ML17191A570

Request for Withholding Information from Public Disclosure

ML17191A570
Person / Time
Site:	Vogtle
Issue date:	07/24/2017
From:	Michael Orenak Plant Licensing Branch II
To:	Hutto J Southern Nuclear Operating Co
Marshall M
References
CAC MF9685, CAC MF9686
Download: ML17191A570 (4)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 July 24, 2017 Mr. James J. Hutto Regulatory Affairs Director Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

P.O. Box 1295 I Bin 038 Birmingham, AL 35201-1295

SUBJECT:

REQUEST FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE FOR VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 (CAC NOS.

MF9685 AND MF9686)

Dear Mr. Hutto:

By letter dated April 21, 2017 (Agencywide Documents Access Management System Accession No. ML17116A098), you submitted an affidavit dated March 29, 2017, executed by Peter M.

Yandow of 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:

Hutto, J.J., Southern Nuclear, letter to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),

Subject, "Vogtle Electric Generating Plant - Units 1 & 2 Supplemental Response to NRC Generic Letter 2004-02," Enclosure 2, "Supplemental Response to NRC Generic Letter 2004-02," April 21, 2017.

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

• To address 10 CPR 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 GEH's 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.

• 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 profitmaking opportunities. The information is part of GEH's comprehensive 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

J. Hutto includes the value derived from providing analyses done with NRG-approved methods.

• The research, development, engineering, analytical, and NRC review costs comprise a substantial investment of time and money by GEH.

• 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.

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, Enclosure 2, "Supplemental Response to NRC Generic Letter 2004-02," 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 Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 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.

J. Hutto If you have any questions regarding this matter, please, contact Mr. Michael Marshall at (301) 415-2871 or via email at Michael.Marshall@nrc.gov or contact me at (301) 415-3229 or Michael.Orenak@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, OV4 ~

Michael Orenak, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 11-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-424 and 50-425 cc: Peter M. Yandow Vice President, NPP/Services Licensing GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC 3901 Castle Hayne Road, MC/ A-65 Wilmington, NC 28401 Distribution via Listserv

ML17191A570 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL 1/PM N RR/DORL/LPL2-1 /PM N RR/DORL/LPL2-1 /LA NAME MMarshall MOrenak KGoldstein DATE 07/17/2017 07/20/2017 07/19/2017 OFFICE NRR/DE/SSIB/BC NRR/DORL/LPL2-1/BC NRR/DORL/LPL 1/PM NAME VCusumano MMarkley (AKlett for) MOrenak DATE 07/20/2017 07/24/2017 07/24/2017