GNRO-2011/00057, Response to NRC Requests for Additional Information Pertaining to License Amendment Request for Power Range Neutron Monitoring System

Response to NRC Requests for Additional Information Pertaining to License Amendment Request for Power Range Neutron Monitoring System

ML112061524
Person / Time
Site:	Grand Gulf
Issue date:	07/22/2011
From:	Krupa M Entergy Operations
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Shared Package
ML112061537	List: GNRO-2011/00057, Response to NRC Requests for Additional Information Pertaining to License Amendment Request for Power Range Neutron Monitoring System
References
GNRO-2011/00057, TAC ME2531
Download: ML112061524 (7)

Text

Entergy Operations, Inc.

P. O. Box 756 Port Gibson, MS 39150 Michael A. Krupa Director, Extended Power Uprate Grand Gulf Nuclear Station Tel. (601) 437-6694 Attachments 1 and 2 contain PROPRIETARY information.

GNRO-2011/00057 (CORRECTED COPY)

July 22, 2011 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN: Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555

SUBJECT:

Response to NRC Requests for Additional Information Pertaining to License Amendment Request for Power Range Neutron Monitoring System (TAC No. ME2531)

Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit 1 Docket No. 50-416 License No. NPF-29

REFERENCES:

1. Entergy Operations, Inc. letter to the NRC (GNRO-2009/00054),

License Amendment Request - Power Range Neutron Monitoring System Upgrade, November 3, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML093140463)

2. NRC e-mail to Entergy Operations, Inc., GG Power Range Neutron Monitoring System Instrumentation and Controls Branch Request for Additional Information (ME2531), June 23, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. ML111740213)

Dear Sir or Madam:

In Reference 1, Entergy Operations, Inc. (Entergy) submitted to the NRC a license amendment request (LAR), which proposes to revise the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station (GGNS)

Technical Specifications (TS) to reflect the installation of the digital General Electric-Hitachi (GEH) Nuclear Measurement Analysis and Control (NUMAC) Power Range Neutron Monitoring System (PRNMS).

In Reference 2, the NRC staff transmitted to Entergy one Request for Additional Information (RAI) that supports their review and approval of Reference 1. The response to this RAI is provided in Attachment 1 to this letter.

This letter contains new commitments, which are identified in Attachment 2.

GEH considers certain information contained in Attachments 1 and 2 to be proprietary and, therefore, requests they be withheld from public disclosure in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390.

The associated affidavit is provided in Attachment 3. Because the vast majority of information contained in Attachments 1 and 2 is considered proprietary, non-proprietary versions would be of no value; therefore, redacted versions are not being provided. This follows the

GNRO-2011/00057 Page 2 of f3 guidance provided in Information Notice 2009-07, Withholding of Proprietary Information from Public Disclosure.

The No Significance Hazards Determination and the Environmental Consideration provided in Reference 1 are not impacted by these responses.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Mr. Guy Davant at (601) 368-5756.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct; executed on July 22, 2011.

Sincerely, MAK/ghd Attachments: 1. Response to NRC Request for Additional Information Pertaining to License Amendment Request - Power Range Neutron Monitoring System Upgrade (Proprietary)

2. List of Regulatory Commitments (Proprietary)

3. GEH Affidavit Supporting Proprietary Information provided in Attachments 1 and 2

GNRO-2011/00057 Page 3 of f3 cc: Mr. Elmo E. Collins, Jr.

Regional Administrator, Region IV U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 612 East Lamar Blvd., Suite 400 Arlington, TX 76011-4005 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN: Mr. A. B. Wang, NRR/DORL (w/2)

ATTN: ADDRESSEE ONLY ATTN: Courier Delivery Only Mail Stop OWFN/8 B1 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852-2378 State Health Officer Mississippi Department of Health P. O. Box 1700 Jackson, MS 39215-1700 NRC Senior Resident Inspector Grand Gulf Nuclear Station Port Gibson, MS 39150

ATTACHMENT 3 GNRO-2011/00057 GEH AFFIDAVIT SUPPORTING PROPRIETARY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN ATTACHMENTS 1 AND 2

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC AFFIDAVIT I, Edward D. Schrull, state as follows:

(1) I am the Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Services Licensing, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC (GEH), and have been delegated the function of reviewing the information described in paragraph (2) which is sought to be withheld, and have been authorized to apply for its withholding.

(2) The information sought to be withheld is contained in Enclosure 1 of GEH letter, GG-PRNM-168777-EC141, Supplement Information for NRC Instrumentation and Controls Branch RAI 1, dated July 21, 2011. The GEH proprietary information in Enclosure 1, which is entitled GEH Supplement Information to GGNS NRC I&CB RAI 1, is identified by a dotted underline inside double square brackets. ((This sentence is an example.{3})) Large figures containing GEH proprietary information are identified with double square brackets before and after the object. In each case, the superscript notation {3}

refers to Paragraph (3) of this affidavit, which provides the basis for the proprietary determination.

(3) In making this application for withholding of proprietary information of which it is the owner or licensee, GEH relies upon the exemption from disclosure set forth in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 USC Sec. 552(b)(4), and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 USC Sec. 1905, and NRC regulations 10 CFR 9.17(a)(4), and 2.390(a)(4) for trade secrets (Exemption 4). The material for which exemption from disclosure is here sought also qualifies under the narrower definition of trade secret, within the meanings assigned to those terms for purposes of FOIA Exemption 4 in, respectively, Critical Mass Energy Project v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 975 F2d 871 (DC Cir. 1992), and Public Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA, 704 F2d 1280 (DC Cir. 1983).

(4) The information sought to be withheld is considered to be proprietary for the reasons set forth in paragraphs (4)a. and (4)b. Some examples of categories of information that fit into the definition of proprietary information are:

a. Information that discloses a process, method, or apparatus, including supporting data and analyses, where prevention of its use by GEH's competitors without license from GEH constitutes a competitive economic advantage over other companies;

b. Information that, if used by a competitor, would reduce their expenditure of resources or improve their competitive position in the design, manufacture, shipment, installation, assurance of quality, or licensing of a similar product;

c. Information that reveals aspects of past, present, or future GEH customer-funded development plans and programs, resulting in potential products to GEH; Affidavit for Enclosure 1 of GG-PRNM-168777-EC141 Affidavit Page 1 of 3

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC

d. Information that discloses trade secret and/or potentially patentable subject matter for which it may be desirable to obtain patent protection.

(5) To address 10 CFR 2.390(b)(4), the information sought to be withheld is being submitted to NRC in confidence. The information is of a sort customarily held in confidence by GEH, and is in fact so held. The information sought to be withheld has, to the best of my knowledge and belief, consistently been held in confidence by GEH, not been disclosed publicly, and not been made available in public sources. All disclosures to third parties, including any required transmittals to the NRC, have been made, or must be made, pursuant to regulatory provisions or proprietary and/or confidentiality agreements that provide for maintaining the information in confidence. The initial designation of this information as proprietary information, and the subsequent steps taken to prevent its unauthorized disclosure, are as set forth in the following paragraphs (6) and (7).

(6) Initial approval of proprietary treatment of a document is made by the manager of the originating component, who is the person most likely to be acquainted with the value and sensitivity of the information in relation to industry knowledge, or who is the person most likely to be subject to the terms under which it was licensed to GEH. Access to such documents within GEH is limited to a need to know basis.

(7) The procedure for approval of external release of such a document typically requires review by the staff manager, project manager, principal scientist, or other equivalent authority for technical content, competitive effect, and determination of the accuracy of the proprietary designation. Disclosures outside GEH are limited to regulatory bodies, customers, and potential customers, and their agents, suppliers, and licensees, and others with a legitimate need for the information, and then only in accordance with appropriate regulatory provisions or proprietary and/or confidentiality agreements.

(8) The information identified in paragraph (2), above, is classified as proprietary because it contains detailed GEH design information of the instrumentation and control equipment used in the design and analysis of the power range neutron monitoring system for the GEH Boiling Water Reactor (BWR). Development of these methods, techniques, and information and their application for the design, modification, and analyses methodologies and processes was achieved at a significant cost to GEH.

The development of the evaluation processes along with the interpretation and application of the analytical results is derived from the extensive experience databases that constitute a major GEH asset.

Affidavit for Enclosure 1 of GG-PRNM-168777-EC141 Affidavit Page 2 of 3

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC (9) Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to GEH's competitive position and foreclose or reduce the availability of profit-making opportunities. The information is part of GEH's comprehensive BWR safety and technology base, and its commercial value extends beyond the original development cost.

The value of the technology base goes beyond the extensive physical database and analytical methodology and includes development of the expertise to determine and apply the appropriate evaluation process. In addition, the technology base includes the value derived from providing analyses done with NRC-approved methods.

The research, development, engineering, analytical and NRC review costs comprise a substantial investment of time and money by GEH. The precise value of the expertise to devise an evaluation process and apply the correct analytical methodology is difficult to quantify, but it clearly is substantial. GEH's competitive advantage will be lost if its competitors are able to use the results of the GEH experience to normalize or verify their own process or if they are able to claim an equivalent understanding by demonstrating that they can arrive at the same or similar conclusions.

The value of this information to GEH would be lost if the information were disclosed to the public. Making such information available to competitors without their having been required to undertake a similar expenditure of resources would unfairly provide competitors with a windfall, and deprive GEH of the opportunity to exercise its competitive advantage to seek an adequate return on its large investment in developing and obtaining these very valuable analytical tools.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing affidavit and the matters stated therein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on this 21st day of July 2011.

Edward D. Schrull, PE Vice President, Regulatory Affairs Services Licensing GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC 3901 Castle Hayne Rd.

Wilmington, NC 28401 Edward.Schrull@ge.com Affidavit for Enclosure 1 of GG-PRNM-168777-EC141 Affidavit Page 3 of 3