DOE and described herein, (3) to obtain feedback on the attached draft Statement of Work (SOW), and (4) to obtain industry feedback on the proposed acquisition strategy for this procurement,” the notice said. The Statement of Work includes railcar design, prototype fabrication, testing, and approval, but DOE does not anticipate the manufacturing of production railcars at this time. The focus of the RFI is on cask cars and buffer cars, not escort cars, locomotives, or transport casks, the notice said. An eight-page company capability statement is due to DOE by June 2.