ML20077M081

Forwards Affidavits & Nonproprietary & Proprietary Versions of GE Documents MDE-87-0485-1 & RE-020,per NRC 941114 Request to Enable NRC to Process TS Change Request 90-03. Proprietary Version of MDE-87-0485-1 & RE-020 Withheld

ML20077M081
Person / Time
Site:	Peach Bottom
Issue date:	01/05/1995
From:	Hunger G PECO ENERGY CO., (FORMERLY PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC
To:	NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
Shared Package
ML20077M083	List: ML20077M081 ML20077M086 ML20077M095
References
NUDOCS 9501120140
Download: ML20077M081 (9)

Text

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Ctation Support Department

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_e 10 CFR 50.90 YECO ENERGY =J=3= e,.

965 Chesterteixn ecuk <ard Wayne, PA }9087 Sti9.

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January 5,1995 Docket Nos. 50-277 50-278 License Nos. DPR-44 DPR-56 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Cci.,,rl.i.icii Attn: Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555

Subject:

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 Technical Specifications Change Request No. 90-03

Reference:

Letter from J. W. Shea (NRC) to G. A. Hunger, Jr. (PECO Energy) dated November 14,1994 Go Memen The reference letter requested updated affidavits and a non-proprietary version of two General Electric Company (GE) documcnts to enable the staff to process our subject Technical Specifications Change Request (TSCR). This letter provides rec.antly executed affidavits requesting that portions of GE documents MDE-874485-1, ' Technical Specification improvement An*Jysis for the Reactor Protection System for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 " and RE 020, " Technical Specification improvement Analysis for the Emergency Core Cooling System Actuation Instrumentation for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units ? and 3," be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10CFR2.790. Also enclosed is a proprietary and a non-proprietary copy of MDE-87-0485-1 and RE-ON.

This information should be sufficient to process the subject TSCR for issuance by June,1995 as .

presently scheduled. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesite'.e to contact us.

l Very truly yours.

• h. ,

G. A. Hunger, Jr. ,F Crector - Licensing

Enclosures:

Affidavits, GE Documents MDE-87-0485-1 and RE-020 cc: T. T. Martin, Administrator, Region I, USNRC (w/o enclosures) ,

W. L Schmidt, L'3NRC Senior Resident inspector, PBAPS (w/o enclosures) jj R. R. Janati, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (w/o enclosures) gr t

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General Electric Company e

AFFIDAVIT I, David J. Robare, being duly sworn, depose and state as follows:

(1) I am Manager, ALMR Project Management, General Electric Company ("GE") 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 infonnation sought to be withheld is contained in the GE proprietary report RE-020, TechnicalSpecification hnprovement Analysisfor the Emergency Core Cooling System Actuation Instrumentatonfor Peach Bottom Station, Units 2 and 3, Class 11I (GE Company Proprietary Information), dated December 1986. This information is delineated by brackets around the specific material.

(3) In making this apolication for withholding of proprietary information of which it is the owner, GE rehes 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), 2.790(a)(4), and 2.790(d)(1) for " trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential" (Exemption 4). The material for which exemption from disclosure is here sought is all " confidential commercial information",

and some portions also qualify under the narrower definition of " trade secret", within the meanings assigned to those tenns for purposes of FOIA Exemption 4 in, respectively, Critical Mass Energy Project v. Nuclear Regulatory Canmission.

975F2d871 (DC Cir.1992), and Public Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA.

704F2d1280 (DC Cir.1983).

(4) Some examples of categories of information which fit into the dermition of proprietary information are:

a. Information that discloses a process, method, or apparatus, including supporting data and analyses, where prevention ofits use by General Electric's competitors without license from General Electric 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; JDs m amo:o.du Afridavit Page I

3 i c l l

c. Information which reveals cost or price information, production capacities, j budget levels, or commercial strategies of General Electric, its customers, or its  !

suppliers;

d. Information which reveals aspects of past, present, or future General Electric i customer-funded development plans and programs, of potential commercial l value to General Electric;

e. Information which discloses patentable subject matter for which it may be desirable to obtain patent protection.

l The information sought to be withheld is considered to be proprie ary for the reasons j

! set forth iri both paragraphs (4)b. and (4)d., above. '

(5) The information sought to be withheld is being submitted to NRC in confidence. The information is of a sort customarily held in confidence by GE, 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 GE, 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. Access to such documents within GE is limited on 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, 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 GE are limited to regulatory bodies, customers, and potential customers, and their agents, supp'iers, and licensees, and others with a legitimate need fm S information, and then only in accordance with appropriate regulatory provisions oi goprietary agreements.

(8) The information identified in paragraph (2), above, is classified as proprietary because it would provide other parties, including competitors, with a valuable information regarding the application of reliability based methodology to BWR instrumentation.

A substantial effort has been expended by General Electric to develop this J r)S-93-afTre020. dos Afridavit Page 2

t' information in suppon of the BWR Owners' Group Technical Specifications improvement Program. l (9) Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to GE's competitive position and foreclose or reduce the availability of profit-making opportunities. The information is part of GE's comprehensive BWR 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 The research, development, engineering, and analytical costs comprise a substantial investment of time and money by GE.

The precise value of the expertise to devise an evaluation process and apply the correct analytical methodology is diflicult to quantify, but it clearly is substantial.

GE's competitive advantage will be lost ifits competitors are able to use the results of l the GE 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 cnnclusions. l The value of this information to GE 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 i competitors with a windfall, and deprive GE of the opportunity to exercise its competitive advantage to seek an adequate return on its large investment in developing these very valuable analytical tools.

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jos enico:o. doc Affidavit Page 3

STATE OF CALIFORNIA )

) ss:

COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA )

David J. Robare, being duly sworn, deposes and says:

That he has read the foregoing afIidavit and the matt ers stated therein are true and correct to the best of his knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed at San Jose, California, this Wh day of JAMUARY 1995.

ML, David J. Robare General Electric Company l

Subscribed and sworn before me this dOay of S6.nUMLl 1995. [

0  !

PAULA F. HUSSEY i ~ & u" : % % i 9auDa 'M uss w j

gemAQc[e Notarf ublic, P State of Califdrnia i

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i JDS-95 am:020. doc Aflidavit Page 4

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L AFFIDAVIT 1

i G I, David J. Robare, being duly sworn, depose and state as follows:

(1) I am Manager, ALMR Project Management, General Electric Company ("GE") and -

have been delegated the function of reviewing the information described in paragraph -

(2) whic.. 's sought to be withheld, and have been authorized to apply. for its '

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withholding. 1 (2) The information sought to be withheld is contained in the GE proprietary report MDE-87-0485-1, Technical Specification improvement Analysis for the Reactor Protection Systemfor Peach Bottom Atomi: Power Station, Units 2 and 3, Class lli l

(GE Company Proprietary Information), dated October 1987. This information is I delineated by brackets around the specific material.

(3) In making this application for withholding of proprietary information of which it is the owner, GE 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), 2.790(a)(4), and 2.790(d)(1) for " trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from

~

a person and privileged or confidential" (Exemption 4). The material-for which exemption from disclosure is here sought is all " confidential commercial information",

and some ponions also qualify under the narrower definition of " trade secret", within the meanings assigned to those terms for purposes of FOIA Exemption 4 in, rey ctively, Critical Mass Energy Project v. Nuclear Regulatory Commissier, 975F2d871 (DC Cir.1992), and Public Citizen Health Research Group v. FD/,t 704F2d1280 (DC Cir,1983),

(4) Some exarnples of categories of information which fit into the definition of proprietary inibrmation are:

a. Information that discloses a process, method, or apparatus, including supponing data and analyses, where prevention ofits use by General Electric's compeWors without license from General Electric 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 'rr.ar product; JDSeanmdes7. doc Afridavit Page !

it

c. Information which reveals cost or price information, production capacities, budget levels, or commercial strategies of General Electric, its customers, 'or its suppliers;

d. Info mation which reveals aspects of past, present, or future General Electric '

customer-funded development plans and programs, of potential commercial value to General Electric;

e. Inf,rmation 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 both paragraphs (4)b. and (4)d., above.

(5) The information sought to be withheld is being submitted to NRC in conf;dence. The information is of a sort customarily held in confidence by GE, 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 GE, 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. Access to such documents within GE is limited on a "need to know" basis.

(7) The procedure for approval of external release of such a document typically requires review by the stafT 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 GE 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), above, is classified as proprietary because it would provide other parties, including competitors, with a valuable information regarding the application of reliability based methodology to BWR instrumentation.

A substantial effon has been expended by General Electric to develop this ms n.nnxiesm Affidavit Page 2

v., .

information in suppon of the BWR Owners' Group Technical Specifications Improvement Program.

(9) Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld .is likely to cause substantial harm to GE's competitive position and foreclose or reduce the availability of profit-making opponunities. The information is pan of GE's comprehensive BWR 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.

The research, development, engineering, and analytical costs comprise a substantial investment of time and money by GE.

The precise value of the expenise to devise an evaluation process and apply the ,

correct analytical methodology is diflicult to quantify, but it clearly is substantial.

GE's competitive advantage will be lost ifits competitors are able to use the results of the GE 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 vclue of this information to GE 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 GE of the opportunity to exercise its competitive advantage to seek an adequate return on -its large investment in developing these very valuable analytical tools.

JDs 95 stimde87. doc Amdavit Page 3

s. '

u. , .

STATE OF CALIFORNIA )

) ss:

COUNTY OF SA.NTA CLARA )

David J. Robare, being duly sworn, deposes and says:

That he has read the foregoing aflidavit and the matters stated therein are true and correct to the best of his knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed at San Jose, California, this +11 day of DAMVART 1995.

hh D'aviiiJ. Ro6are General Electric Company h

Subscribed and sworn before me this bb day of SA4ufud 1995.

O g

PAULA F com ,.HUSSEY mim c

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hv. abstm l "d[$aie0 My Comm. Ex@w oEC 1.1Ma f 2

Noiary Public, State of Califdr'nia 8

JDS-95-alTmdc87. dos Affidavit Page 4

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