ML20094D575

Requests Withdrawal of Mfn 006-94 & Return of Documentation to GE

ML20094D575
Person / Time
Site:	05200004
Issue date:	10/24/1995
From:	Quinn J GENERAL ELECTRIC CO.
To:	Quay T NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned), NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
Shared Package
ML19317C048	List: ML20094D575
References
MFN-243-95, NUDOCS 9511060086
Download: ML20094D575 (7)

Text

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GENucl:ar En:rgy

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t James L Quinn M,anced Reactor Programs Prciects % nager. lMA and S8WR Programs GeneralE! ectr?c Comcany 175 Curtner Ave. Mic ISS San Jcse. CA 951251C89 4089251005. DealComm: 8*4251C05 ft 4C8 925 3991. Emad: Curnal@siccolne ge t.cm October 24,1995 MFN 243-95 Docket No.52-004 Document Control Desk U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington DC 20555 Attention: Theodore E. Quay, Director Standardization Project Directorate

Subject:

SBWR - Reclassification of RAI Responses Submitted January 18,1994

Reference:

1. Letter from Dino C. Scaletti (NRC) to Mr. James E.Quinn (GE), Request for Withholding Information From Public Disclosure, General Electric (GE)

Responses to Request for Additional Information (RAI) Dated January 18,1995, dated August 17,1995.

2. Letter MFN 006-94 from P.W. Marriott (GE) to Richard W. Borchardt, NBC Requests for Additional Infonnation (RAIs) on the Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (SBWR) Design, dated January 18,1995.

3. Letter from M. Malloy (NRC) to P.W. Marriott (GE), Transmittal of Requests for Additional Information (RAIs) for the SBWR Design, dated September 15,1994.

4. Summary of meeting on October 25 and 26,1993, and Follow-up Telephone Conference Call and October 29,1993 to Discuss Test Program Activities Conducted at the Gravity-Driven Integral Full-Height Test for Passive Heat Removal (GIRAFFE) Thermal-Hydraulic Test Facility in Kawasaki City, Japan.

In response to the NRC's Reference 1 request, GE has reviewed the classification of proprietag material in the Reference 2 transmittal. As a consequence, we are formally requesting withdrawal of the Reference 2 transmittal and that you return this documentation and any copies to GE or confirm that the Reference 2 information is disposed with in a manner appropriate for proprietag materials.

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) We also are requesting that you replace Reference 2 with the enclosed reclassified responses. As

. in the case of Reference 2, the enclosed reclassified responses respond to References 3 and 4.

l These reclassified responses have been handled and classified as proprietary to GE as indicated in the attached affidavit. We hereby request that this information be withheld from public disclosure in accordance with the provisions of 10CFR2.790. The enclosure provides sidebars in the right-hand margins to distinguish those parts of the responses which are deemed Proprietary to the l General Electric Company. The specific RAIs are listed in the attachment to the affidavit.

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ames . Quinn i

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cc: P. A. Boehnert (NRC/ACRS)(2 paper copies plus E-Mail) i I. Catton (ACRS) (1 paper copy plus E-Mail)

A. Drozd (NRC) (1 paper copy plus E-Mail) j S. Q. Ninh (NRC) (2 paper copies plus E-Mail)  ;

D. C. Scaletti (NRC) (1 paper copy plus E-Mail) t l

J. H. Wilson (NRC) (1 paper copy plus E-Mail) J t

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i General Electric Company i

AFFIDAVIT l 1, George B. Stramback, being duly swom, depose and state as follows:

(1) I am Project Manager, Licensing Services, 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.

i (2) The information sought to be withheld is contained in the enclosure to GE letter MFN 243-95, James E. Quinn to Theodore E. Quay, SBWR - Reclassi/lcation ofRAI Responses Submitted January 18, 1994, dated October 24,1995. The proprietary information is in the responses identified in the attachment and is delineated by bars marked in the margin adjacent to the specific material.

(3) In making this application for withholding of proprietary information of which it is an 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 Secr-ts Act,18 USC Sec.

i 1905, and NRC regulations 10 CFR 9.17(a)(4), 2.790ta)(4), and 2.790(d)(1) for " trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained fro a person and privileged or confidential" (Exemption 4). The material for which exemption from disclosure is here sought is all " confidential commercial infonnation", and some portions 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. 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 definition of proprietary information are:

a. I Information that discloses a process, method, or apparatus, including supp,rting data and analyses, where prevention ofits use by General Electric's competiton without license from General Electric constitutes a competitive economic j advantage over other companies; b.

Information whih, 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; GBS-95-10-afSB WR05. doc AtYidavit Page 1 l

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

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

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

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

1 The information sought to be withheld is considered to be proprietary for the reasons set forth in both paragraphs (4)a. and (4)b., 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 j 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 component to whom the work was provided, 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 prccedure 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 and its associates 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 contains details of the test programs which GE and its associates have conducted and applied to evaluate the loss-of coolant accident for the SBWR.

GBS-95 10-af5BWR05. doc Affidavit Page 2

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l 1 The development and performance of the test program was achieved at a significant cost, on the order of several million dollars, to GE and its associates.

This information contains GE and associate information which, by nature of the collaboration used to prepare the information, cannot be easily separated into its respective parts. In addition to its direct competitive value to GE, the treatment of the information is bound by contract provisions of an Agreement between GE and the associate which provides for proprietary handling of the information.

(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 ar.d money by GE and its associates.

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.

GE's competitive advantage will be lost ifits competitors are able to use the results of the GE and its associates 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.

t The value of this information to GE and its associates 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 and its associates 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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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )

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COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA )

George B. Stramback, being duly sworn, deposes and says:

That 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 2M day of (' 1995.

lla.u/ A Sh Ge%'ge B. 86amback General Electric Company Subscribed and sworn before me this 7-1 day of Oc 1995.

otary Public, State of Califo W

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JULIE A.CURTS COMM # 974657 Notary Public - Californio >

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SANTA CLARA COUNTY My Comm. Expires SEP 30.1996 GBS-95-10-afSBWR05. doc Affidavit Page 4

I ATTACHMENT Responses to NRC Requests for Additional Information (RAI):

900.2 900.13 900.25 900.5 900.14 900.26 900.6 900.14-3 950.17-4 900.7 900.14-4 950.20-1 900.7-1 900.14-5 950.20-2 900.9 900.16 Purdue-1 900.9-1 900.18 Purdue-2 900.10 900.18-1 Purdue-3 900.10-1 900.18-2 Intro-2 900.10-2 900.18-7 Intro 4 900.10-3 900.18-9 900.11 900.18-11 900.11-1 900.19 900.12 900.23-1 900.12-5 900.24-1 i

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