ML18297A060
| ML18297A060 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Cooper  |
| Issue date: | 10/16/2018 |
| From: | Shaw J Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) |
| To: | Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18297A112 | List: |
| References | |
| NLS2018055 | |
| Download: ML18297A060 (6) | |
Text
Proprietary Information - Withhold Under 10 CFR 2.390 NLS2018055 October 16, 2018 Nebraska Public Power District Always theTe when :you need us U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Attention: Document Control Desk Washington, D.C. 20555-0001
Subject:
Core Operating Limits Report, Cycle 31, Revision 0 Cooper Nuclear Station, Docket No. 50-298, DPR-46
Dear Sir or Madam:
The purpose of this letter is to provide to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) the Core Operating Limits Report (COLR) for Cooper Nuclear Station (CNS) for Cycle 31. CNS Technical Specification 5.6.5.d requires that the COLR, including any midcycle revisions or supplements, be provided upon issuance for each reload cycle.
Global Nuclear Fuel (GNP) has determined that the CNS CQLR contains GNF proprietary information, as defined by 10 CPR 2.390. The proprietary version of the COLR, Cycle 31, Revision 0, is provided in Enclosure 1. It is requested that Enclosure 1 be withheld from public disclosure. GNF, as the owner of the proprietary information, has executed an affidavit (Enclosure 3), which identifies that the proprietary information has been handled and classified as proprietary, is customarily held in confidence, and has been withheld from public disclosure.
The proprietary information was provided to CNS in a GNP transmittal that is referenced by the affidavit. The proprietary information has been faithfully reproduced in the enclosed documentation such that the affidavit remains applicable. A non-proprietary version of the COLR, Cycle 31, Revision 0, for public disclosure is provided in Enclosure 2.
This letter makes no regulatory commitments.
If you have any questions regarding this submittal, please contact me at (402) 825-2788.
Licensing Manager
/lb contains Proprietary Information. Upon separation from Enclosure 1, the cover letter and the remainder of the document are decontrolled.
COOPER NUCLEAR STATION P.O. Box 98 / Brownville, NE 68327-0098 Telephone: (402) 825-3811 / Fax: (402) 825-5211 www.nppd.com
Proprietary Information - Withhold Under 10 CFR 2.390 NLS2018055 Page 2 of2
Enclosures:
- 1. Cooper Nuclear Station Core Operating Limits Report, Cycle 31, Revision O - Proprietary
- 2. Cooper Nuclear Station Core. Operating Limits Report, Cycle 31, Revision O - Non-Proprietary
- 3. Global Nuclear Fuel Affidavit cc:
Regional Administrator w/enclosures USNRC - Region IV Cooper Project Manager w/enclosures USNRC - NRR Plant Licensing Branch IV Senior Resident Inspector w/enclosures USNRC-CNS NPG Distribution w/o enclosures CNS Records w/enclosures contains Proprietary Information. Upon separation from Enclosure 1, the cover letter and the remainder of the document are decontrolled.
NLS2018055 Page 1 of 4 GLOBAL NUCLEAR FUEL AFFIDAVIT
Global Nuclear Fuel -Americas AFFIDAVIT I, Brian R. Moore, state as follows:
(l) I am General Manager, Core and Fuel Engineering, Global Nuclear Fuel -
Americas, LLC ("GNF-A"), and have been delegated the function of reviewing the information described in paragraph (2) which is sought to be withheld, and have been authorized to apply for its withholding.
(2) The information sought to be withheld is contained in Enclosure l of GNF's letter, KGO-NPP-HPl-18-125, Kimberly O'Connor to Khalil Dia (Nebraska Public Power District), entitled "Cooper Nuclear Station Cycle 31 COLR," October l, 2018. GNF proprietary information in Enclosure 1, which is entitled "Cooper Nuclear Station Cycle 31 Core Operating Limits Report," is identified by a dotted underline inside double square brackets.
((This. sentence.. is.. an. example.Pl))
In each case, the superscript notation Pl refers to Paragraph (3) of this affidavit, which provides the basis for the proprietary determination.
(3) In making this application for withholding of proprietary information of which it is the owner or licensee, GNF-A relies upon the exemption from disclosure set forth in the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 USC Sec. 552(b)(4), and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 USC Sec. 1905, and NRC regulations 10 CFR 9.17(a)(4), and 2.390(a)(4) for "trade secrets" (Exemption 4). The material for which exemption from disclosure is here sought also qualify under the narrower definition of "trade secret", within the meanings assigned to those terms for purposes of FOIA Exemption 4 in, respectively, Critical Mass Energy Project v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 975F2d87 I (DC Cir. 1992), and Public Citizen Health Research Group
- v. FDA, 704F2dl280 (DC Cir. 1983).
(4) Some examples of categories of information which fit into the definition of proprietary information are:
- a.
Information that discloses a process, method, or apparatus, including supporting data and analyses, where prevention of its use by GNF-A's competitors without license from GNF-A constitutes a competitive economic advantage over other companies;
- b.
Information which, if used 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 of a similar product;
- c.
Information which reveals aspects of past, present, or future GNF-A customer-funded development plans and programs, resulting in potential products to GNF-A; KGO-NPP-HP 1-18-125 Enclosure I Affidavit Page I of 3
- d.
Information which discloses patentable subject matter for which it may be desirable to obtain patent protection.
The information sought to be withheld is considered to be proprietary for the reasons set forth in paragraphs (4)a. and (4)b. above.
(5) To address 10 CFR 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 GNF-A, and is in fact so held. The information sought to be withheld has, to the best of my knowledge and belief, consistently been held in confidence by GNF-A, 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. Its initial designation as proprietary information, and the subsequent steps taken to prevent its unauthorized disclosure, are as set forth in paragraphs ( 6) and (7) following.
( 6) Initial approval of proprietary treatment of a document is made by the manager of the originating component, the person most likely to be acquainted with the value and sensitivity of the information in relation to industry knowledge, or subject to the terms under which it was licensed to GNF-A.
(7) The procedure for approval of external release of such a document typically requires review by the staff manager, project manager, principal scientist or other equivalent authority, by the manager of the cognizant marketing function (or his delegate), and by the Legal Operation, for technical content, competitive effect, and determination of the accuracy of the proprietary designation. Disclosures outside GNF-A are limited to regulatory bodies, customers, and potential customers, and their agents, suppliers, and licensees, and others with a legitimate need for the information, and then only in accordance with appropriate regulatory provisions or proprietary agreements.
(8) The information identified in paragraph (2) is classified as proprietary because it contains details of GNF-A's 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 to GNF-A or its licensor.
(9) Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to GNF-A's competitive position and foreclose or reduce the availability of profit-making opportunities. The information is part of GNF-A's comprehensive BWR 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 KGO-NPP-HPI-18-125 Enclosure 1 Affidavit Page 2 of3
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 GNF-A.
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-A's 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.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on this 1st day of October 2018.
Brian R. Moore General Manager, Core and Fuel Engineering Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC KGO-NPP-HPl-18-125 Enclosure 1 3901 Castle Hayne Road Wilmington, NC 28401 Brian.Moore@ge.com Affidavit Page 3 of 3