ML072670004

Request for Withholding Information from Public Disclosure

ML072670004
Person / Time
Site:	Cooper
Issue date:	10/09/2007
From:	Lyon C NRC/NRR/ADRO/DORL/LPLIV
To:	Minahan S Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD)
Lyon, C F, NRR/DLPM, 415-2296
References
TAC MD6579
Download: ML072670004 (6)

Text

October 9, 2007 Mr. Stewart B. Minahan Vice President-Nuclear and CNO Nebraska Public Power District 72676 648A Avenue Brownville, NE 68321

SUBJECT:

COOPER NUCLEAR STATION - REQUEST FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE (TAC NO. MD6579)

Dear Mr. Minahan:

By letter dated August 10, 2007, you submitted an affidavit dated May 4, 2006, executed by Jens G. M. Andersen, Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC (GNF-A), requesting that the information contained in the following document be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 2.390:

GNF Additional Information Regarding the Requested Changes to the Technical Specification SLMCPR - Cooper Cycle 24, dated May 4, 2006 The document is included in Enclosure 1 to your letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) dated August 10, 2007. A nonproprietary copy of this document has been placed in the NRC's Public Document Room and added to the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System Public Electronic Reading Room.

The affidavit stated that the submitted information should be considered exempt from mandatory public disclosure for the following reasons:

! The information...is classified as proprietary because it contains details of GNF-As 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.

! Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to GNF-As competitive position and foreclose or reduce the availability of profit-making opportunities. The fuel design and licensing methodology is part of GNF-As comprehensive BWR

[boiling-water reactor] 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

S. B. Minahan 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.

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-As 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.

We have reviewed your application and the material in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 2.390 and, on the basis of the statements in the affidavit, have determined that the submitted information sought to be withheld contains proprietary commercial information and should be withheld from public disclosure.

Therefore, the version of the submitted information marked as proprietary will be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.390(b)(5) and Section 103(b) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

Withholding from public inspection shall not affect the right, if any, of persons properly and directly concerned to inspect the documents. If the need arises, we may send copies of this information to our consultants working in this area. We will, of course, ensure that the consultants have signed the appropriate agreements for handling proprietary information.

If the basis for withholding this information from public inspection should change in the future such that the information could then be made available for public inspection, you should promptly notify the NRC. You also should understand that the NRC may have cause to review this determination in the future, for example, if the scope of a Freedom of Information Act request includes your information. In all review situations, if the NRC makes a determination adverse to the above, you will be notified in advance of any public disclosure.

S. B. Minahan If you have any questions regarding this matter, I may be reached at 301-415-2296.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Carl F. Lyon, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch IV Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-298 cc: See next page

ML072670004 OFFICE LPL4/PM LPL4/LA SRXB/BC LPL4/BC NAME FLyon JBurkhardt GCranston THiltz DATE 9/26/07 9/26/07 10/5/07 10/9/07 Cooper Nuclear Station cc:

Mr. Ronald D. Asche Mr. H. Floyd Gilzow President and Chief Executive Officer Deputy Director for Policy Nebraska Public Power District Missouri Department of Natural Resources 1414 15th Street P.O. Box 176 Columbus, NE 68601 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176 Mr. Gene Mace Senior Resident Inspector Nuclear Asset Manager U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Nebraska Public Power District P.O. Box 218 P.O. Box 98 Brownville, NE 68321 Brownville, NE 68321 Regional Administrator, Region IV Mr. John C. McClure U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Vice President and General Counsel 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400 Nebraska Public Power District Arlington, TX 76011 P.O. Box 499 Columbus, NE 68602-0499 Director, Missouri State Emergency Management Agency Mr. David Van Der Kamp P.O. Box 116 Licensing Manager Jefferson City, MO 65102-0116 Nebraska Public Power District P.O. Box 98 Chief, Radiation and Asbestos Brownville, NE 68321 Control Section Kansas Department of Health Mr. Michael J. Linder, Director and Environment Nebraska Department of Environmental Bureau of Air and Radiation Quality 1000 SW Jackson P.O. Box 98922 Suite 310 Lincoln, NE 68509-8922 Topeka, KS 66612-1366 Chairman Ms. Melanie Rasmussen Nemaha County Board of Commissioners Radiation Control Program Director Nemaha County Courthouse Bureau of Radiological Health 1824 N Street Iowa Department of Public Health Auburn, NE 68305 Lucas State Office Building, 5th Floor 321 East 12th Street Ms. Julia Schmitt, Manager Des Moines, IA 50319 Radiation Control Program Nebraska Health & Human Services R & L Mr. Keith G. Henke, Planner Public Health Assurance Division of Community and Public Health 301 Centennial Mall, South Office of Emergency Coordination P.O. Box 95007 930 Wildwood P.O. Box 570 Lincoln, NE 68509-5007 Jefferson City, MO 65102 September 2007

Cooper Nuclear Station cc:

Mr. Paul V. Fleming, Director of Nuclear Mr. John F. McCann, Director Safety Assurance Licensing, Entergy Nuclear Northeast Nebraska Public Power District Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

P.O. Box 98 440 Hamilton Avenue Brownville, NE 68321 White Plains, NY 10601-1813 September 2007