ML101380559

Request for Withholding Information from Public Disclosure

ML101380559
Person / Time
Site:	Grand Gulf
Issue date:	05/24/2010
From:	Lyon C Plant Licensing Branch IV
To:	Division of Operating Reactor Licensing
Lyon C Fred, NRR/DORL/LPL4, 301-415-2296
References
TAC ME2531
Download: ML101380559 (3)

Text

May 24, 2010 MEMORANDUM TO: FILE FROM:

Carl F. Lyon, Project Manager /RA/

Plant Licensing Branch IV Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT:

GRAND GULF NUCLEAR STATION - REQUEST FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE (TAC NO. ME2531)

By e-mail dated May 17, 2010 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML101380541), Entergy Operations, Inc. (Entergy), submitted an affidavit dated May 17, 2010 (ADAMS Accession No. ML101380515), executed by Edward D.

Schrull, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy - Americas, LLC (GEH), 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), Part 2, Section 2.390:

NRC [U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission] RAIs [requests for additional information] Regarding GGNS [Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit 1] PRNM [power range neutron monitor] System LAR [license amendment request]

The information is a portion of the licensee's planned presentation for the public meeting scheduled for May 25, 2010 (meeting notice at ADAMS Accession No. ML101300509). A nonproprietary copy of this document has been placed in the NRC's Public Document Room and added to the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room at ADAMS Accession No. ML101380421.

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 developed by GEH from NEDC-32410P-A, Nuclear Measurement Analysis and Control Power Range Neutron (NUMAC PRNM) Retrofit Plus Option III Stability Trip Function, dated October 1995. Development of the NUMAC PRNM, and information related to the design, modification, analyses methodologies and processes related to the NUMAC PRNM was achieved at a significant cost to GEH. The development of the evaluation process along with the interpretation and application of the analytical results is derived from the extensive experience database that constitutes a major GEH asset.

Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to GEHs competitive position and foreclose or

reduce the availability of profit-making opportunities. The information is part of GEH's 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 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. GEHs 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.

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

Therefore, the version(s) 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, the staff may send copies of this information to its consultants working in this area. The staff 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, the licensee should promptly notify the NRC. 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 the information. In all review situations, if the NRC makes a determination adverse to the above, the licensee will be notified in advance of any public disclosure.

Docket No. 50-416

ML101380559 OFFICE DORL/LPL4/PM DORL/LPL4/LA DORL/LPL4/BC DORL/LPL4/PM NAME FLyon JBurkhardt MMarkley FLyon DATE 5/24/10 5/21/10 5/24/10 5/24/10