ML19331A444
| ML19331A444 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07001113 |
| Issue date: | 11/27/2019 |
| From: | Murray S Global Nuclear Fuel |
| To: | Jeremy Munson Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19331A861 | List: |
| References | |
| M190209 | |
| Download: ML19331A444 (3) | |
Text
GNii=
Global Nuclear Fuel Proprietary Information Notice This letter forwards Proprietary Information to be withheld from public disclosure in accordance with 10CFR2.390. Upon removal of Attachments 2 and 3, the balance of this letter may be made public.
M190209 November 27, 2019 Jeremy Munson U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Division of Fuel Management Inspection and Oversight Branch Attn: Document Control Desk
Subject:
NRC Request for Documents
References:
- 1) NRC License SNM-1097, Docket 70-1113 Global Nuclear Fuel Scott P. Murray Manager, Facility Licensing 3901 Castle Hayne Road P.O. Box 780 Wilmington, NC 28402 USA T (910) 819-5950 Scott.murray@ge.com
- 2) GNF-A License Amendment Request, 10/31 /19
- 3) GNF-A/NRC Telecom 11/26/19
Dear Mr. Munson:
The attachments to this letter contain Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas (GNF-A) Proprietary Information.
Attached is the documentation, as listed below, that you requested on November 26, 2019 (Reference 3). These documents contain GNF-A Proprietary Information and should be protected from public disclosure.
- 1. GNF-A SCALE6.1/KENO-VI Monte Carlo Code Validation Report (Rev. 3)
- 2. GNF-A Report-Criticality Safety Analysis - SNM-1097 Favorable Geometry and Safe Batch Limits (Rev. 0)
If you have any questions concerning this letter, please call me at (910) 819-5950.
s"'J!~m Scott Murray, Manage~
Facility Licensing Attachment(s): 1) Affidavit
- 2) GNF-A SCALE6.1/KENO-VI Monte Carlo Code Validation Report-Revision 3 (May 2018)
- 3) GNF-A Report - Criticality Safety Analysis - SNM-1097 Favorable Geometry and Safe Batch Limits - Revision O (October 2019)
M. Bartlett, USNRC NMSS SPM 19-037 AFFIDAVIT I, Scott P. Murray, state as follows:
(1)
I am the Manager, Facility Licensing of Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas (GNF-A) and have been delegated the function by GNF-A 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 Attachment 2 to GNF-A's letter, M 190209, Scott P.
Murray to Jeremy Munson, entitled NRC Request for Documents. GNF-A proprietary information is contained in Attachments 2 and 3 and is identified by the statement "GNF-A Proprietary Information".
(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 qualifies 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, 975 F2d 871 (DC Cir. 1992), and Public Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA, 704 F2d 1280 (DC Cir. 1983).
(4)
The information sought to be withheld is considered to be proprietary for the reasons set forth in paragraphs (4)a.
and ( 4 )b. Some examples of categories of information that 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 GNF-A and/or other companies.
- b.
Information that, if used by a competitor, would reduce their expenditure of resources or improve their competitive position in the design, manufacture, shipment, installation, assurance of quality, or licensing of a similar product.
(5)
To address 10 CFR 2.390(b)(4), the information sought to be withheld is being submitted to the 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, not been disclosed publicly, and not been made available in public sources. All disclosures to third parties, including any required transmittals to the NRC, have been made, or must be made, pursuant to regulatory provisions or proprietary and/or confidentiality agreements that provide for maintaining the information in confidence. The initial designation of this information as proprietary information, and the subsequent steps taken to prevent its unauthorized disclosure are as set forth in the following paragraphs (6) and (7).
(6)
Initial approval of proprietary treatment of a document is made by the manager of the originating component, who is the person most likely to be acquainted with the value and sensitivity of the information in relation to industry knowledge, or who is the person most likely to be subject to the terms under which it was licensed to GEH. Access to such documents within GNf-A is limited to a "need to know" basis.
(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 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 and/or confidentiality agreements.
(8) The information identified in paragraph (2) above is classified as proprietary because it contains details of GNF-A's processes, design and manufacturing facilities.
(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 facility design and licensing methodology is part of GNF-A'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 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 274th day of November 2019.
~~/f)~
Global Nuclear Fuel - A"as STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
)
)
COUNTY OF NEW HANOVER
)
Subscribed and sworn to me, a Notary Public, in and for the State of North Carolina, this 27th day of November 2019.
MORGAN DATEMA NOTARY PUBLIC NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC My Commission Expires 4-30-2022 My Commission Expires:
4/30/2022 Notary P lie in and for the State of North Carolina