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Submittal of Slide Package Westinghouse Encore Lead Test Rod Program Byron Unit 2 (Proprietary/Non-Proprietary)
	ML17291B028
Person / Time
Site:	Byron
Issue date:	10/17/2017
From:	Gresham J; Westinghouse
To:	; Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Shared Package
ML17291B146	List: ML17291B028;
References
	LTR-NRC-17-68
	Download: ML17291B028 (41)
	v • d • e

Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

@ Westinghouse U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852 Westinghouse Electric Company 1000 Westinghouse Drive Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania 16066 USA Direct tel: (412) 374-4643 Direct fax: (724) 940-8560 e-mail: greshaja@westinghouse.com LTR-NRC-17-68 October 17, 2017

Subject:

Submittal of Slide Package "Westinghouse EnCore Lead Test Rod Program Byron Unit 2" (Proprietary/Non-Proprietary)

Enclosed are the proprietary and non-proprietary versions of the presentation, "Westinghouse EnCore Lead Test Rod Program Byron Unit 2" for the closed portion of a meeting held on October 3, 2017.

This submittal contains proprietary information of Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

("Westinghouse"). In conformance with the requirements of 10 CFR Section 2.390, as amended, of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's ("Commission's") regulations, we are enclosing with this submittal an Application for Withholding Proprietary Information from Public Disclosure and an Affidavit. The Affidavit sets forth the basis on which the information identified as proprietary may be withheld from public disclosure by the Commission.

Correspondence with respect to the proprietary aspects of the Application for Withholding or the Westinghouse Affidavit should reference A W-17-4649, and should be addressed to James A. Gresham, Manager, Regulatory Compliance, Westinghouse Electric Company, 1000 Westinghouse Drive, Building 3 Suite 310, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania 16066.

~~~

Regulatory Compliance Enclosures cc:

Ekaterina Lenning (NRC)

Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3 Westinghouse U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk 115 5 5 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852 Westinghouse Electric Company 1000 Westinghouse Drive Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania 16066 USA Direct tel: ( 412) 374-4643 Direct fax: (724) 940-8560 e-mail: greshaja@westinghouse.com AW-17-4649 October 17, 2017 APPLICATION FOR WITHHOLDING PROPRIETARY INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE

Subject:

"Westinghouse EnCore Lead Test Rod Program Byron Unit 2" (Proprietary)

Reference:

Letter from James A. Gresham to the Document Control Desk, LTR-NRC-17-68, dated October 17, 2017.

The Application for Withholding Proprietary Information from Public Disclosure is submitted by Westinghouse Electric Company LLC ("Westinghouse"), pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (b)(l) of Section 2.390 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's ("Commission's") regulations. It contains commercial strategic information proprietary to Westinghouse and customarily held in confidence.

The proprietary information for which withholding is being requested in the above-referenced report is further identified in Affidavit A W-17-4649 signed by the owner of the proprietary information, Westinghouse. The Affidavit, which accompanies this letter, sets forth the basis on which the information may be withheld from public disclosure by the Commission and addresses with specificity the considerations listed in paragraph (b)(4) of 10 CFR Section 2.390 of the Commission's regulations.

Correspondence with respect to the proprietary aspects of the Application for Withholding or the accompanying Affidavit should reference A W-17-4649, and should be addressed to James A. Gresham, Manager, Regulatory Compliance, Westinghouse Electric Company, Building 3 Suite 310, 1000 Westinghouse Drive, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania 16066.

i~ger Regulatory Compliance

AW-17-4649 AFFIDAVIT COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA:

ss COUNTY OF BUTLER:

I, James A. Gresham, am authorized to execute this Affidavit on behalf of Westinghouse Electric Company.LLC ("Westinghouse") and declare that the averments of fact set forth in this Affidavit are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on: /0( f 1 /17 ames A. Gresham, Manager Regulatory Compliance

AW-17-4649 3

(1)

I am Manager, Regulatory Compliance, Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Westinghouse),

and as such, I have been specifically delegated the function of reviewing the proprietary information sought to be withheld from public disclosure in connection with nuclear power plant licensing and rule making proceedings, and am authorized to apply for its withholding on behalf of Westinghouse.

(2)

I am making this Affidavit in conformance with the provisions of 10 CFR Section 2.390 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (Commission's) regulations and in conjunction with the Westinghouse Application for Withholding Proprietary Information from Public Disclosure accompanying this Affidavit.

(3)

I have personal knowledge of the criteria and procedures utilized by Westinghouse in designating information as a trade secret, privileged or as confidential commercial or financial information.

(4)

Pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (b)(4) of Section 2.390 of the Commissions regulations, the following is furnished for consideration by the Commission in determining whether the information sought to be withheld from public disclosure should be withheld.

(i)

The information sought to be withheld from public disclosure is owned and has been held in confidence by Westinghouse.

(ii)

The information is of a type customarily held in confidence by Westinghouse and not customarily disclosed to the public. Westinghouse has a rational basis for determining the types of information customarily held in confidence by it and, in that connection, utilizes a system to determine when and whether to hold certain types of information in confidence. The application of that system and the substance of that system constitute Westinghouse policy and provide the rational basis required.

Under that system, information is held in confidence if it falls in one or more of several types, the release of which might result in the loss of an existing or potential competitive advantage, as follows:

(a)

The information reveals the distinguishing aspects of a process (or component, structure, tool, method, etc.) where prevention of its use by any of

AW-17-4649 4

Westinghouses competitors without license from Westinghouse constitutes a competitive economic advantage over other companies.

(b)

It consists of supporting data, including test data, relative to a process (or component, structure, tool, method, etc.), the application of which data secures a competitive economic advantage (e.g., by optimization or improved marketability).

(c)

Its use 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 a similar product.

(d)

It reveals cost or price information, production capacities, budget levels, or commercial strategies of Westinghouse, its customers or suppliers.

(e)

It reveals aspects of past, present, or future Westinghouse or customer funded development plans and programs of potential commercial value to Westinghouse.

(f)

It contains patentable ideas, for which patent protection may be desirable.

(iii)

There are sound policy reasons behind the Westinghouse system which include the following:

(a)

The use of such information by Westinghouse gives Westinghouse a competitive advantage over its competitors. It is, therefore, withheld from disclosure to protect the Westinghouse competitive position.

(b)

It is information that is marketable in many ways. The extent to which such information is available to competitors diminishes the Westinghouse ability to sell products and services involving the use of the information.

(c)

Use by our competitor would put Westinghouse at a competitive disadvantage by reducing his expenditure of resources at our expense.

AW-17-4649 5

(d)

Each component of proprietary information pertinent to a particular competitive advantage is potentially as valuable as the total competitive advantage. If competitors acquire components of proprietary information, any one component may be the key to the entire puzzle, thereby depriving Westinghouse of a competitive advantage.

(e)

Unrestricted disclosure would jeopardize the position of prominence of Westinghouse in the world market, and thereby give a market advantage to the competition of those countries.

(f)

The Westinghouse capacity to invest corporate assets in research and development depends upon the success in obtaining and maintaining a competitive advantage.

(iv)

The information is being transmitted to the Commission in confidence and, under the provisions of 10 CFR Section 2.390, is to be received in confidence by the Commission.

(v)

The information sought to be protected is not available in public sources or available information has not been previously employed in the same original manner or method to the best of our knowledge and belief.

(vi)

The proprietary information sought to be withheld in this submittal is that which is appropriately marked in LTR-NRC-17-68 P-Attachment, Westinghouse EnCore Lead Test Rod Program Byron Unit 2 (Proprietary), for a meeting held on October 3, 2017, for submittal to the Commission, being transmitted by Westinghouse letter LTR-NRC-17-68. The proprietary information as submitted by Westinghouse is that associated with development of accident tolerant fuel technologies and may be used only for that purpose.

(a)

This information is part of that which will enable Westinghouse to obtain test data and eventual NRC approval of Westinghouse EnCoreTM fuel technologies.

EnCore is a trademark or registered trademark of Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, its affiliates and/or its subsidiaries in the United States of America and may be registered in other countries throughout the world. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

AW-17-4649 6

(b)

Further, this information has substantial commercial value as follows:

(i)

Westinghouse plans to sell the use of similar information to its customers for the purpose of assisting customers in obtaining license changes to incorporate the use of EnCore fuel products in operating plants.

(ii)

Westinghouse can sell support and defense of industry guidelines and acceptance criteria for plant-specific applications.

(iii)

The information requested to be withheld reveals the distinguishing aspects of a methodology which was developed by Westinghouse.

Public disclosure of this proprietary information is likely to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of Westinghouse because it would enhance the ability of competitors to provide similar technical evaluation justifications and licensing defense services for commercial power reactors without commensurate expenses. Also, public disclosure of the information would enable others to use the information to meet NRC requirements for licensing documentation without purchasing the right to use the information.

The development of the technology described in part by the information is the result of applying the results of many years of experience in an intensive Westinghouse effort and the expenditure of a considerable sum of money.

In order for competitors of Westinghouse to duplicate this information, similar technical programs would have to be performed and a significant manpower effort, having the requisite talent and experience, would have to be expended.

Further the deponent sayeth not.

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION NOTICE Transmitted herewith are proprietary and non-proprietary versions of a document, furnished to the NRC in connection with requests for generic and/or plant-specific review and approval.

In order to conform to the requirements of 10 CFR 2.390 of the Commissions regulations concerning the protection of proprietary information so submitted to the NRC, the information which is proprietary in the proprietary versions is contained within brackets, and where the proprietary information has been deleted in the non-proprietary versions, only the brackets remain (the information that was contained within the brackets in the proprietary versions having been deleted). The justification for claiming the information so designated as proprietary is indicated in both versions by means of lower case letters (a) through (f) located as a superscript immediately following the brackets enclosing each item of information being identified as proprietary or in the margin opposite such information. These lower case letters refer to the types of information Westinghouse customarily holds in confidence identified in Sections (4)(ii)(a) through (4)(ii)(f) of the Affidavit accompanying this transmittal pursuant to 10 CFR 2.390(b)(1).

COPYRIGHT NOTICE The reports transmitted herewith each bear a Westinghouse copyright notice. The NRC is permitted to make the number of copies of the information contained in these reports which are necessary for its internal use in connection with generic and plant-specific reviews and approvals as well as the issuance, denial, amendment, transfer, renewal, modification, suspension, revocation, or violation of a license, permit, order, or regulation subject to the requirements of 10 CFR 2.390 regarding restrictions on public disclosure to the extent such information has been identified as proprietary by Westinghouse, copyright protection notwithstanding. With respect to the non-proprietary versions of these reports, the NRC is permitted to make the number of copies beyond those necessary for its internal use which are necessary in order to have one copy available for public viewing in the appropriate docket files in the public document room in Washington, DC and in local public document rooms as may be required by NRC regulations if the number of copies submitted is insufficient for this purpose. Copies made by the NRC must include the copyright notice in all instances and the proprietary notice if the original was identified as proprietary.

Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3 LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment Westinghouse Electric Company 1000 Westinghouse Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 2017 Westinghouse Electric Company LLC.

Westinghouse EnCore Lead Test Rod Program Byron Unit 2 (Non-Proprietary)

October 2017

1 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

EnCore, Optimized ZIRLO and BEACON are trademarks or registered trademarks of Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, its affiliates and/or its subsidiaries in the United States of America and may be registered in other countries throughout the world. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3 2

Javier Romero Principal Engineer Global Accident Tolerant Fuel Technology Westinghouse EnCore' Lead Test Rod Program Byron Unit 2 LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

3 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Outline

Background - EnCore Fuel

EnCore Fuel Lead Test Rod (LTR) Program for Byron Unit 2

Technologies for LTR program - Development and Testing

- Coated Zirconium Cladding

- Uranium Silicide (U3Si2) Fuel Pellets

Test Reactor Programs

Engineering Considerations

Summary LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

4 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Background

EnCore fuel encompasses all the products offered by Westinghouse as Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF)

- Coated zirconium cladding

- Uranium silicide (U3Si2) fuel pellets

- Silicon carbide (SiC) cladding

This presentation is focused on insertion of the first EnCore Fuel Lead Test Rods (LTRs)

- With coated zirconium cladding and U3Si2 fuel LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

5 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

EnCore Fuel LTR Program for Byron Unit 2 - Scope a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3 6

Coated Zirconium Cladding LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

7 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Coated Zirconium Cladding - Benefits

Reduced oxidation during normal operation

- Longer life and increased margins allow use of higher density fuels

Improved corrosion resistance in steam and air at high temperature

- Reduced exothermic reaction energy

- During and beyond design basis conditions

- Increased margin on LOCA peak cladding temperature

- Improved RIA deposition limits

Drastic reduction in hydrogen generation and pickup

- Benefits for draft 10 CFR 50.46c rule

- Potential for higher transient strain limit

- Reduced embrittlement in dry storage

Enhanced resistance to wear (debris, grid-to-rod or rod-to-grid)

LOCA: Loss of Coolant Accident RIA: Reactivity Initiated Accident LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

8 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Chromium-coated Zirconium Cladding a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

9 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Chromium-coated Zirconium Cladding - Performance a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

10 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Out-of-Pile Testing of Coated Cladding a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

11 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Zirconium Oxidation Experiment (ZOE) a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

12 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Ultra-High Temperature Testing a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

13 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

High Temperature Steam Oxidation Testing - Results Coated cladding maintains integrity in accident conditions a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3 14

Uranium Silicide (U3Si2) Fuel Pellets LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

15 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

U3Si2 Fuel Pellets - Benefits

Uranium density 17% higher than for UO2

- Maintaining current enrichment limit (<5%)

- Reduced batch size, longer cycles or lower enrichments

Increased thermal conductivity

- Increased resistance to centerline melting during transients

Increased specific heat

- Reduced rate of fuel heatup

Improved irradiation behavior (swelling, gas release, )

- Increased pellet-cladding interaction margin a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

16 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

U3Si2 Fuel Pellets Increased uranium density and higher thermal conductivity Fabrication UO2 U3Si2 Uranium Density (g/cm3) 9.68 11.3 Thermal Conductivity (W/m-K) 5-2 (300-2000°C) 9-20 (300-1200°C)

Arc Melting U3Si2 ingot Ball Mill U3Si2 Pellet Grinding Courtesy Idaho National Laboratory LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

17 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Out-of-Pile Testing of U3Si2 Pellets Extensive out-of-pile testing program ongoing Corrosion testing in water at 300°C (50 hours5.787037e-4 days <br />0.0139 hours <br />8.267196e-5 weeks <br />1.9025e-5 months <br />)

No measurable weight change or evolution in appearance UO2 U3Si2 a,b,c Courtesy Los Alamos National Laboratory LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

18 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

U3Si2 Fuel Irradiated in ATR a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

19 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Test Reactor Programs - Overall Status a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

20 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Summary - Development and Testing

Westinghouse EnCore fuel technologies for LTR program

- Coated zirconium cladding

- U3Si2 fuel pellets

Promising capabilities to achieve full safety benefits

Ongoing testing program in preparation for LTRs/LTAs

- Extensive out of pile testing

- Test reactor programs LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3 21

Engineering Considerations LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

22 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Areas Under Evaluation Areas under evaluation, additional to those already discussed by Exelon a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

23 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Reactivity Management and Core Performance a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

24 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Modeling of Core Performance a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

25 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Design Margins a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

26 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Thermal Hydraulic (T/H) Performance a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

27 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Loss of Coolant (LOCA) Evaluations a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

28 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Non-LOCA Safety Analyses a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

29 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Fabrication Processes a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

30 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Summary - Engineering Considerations a,b,c LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

31 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Closing Comments LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

32 Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

Westinghouse Non-Proprietary Class 3

LTR-NRC-17-68 NP-Attachment

@ Westinghouse

ML17291B028

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