Doing business with the ILL

Procurement strategy

General procurement principles

The ILL purchases equipment and services in compliance with its procurement rules.

ILL’s procurement procedures are selective and its invitations to tender and price enquiry documents are designed to guarantee fair competition.

Contracts and orders will be awarded to the firm whose bid meets the technical, financial and delivery requirements and represents the best value for money.

Quality requirements

ILL complies with French nuclear regulations and applies specific purchasing rules for safety-related equipment or services.
These rules include quality specifications and controls. They require that the supplier possess good knowledge of quality systems such as the ISO Quality Assurance Standard 9001.

Mission & responsibilities

It is the Purchasing Service's main mission to manage the ILL's business with its suppliers, ensuring that its contracts and purchasing procedures guarantee both quality and overall compliance.

Regulatory framework

French regulations

Contractors working for the ILL must comply with French regulations for all on-site and civil engineering work. This includes

- Electrical certifications

- The provisions of the French "Code civile"

Nuclear regulations
Arrêté de sureté 2012 (in French)

Radiological work permits
Arrêté du 27 novembre 2013 relatif aux entreprises intervenant au sein d'établissements exerçant des activités nucléaires et des entreprises de travail temporaire concernées par ces activités (in French)

Suppliers with personnel working on the ILL site may need to be certified by CEFRI or QUALIANOR.

Purchasing Rules

Purchasing Process (EN)

(pdf - 410 Ki)

Purchasing policy (EN)

(pdf - 138 Ki)

Procurement statistics

Case studies

CADINOX

"Thanks to the experience achieved in 2010 with ILL on the IN16B vacuum chamber, we are now participating in other challenging projects, such as the construction of the PANTHER helium vessel with high internal precision requirements, or the WASP helium chamber with high-precision machining."

IN16B ALUMINIUM VACUUM CHAMBER
[2010-2011]

PANTHER VACUUM CHAMBER
[UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN 2018]

WASP HELIUM VESSEL
[UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN 2018]

(jpg - 111 Ki)

Dimensions: 5,5 L x 3,7 W x 4 H / Vacuum: 1 x 10-3 mbar
Material: Aluminium AW-5083

(jpg - 40 Ki)

Material: Aluminium AW-5083

(jpg - 54 Ki)

Material: Aluminium AW-5083

DANFYSIK

"We are pleased to have the ILL as one of our valued customers; our expertise in power supplies has enabled us to deliver a robust product that will serve the ILL for many more years of research."

Electrical power supplies for the WASP precession coils and inner compensation coils

Danfysik is proud to have been selected as the ILL's partner in the design and manufacturing of power supplies for the WASP main coils. Our well-proven switch mode power supply Model 859 was considered to be the best solution, since the precession coil required a massive 800A/500V 50ppm long-term-stability power supply, and the inner compensation coils required 480A/170V.
After installation and commissioning, the ILL was happy to confirm the power supply's conformity with requirements.

SwissNeutronics

In 2017 SwissNeutronics was awarded the contract to produce neutron guides for the refurbishment of the ILL H1-H2 guide system (in-pile “Pink Carter“ and swimming pool sections). The high-precision interface features are directly machined into the neutron guides, mading guide installation and alignment easier. The parallel guide units at the departure of the guide system were combined with precision to enable accurate alignment within a constrained environment. The figure below shows the two triple guide units for the in-pile section of the H1-H2 guide system (one system mirrored in the other).