ML040770075

Cycle 11 Core Operating Limits Report (COLR)

ML040770075
Person / Time
Site:	LaSalle
Issue date:	03/08/2004
From:	Barnes G Exelon Generation Co, Exelon Nuclear
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
GL-88-016
Download: ML040770075 (5)

Text

Exel nk ExelonGeneration Compa-y, LLC wwvv.exeloncorp.com Nuclear LaSalle County Station 2601 North 21'Road Marseilles, IL 61341-9757 March 8, 2004 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Attention: Document Control Desk Washington, D.C. 20555 LaSalle County Station, Unit 1 Facility Operating License No. NPF-1 1 NRC Docket No. 50-373

Subject:

Unit 1 Cycle 11 Core Operating Limits Report (COLR)

The purpose of this letter is to advise you of Exelon Company's review and approval of the LaSalle Unit 1 Cycle 11 reload under the provisions of 10 CFR 50.59, "Changes, Tests and Experiments," and to transmit the Core Operating Limits Report (COLR) for Cycle 11, consistent with Generic Letter 88-16, "Removal of Cycle-Specific Parameter Limits From Technical Specifications." This report is being submitted in accordance with LaSalle County Station Technical Specification 5.6.5.d.

The reload licensing analyses performed for Cycle 11 utilized NRC approved methodologies.

The Unit 1 Cycle 11 core, which consists of NRC approved fuel designs developed by Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF) and Framatome Advanced Nuclear Fuel, Inc. (i.e., Framatome), was designed to operate within approved fuel design criteria provided in the Technical Specifications and related bases. The core operating characteristics are bounded by Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) allowable limits.

Exelon has performed a detailed review of the relevant reload licensing documents and the associated bases and references. Based on that review, the COLR was subjected to the 10 CFR 50.59 review process. The review process concluded that the reload does not require NRC review and approval.

Should you have any questions concerning this submittal, please contact Mr. Glen Kaegi, Regulatory Assurance Manager, at (815) 415-2800.

Respectfully, George P. Barnes Site Vice President LaSalle County Station Attachment cc:

Regional Administrator - NRC Region IlIl NRC Senior Resident Inspector - LaSalle County Station

-r Global Nuclear Fuel' F. Russell LiA Joint Venture of GE, Toshiba, & Hitachi lindquist Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC Exelon Account Leader Castle Hayne Road, Wilmington, NC 28401 (910) 675-5082, Fax (910) 675-5684 Russell.Lindquist@gnf.com January 14, 2004 FRL-EXN-HA1 001 Mr. Kevin Donovan Exelon Nuclear 4300 Winfield Way Warrenville, IL 60555

SUBJECT:

LaSalle Unit I Cycle 11 COLR

REFERENCES:

1. Core Operating Limits Report for LaSalle Unit I Cycle 11, Revision 0.

2. "Contract between Exelon and Global Nuclear Fuel for Fuel Fabrication and Related Components and Services for the LaSalle County Station",

June 25, 2003.

Dear Kevin:

Enclosed is the Core Operating Limits Report (COLR), Revision 0 for LaSalle Unit 1 Cycle 11, Reference 1.

Please note that the referenced attachment contains Global Nuclear Fuel Proprietary Information contained within the double brackets and should be handled in accordance with Reference 2.

In addition, a non-proprietary version and affidavit are also included.

If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact me.

Sincerely, F. Russell Lindquist Exelon Account Leader frl/enclosu res

Affidavit Affidavit I, Jens G. M. Andersen, state as follows:

(1) I am Fellow and project manager, TRACG Development, Global Nuclear Fuel -

Americas, L.L.C. ("GNF-A") 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 attachment, "Core Operating Limits Report for LaSalle Unit 1 Cycle 11". GNF proprietary information is indicated by enclosing it in double brackets. 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, GNF-A 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 2.790(a)(4) for "trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential" (Exemption 4). The material for which exemption from disclosure is here sought is all "confidential commercial information," and some portions also qualify 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, 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 GNF-A's competitors without license from GNF-A 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 cost or price information, production capacities, budget levels, or commercial strategies of GNF-A, its customers, or its suppliers;

d. Information which reveals aspects of past, present, or future GNF-A customer-funded development plans and programs, of potential commercial value to GNF-A;

e. Information which discloses patentable subject matter for which it may be desirable to obtain patent protection.

Affidavit 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 the 10 CFR 2.790 (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 GNF-A, and is in fact so held. Its initial designation as proprietary information, and the subsequent steps taken to prevent its unauthorized disclosure, are as set forth in (6) and (7) following. The information sought to be withheld has, to the best of my knowledge and belief, consistently been held in confidence by GNF-A, 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.

(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 tle, ms under which it was licensed to GNF-A. Access to such documents within GNF-A is limited on 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, by the manager of the cognizant marketing function (or his delegate), and by the Legal Operation, for technical content, competitive effect, and determination of the accuracy of the proprietary designation. Disclosures outside GNF-A 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) is classified as proprietary because it contains details of GNF-A's fuel design and licensing methodology.

The development of the methods used in these analyses, along with the testing, development and approval of the supporting methodology was achieved at a significant cost, on the order of several million dollars, to GNF-A or its licensor.

(9) Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to GNF-A's competitive position and foreclose or reduce the availability of profit-making opportunities. The fuel design and licensing methodology is part of GNF-A'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 GNF-A or its licensor.

Affidavit 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.

GNF-A's competitive advantage will be lost if its competitors are able to use the results of the GNF-A 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 GNF-A 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 GNF-A 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 at Wilmington, North Carolina, this 14th day of

January, 2004.

Jens G. M. Andersen Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC