LR-N16-0113, GEH Affidavits Supporting the Withholding of Information in Enclosure 6 from Public Disclosure
| ML16256A646 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Hope Creek  |
| Issue date: | 08/16/2016 |
| From: | Harrison J, Schichlein L GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML16256A638 | List:
|
| References | |
| LAR H15-01, LR-N16-0113 | |
| Download: ML16256A646 (10) | |
Text
Enclosure 5 LAR H15-01 LR-N16*0113 GEH Affidavits supporting the withholding of information in Enclosure 6 from public disclosure
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC AFFIDAVIT I, Lisa K. Schichlein, state as follows:
(1) I am a Senior Project Manager, NPP/Services Licensing, Regulatory Affairs, 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 GEH proprietary report NEDC-33872P, Hope Creek Generating Station NUMAC PRNM Upgrade Phase 2, Revision 0, dated August 2016. GEH proprietary information in NEDC-33872P is identified by a single dotted underline inside double square brackets. ((This sentence is an example.{3})). GEH proprietary information in figures and large objects is 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 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; NEDC-33872P Revision 0 Affidavit Page 1 of 3
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC
- 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 detailed GEH design information of the instrumentation and control equipment used in the design and analysis of Nuclear Measurement Analysis and Control digital instrumentation systems by GEH. 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 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.
NEDC-33872P Revision 0 Affidavit Page 2 of 3
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC The value of the technology bas¥ 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 is true and correct.
Executed on this 161h day of August 2016.
Lisa K. Schichlein Senior Project Manager, NPP/Services Licensing Regulatory Affairs GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC 3901 Castle Hayne Road Wilmington, NC 28401 Lisa.Schichlein@ge.com NEDC-33872P Revision 0 Affidavit Page 3 of 3
GE-HITACHI NUCLEAR ENERGY AMERICAS LLC AFFIDAVIT I, James F. Harrison state as follows:
(1) I am Vice President, Fuel Licensing, Regulatory Affairs, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC (GEH), 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 GEH proprietary report, NEDE-33834P, NUMAC Systems Engineering Development Plan, Revision 0, April 2015.
GEH proprietary information within text is identified by a dotted underline within double square brackets. ((This sentence is an example. {3})) Figures and large objects are identified with double square brackets before and after the object. In all cases, 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 U SC 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 qualify under the narrower definition of trade secret, within the meanings assigned to those terms for purposes of FOIA Exemption 4 i n, respectively, Critical Mass Energy Project v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 975F2d871 (DC Cir. 1992), and Public Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA, 704F2d1280 (DC Cir. 1983).
(4) Some examples of categories of information which 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 which, if used by a competitor, would reduce his expenditure of resources or improve his competitive position in the design, manufacture, shipment, installation, assurance of quality, or licensing of a similar product;
- c. Information which reveals aspects of past, present, or future GEH customer-funded development plans and programs, resulting in potential products to GEH;
- d. Information which discloses patentable subject matter for which it may be desirable to obtain patent protection.
NEDE-33834P, Revision 0 Affidavit Page 1 of 3
The information sought to be withheld is considered to be proprietary for the reasons set forth in paragraphs (4)a. and (4)b. above.
(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, no public disclosure has been made, and it is not available in public sources. All disclosures to third parties, including any required transmittals to NRC, have been made, or must be made, pursuant to regulatory provisions or proprietary agreements which provide for maintenance of the information in confidence. Its initial designation as proprietary information, and the subsequent steps taken to prevent its unauthorized disclosure, are as set forth in paragraphs (6) and (7) following.
(6) Initial approval of proprietary treatment of a document is made by the manager of the originating component, the person most likely to be acquainted with the value and sensitivity of the information in relation to industry knowledge, or 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 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 Nuclear Measurement Analysis and Control digital instrumentation systems by GEH. 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.
(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.
NEDE-33834P, Revision 0 Affidavit Page 2 of 3
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 is true and correct.
h Executed on this30t day of April2015.
James F. Harrison Vice President, Fuel Licensing, Regulatory Affairs, GE- Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC 3901 Castle Hayne Road Wilmington, NC28401 James.I-Iarrison@ge.com NEDE-33834P, Revision0 Affidavit Page3 of3
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC AFFIDAVIT I, Lisa K. Schichlein, state as follows:
(1) I am a Senior Project Manager, NPP/Services Licensing, Regulatory Affairs, 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 PSEG Nuclear, LLC report
- 80107709R0SUP19 entitled Hope Creek Power Range Neutron Monitoring Upgrade Human Factors Assessment, Revision 1, dated August 2016. GEH proprietary information in report #80107709R0SUP19, Revision 1, is identified by a dotted underline inside double square brackets. ((This sentence is an example.{3})). 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 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;
- d. Information that discloses trade secret or potentially patentable subject matter for which it may be desirable to obtain patent protection.
Hope Creek Power Range Neutron Monitoring Upgrade Affidavit Page 1 of 3 Human Factors Assessment Revision 1
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC (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 detailed GEH design information of the instrumentation and control equipment used in the design and analysis of Nuclear Measurement Analysis and Control digital instrumentation systems by GEH. 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 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 analytical methodology and includes development of the expertise to determine and apply Hope Creek Power Range Neutron Monitoring Upgrade Affidavit Page 2 of 3 Human Factors Assessment Revision 1
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC 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 is true and correct.
Executed on this 191h day of August 2016.
Lisa K. Schichlein Senior Project Manager, NPP/Services Licensing Regulatory Affairs GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC 3901 Castle Hayne Road Wilmington, NC 28401 Lisa.Schichlein@ge.com Hope Creek Power Range Neutron Monitoring Upgrade Affidavit Page 3 of 3 Human Factors Assessment Revision 1