ML20087D477

Forwards Responses to Agenda Item 12 Discussed During 911120-21 Meeting W/Reactor Sys Branch of Nrc.Responses Withheld

ML20087D477
Person / Time
Site:	05000605
Issue date:	01/10/1992
From:	Marriott P GENERAL ELECTRIC CO.
To:	NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
Shared Package
ML19351B096	List: ML20087D477
References
EEN-9205, MFN-009-92, MFN-9-92, NUDOCS 9201160227
Download: ML20087D477 (4)

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G[ Nale:a Enugy January 10,1992 h1FN No.009 92 Docket No.STN 50 605 EEN 9205 Document Control Desk U.S. Nuclear llegulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Attention: Robert C. Pierson, Director Standardization and Non l'ower iteactor Project Directorate

Subject:

GE ltesponse to Agenda item 12 Discusseri During the GE/NitC lleactor Systems liranch blecting on Nmeenber 20 21,1991 Enclosed are thirty.four (34) copies of the OH response to the subject item.

The response contains information that is designated as General Electric proprietary information and included 's the corresponding proprietery af fidavit.

Sincerely, h b P.W. h1arriott, hianager ite ula'ery and Analysis Services hi C 382, (408) 925-6948 cc: F. A. Ross (DOE)

N. D. Fletcher (DOE)

C. Poslusny, Jr. (NRC)

R. C. Berglund (GE)

J. F. Ouirk (GE) fI

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4 General Electric Company AFFIDAVIT I, Itobert C. Mitchell, being duly sworn, depose and state as follows:

1. I am Manager, Safety, Environmental & Quality Assurance, General Electrie Company, 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 ' Description of the AUWit Itod Block Monitor (ATLM) Algorithm," dated November 21,1991,

3. In designating material as proprietary, General Electric utilizes the definition of proprietary information and trade secrets set forth in the American Law Institute's llestatement of Torts, Section 757. This definition provides:

"A trade secret may consist of any formula, pattern, device or compilation ofinfor-mation which is used in one's business and which gives him an opportunity to abtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use it.... A substantial element of sect must exist, so that, except by the use of improper means, there would be difficult in acquiring information.... Some factors to be considered in determining whet ier given information is one's trade secret are: (1) the extent to which the information is known outside of his be=iness; (2) the extent to which it is known by employees and others involved in his business;(3) the extent of mea-sures taken by him to ;uard the secrew of the information;(4) the value of the in-formation to him anc to his e , a,petitors; (5) the amount of effort or money ex-panded by him in developing the information; (6) the case or difficulty with the which the information could be properly acquired or duplicated by others."

4. Som,e examples of categories of information which fit into the definition of proprietary infor-mation are:

. Information that disclosed a process, method or apparatus where prevention of its use by General Electric's competitors without license from General Electric constitutes a competitive economic advantage over other companies;

b. Information consisting of supporting data and analyses, including test data, relative to a process, method or apparatus, the application of which provide a competitive economic advantage, e.g., by optimization or improved marketability;

c. Information which if used by a competitor, would reduce his expenditure of resources or improve his competitive position in the design, manufacture, shipment, installation, as.

surance of quality or licensing of a similar praduct;

d. Information which reveals cost or price information, production ca iacities, budget levels I or commercial strategies of General Electric, its customers or supp iers;

e. Information which reveals aspects of past, present or future General Electric cus-tomer funded development plans and programs of potential commercial value to Gen-eral Electric: ,

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

g. Information which Ocneral Electric must treat as proprietary according to agreements with other parties.

5. In addition to proprietary treatment given to material meeting the standards enumerated i above, General Electric customarily maintains in confidence preliminary and draft material which has not been subject to complete proprietary, technical and ed!torial review.This prac- c tice is based on the fact that draft documents often do not appropelately reflect all aspects of '

a problem, may contain tentative conclusions and may contain errors that can be corrected during normal review and approval procedures. Also, until the finti document is complete it may not be possible to make any definitive determination as to its proarletary nature. Gen-eral Electric is not generally willing to release such a document in suel a preliminary fotm.

Such documents are, however, on occasion furnished to the NRC staff on a confidential basis because it is General Electric's belief that it is in the public interett for the staff to be promptly furnished with significant or potentially significant informatien. Furnishing the document on a confidential basis pending completion of General Electric's internal review permits early acquaintance of the staff with the information while protecting General Elec-tric's potential proprietary position and permitting General Electric to insure the public doc-uments are technically accurate and correct.

6. Initial approval of proprietary treatment of a document is typically made by the Subsection manager of the originating component, who is most likely to be acquainted with the value and sensitivity of the information in relation to industry knowledge. Access to such docu.

ments within the Company is limited on a 'need to know" basis and such documents are clearly identified as proprietary.

7. The procedure for approval of external telease of such a document ty)ically requires review by the Subsection Manager, Project manager, Principal Scientist or et 1er equivalent author.

ity, by the Subsection Manager of the cognizant Marketing function (or delegate) and by the '

Legal Operation for technical content, competitive effect and determination of the accuracy of the proprietary designation in accordance with the standards enumerated above. Disclo-sures outside General Electric are generally limited to regulatory bodies, customers and po-tential customers and their agents, suppliers and licensees then only with appropriate protec-tion by applicable regulatory provisions or proprietary agreements.

8. 'fhe document mentioned in paragra,h 2 above has been evaluated in accotdance with the above criteria and procedures and las been found to contain information which is propri-etary and which is customarily held in confidence by General Electric.

9. The information to the best of my knowledge and belief has consiste.atly been iield in confi-dence by the General Electric Company, no public disclosure has been made, and it h not available in public sources. All disclosures to third parties have been made pursuant to regu-latory provisions or proprietary agreements which provide for maintenance of the informa-tion in confidence.

Nfiuavh I' age 2

10. This document contains possible patentable subject matter and is made available in confidence for use only in performance of work by or for the Department of Energy (DOE),

its contents should not be published, further disseminated or used for other purposes until patent clearance has been accorded by the DOE patent counsel.

STATE OF cal.lFORNIA )

COUNTY OF SANTA CIARA ) 88 Robert C. Mitchell, being duly sworn, oeposes and says:

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

Executed at San Jose, California, this #1 day of %./vaeY 1992.

I c ell Oeneral Electric Company Subscribed and sworn before me this h day of hun)a.e d 1992.

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