JAFP-24-0014, Response to Request for Additional Information for License Amendment Request to Update the Technical Specification Bases to Change the Fuel Handling Accident Analysis
| ML24085A234 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | FitzPatrick  |
| Issue date: | 03/25/2024 |
| From: | David Gudger Constellation Energy Generation |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Document Control Desk |
| Shared Package | |
| ML24085A233 | List: |
| References | |
| JAFP-24-0014 | |
| Download: ML24085A234 (1) | |
Text
PROPRIETARY INFORMATION - WITHHOLD UNDER 10 CFR 2.390 transmitted herewith contains Proprietary Information.
When separated from Attachment 1, this document is decontrolled.
200 Exelon Way Kennett Square, PA 19348 www.constellation.com 10 CFR 50.90 JAFP-24-0014 March 25, 2024 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Attn: Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555-0001 James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-59 NRC Docket No. 50-333
Subject:
Response to Request for Additional Information for License Amendment Request to Update the Technical Specification Bases to Change the Fuel Handling Accident Analysis
References:
- 1.
Letter from D. Gudger (Constellation Energy Generation, LLC) to U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, "License Amendment Request to Update the Technical Specification Bases to Change the Fuel Handling Accident Analysis," JAFP-23-0040, dated August 3, 2023 2.
Email from James Kim (Project Manager, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission) to A. Hasanat (Constellation Energy Generation, LLC),
"FitzPatrick - Final ARCB RAI regarding Amendment to Update the Fuel Handling Accident Analysis (EPID: L-2023-LLA-0109),"
ML24060A051, dated February 28, 2024 By letter dated August 3, 2023 (Reference 1), Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (CEG) requested to change the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant (JAF) Technical Specifications (TS) Bases to change the Fuel Handling Accident Analysis (FHA) due to new Refuel Bridge Mast NF-400 to NF-500 and definition for Recently Irradiated Fuel.
On February 28, 2024 (Reference 2), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) determined that additional information was necessary to complete the review of the amendment. to this letter contains the NRCs request for additional information immediately followed by CEGs response. Attachment 1 contains proprietary information. General Electric Hitachi (GEH), as the owner of the proprietary information, has executed the attached affidavit in Attachment 3. Attachment 1 is requested to be withheld from public disclosure in accordance with the provisions of 10 CFR 2.390. A non-proprietary version of Attachment 1 is provided in Attachment 2.
Response to Request for Additional Information Fuel Handling Accident Analysis Docket No. 50-333 March 25, 2024 Page 2 The proposed change in Reference 1 has been evaluated in accordance with 10 CFR 50.91(a)(1) using criteria in 10 CFR 50.92(c) and it has been determined that this change involves no significant hazards considerations.
This letter contains no new regulatory commitments.
Should you have any questions concerning this submittal, please contact Abul Hasanat at Abul.Hasanat@Constellation.com.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on the 25th day of March 2024.
Respectfully, David T. Gudger Sr. Manager - Licensing & Regulatory Affairs Constellation Energy Generation, LLC Attachments: 1. Response to Request for Additional Information - Proprietary 2.
Response to Request for Additional Information - Non-Proprietary 3.
Affidavit In Support of Request to Withhold Information cc:
USNRC Region I, Regional Administrator w/attachments USNRC Senior Resident Inspector, JAF USNRC Project Manager, JAF A. L. Peterson, NYSERDA B. Frymire, NYSPSC C. Powers, NYSPSC C. Chapin, NYSPSC
ATTACHMENT 3 James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-59 NRC Docket No. 50-333 AFFIDAVIT Note contains proprietary information as defined by 10 CFR 2.390. GEH, as the owner of the proprietary information, has executed the enclosed affidavit, which identifies that the proprietary information has been handled and classified as proprietary, is customarily held in confidence, and has withheld from the public disclosure. The proprietary information has been faithfully reproduced in the attachment such that the affidavit remains applicable.
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC CEG FHA Analysis Affidavit Page 1 of 3 AFFIDAVIT I, Kent Halac, state as follows:
(1) I am a Senior Engineer, 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 the letter from D. Gudger (Constellation Energy Generation, LLC) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Response to Request for Additional Information for License Amendment Request to Update the Technical Specification Bases to Change the Fuel Handling Accident Analysis, dated March 2024. GEH proprietary information in the above letter is identified as being inside double square brackets. ((This sentence is an example)). GEH proprietary information in figures and large objects is identified by double square brackets before and after the object.
In each case, Paragraph (3) of this affidavit 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 U.S.C. §552(b)(4), and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C.
§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 F.2d 871 (D.C. Cir. 1992), and Public Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA, 704 F.2d 1280 (D.C. 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 a license from GEH constitutes a competitive economic advantage over other companies;
- b.
Information that, if used by a competitor, would reduce its expenditure of resources or improve its 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;
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC CEG FHA Analysis Affidavit Page 2 of 3
- d.
Information that discloses trade secret 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 for proprietary or confidentiality agreements or both 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.
(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) is classified as proprietary because it contains the detailed GEH methodology for fuel analyses for the GEH Boiling Water Reactor (BWR). These methods, techniques, and data along with their application to the design, modification, and analyses associated with the fuel analyses were 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.
(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
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC CEG FHA Analysis Affidavit Page 3 of 3 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 there 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 is true and correct.
Executed on this 20th day of March 2024.
Kent Halac Senior Engineer, Regulatory Affairs GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC 3901 Castle Hayne Road Wilmington, NC 28401 Kent.Halac@ge.com