ML18139B486
| ML18139B486 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Surry  |
| Issue date: | 11/02/1976 |
| From: | Wiesemann R WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY, DIV OF CBS CORP. |
| To: | Stolz J Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18139B484 | List: |
| References | |
| AW-76-51, NUDOCS 8108240265 | |
| Download: ML18139B486 (10) | |
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~8','*'*~r Sy~ie:::s Coiii~Jny Mr. John F. Stolz, Chief Light Water Reactors Project Division of Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 7920 Norfolk Avenue Bethesda, Maryland 20014 November *2, 1976 AW-76-51 APPLICATION FOR WITHHOLDING PROPRIETARY INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE
SUBJECT:
PAD Code Models REF.:
Westinghouse Letter No. NS-CE-1262, Eicheldinger to Stolz, dated November 2, 1976
Dear Mr. Stolz:
The proprietary material being transmitted by tbe referenced letter supplements proprietary material previously submitted concerning Westinghouse fuel rod designs and fuel rod performance.
Accordingly_ withholding the subject information from public disclosure is requested in accordance with our previously submitted affidavit and application for withholding AW-76-43, dated October 18, 1976, a copy of which is attached.
Correspondence with respect to this application should reference AW-76-51 and should be addressed to the undersigned.
/smh Attachment cc: J. A. Cooke, Esq.
Very truly yours,
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Robert A. Wiesemann, Manager Licensing Programs Office of the Executive Legal Director, NRC
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AFFinAVIT COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA:
ss.
COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY:
Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared Robert A. Wiesemann, who, being by me duly sworn according to law, de-poses and says that he is authorized to execute this Affidavit on behalf of Westinghouse Electric Corporation (ttWestinghouse) and that the avef-ments of fact set forth in this Affidavit are true and correct to the best of his knowl_edge, information, and belief:
Sworn to and subscribed
.before me this / f day
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of lcC.l~. 1976.
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4um1;_1~~tl.Mv.J Rob~rt A. ~iesemann, Manager Licensing Programs
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(1)
I am Manager, Licensing Programs, in the Pressurized Water Reactor Systems Division, of Westinghouse Electric Corporation and as such, I have been speciflcally delegated the function of reviewing the proprietary information sought to be withheld from public dis-closure in connection with nuclear power plant liceniing or rule-making proceedings, and am authorized to apply for its wi thho 1 ding on behalf of the Westinghouse Water.Reactor Divisions.
(2}
I am making this Affidavit in connection with the provisions of 10 CFR Section 2.790 and Section 9.5(a)(4) of the Commission's regulations.
(3)
I have personal knowledge *of the criteria and procedures utilized by Westinghouse Nuclear Energy Systems 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 2.790 of the Commission's regulations, the following is furnished for consideration by the Commission in determining whether the in-formation being withheld from public disclosure should continue to be withheld.
(i) The information being withheld from public disclosure is owned and has been held in confidence by Westinghouse.
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. (ii). The information is of a type customarily held in confidence by Westinghouse and not customarily disclosed to the public.
Westinghouse has a rationa1 basis for determining the types of information cu~tomarily held in confidence by it and, in that connection, u~ilizes a system to determine when and whether to
- hold certain types of information in confidence.
The ap-plication of that system and the substance of that system constitutes Westinghouse policy and provides 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 ccm-petitive advantage, as follows:
(a) The information reveals the distinguishing aspects of a process ( or component, s tr_uct~re, too 1, *method, etc.)
where _prevention. of-its use by any of Westinghouse I s competitors without license from Westinghouse constitutes a competitive economic advantage over o~her companies.
(b) It consists of supporting data, including test data, relative to a process (or comp6nent, structure, tool,
. method, etc.), the application of which data secures a competitive economic advantage, e.g., by optimization or improved marketabi 1 i ty.
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. (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 quali_ty, or licensing a simi1ar product.
(d) It reveals cost or price information, production cap-acities, budget levels, or commercial strategies of Westinghouse, its customers or suppliers.
{e) It reveals aspects of past, present, or future West-inghouse or customer funded development plans and pro-grams of potential commercial value to Westinghouse.
(f) It contains patentable ideas, for which patent pro-tection may be desirable.
_{g)
It is not the property of Westinghouse, but must be treated as proprietary by Westinghouse according to agreements with the owner.
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 com-petitors.
It. is, therefore, withheld from disclosure to protect the Westinghouse competitive position.
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-s-e (b)
It is information which is marketable in many ways.
The extent to which such information is available to competitors diminishes the Westinghouse ability to sell products and services involying the use of the 1 nforma ti"on.
(c)
Use by our competitor would put Westinghouse at a competitive disadvantage by reducing his expenditure of resources at our expense.
(d)
Each component of proprietary information pertinent to a particular competitive advantage is potentially as valuable as ~he total competiiive advantage.
If competitors acquire-components of proprietary infor-mation, 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 inarket advantage to the competition in those countries.
(f) The Westinghouse capacity to invest corporate assets in research and development depends upon the success in obtaining a~d maintaining a competitive advantage.
r' e (iii)
The i nforma ti on was transmitted to the Corruni ss ion in con-fidence, was received in confidence by the Cammi ss fan, and was not submitted in a rulemaking proceeding.
(iv)
The information is not available in public sources to the best of our knowledge and belief..
(v)
The propri~tary information being withheld are the Westing-house reports:
(1) 11Densification of Recycle Mixed Oxide Compared to the Densification of uo2, 11 previously transmitted to the Commission on February 19, 1974, and (2) \\*JCAP-8218, October 1973, "Fuel Densification, Experimental Results and Model for Reactor Application," previously transmitted to the Commission on October 29, 1973.
This Affidavit ~nd West1ng_house
_Letter No. NS-CE-1246, Eicheldinger to*Felton, dated October 13, 1976, are being furnished in response to the September 13, J~76 NRC request for informatio_n in connection with a Freedom of Information Act request and to enable the NRC to determine whether it will continue to withhold the subject reports from public disclosure pursua~t to the provisions of 10 CFR Section 9.S(a){4) of the Commission's regulations.
This information enables Westinghouse to:
(a) Justify the desi.gn basis for the fuel.
(b) ~ustify the Westinghouse design correlations.
(c) Reduce fuel needs of customers and reduce plant and fuel costs of customer~
e Further, this information has substantial commercial value as follows:
(a) Westinghouse sells the use of the information to its customers for purposes of meeting NRC requirements for licensing documentati*on.
(b)
Westinghouse uses the information to perform and justify analyses which are sold to custo~ers.
(c) Westinghouse uses the information to sell nuclear fuel and related services to its customers.
Public disclosure of this 1nformation is likely to cause sub-stantial harm to the competitive position of Westinghouse in selling nuclear fuel and related services.
Westinghouse retains a marketing advantage by virtue of the knowledge, experience, and competence it has gained through long involvement and considerable investment in all aspects of the nuclear pov,er generation industry.
In particular, Westinghouse has developed a unique understanding of the factors and parameters which are variable in the process of design of nuclear fuel and which do affect the in-service performance of the fue 1 and.its sui tabi 1 i ty for the purpose for which it was provi-ded.
In all cases, that purpose is to generate energy in a safe and efficient manner while enabling the operating nuclear
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.. generating station to meet all regulatory ~equirements af-fected by the core loading of nuclear fuel. Confidence in being able to accomplish this comes from the exercise of judgement base~ on experience, in the application of empiri-cally derived models based on prior data and in the use of
.proven analytical models to simulate behavior of the fuel 1n normal operation and under hypothetical transients.
Thus, the essence of the competitive advantage in this field lies in an understandin~ of which analyses should be performed and in the methods ~nd models used to perform these analyses.
A substantial part of this competitive advantage will be lost if the competitors of Westinghouse are*able to use the re-sults of the analyses and by reverse engineering to normalize or verify their own methods or mode 1 s or if they a re ab 1 e to claim an equivalent understanding by demonstrating that they can arrive at the same or similar.results.
Its use by a competititor would reduce his expenditure of resources or improve his competitive position in the design and licensing of a similar.product.
This information is a product of Westinghouse design tech-nology.
As such, it is broadly applicable to the sale and licensing of fuel in pressurized water reactors. The develop-ment of this _information is the resu1 t of many years of Westinghouse effort and the. expenditure of a considerable sum of money.
In order for competitors of Westinghouse
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. to duplicate this information and the computer programs and analytical techniques which we are seeking to proiect by withholding this information, would require the invest-ment of substantially the same amount of effort and expertise that Westingh6use possesses and which was acquired ov~r a period of more than fifteen years.and by the investment of millions.of dollars.
Over the years, this has included the development of heat transfer codes, nuclear analysis codes, transient analysis codes, core and system simulation methods, and an experimental data base. to support them.
Further the deponent sayeth not.
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