ML20138E030

Informs That Portion of Info in Encl 1 of Vendor 960416 Submittal of Presentation Matl on ABB-C-E Licensing Plan for Full Batch Implementation of Abb Advanced Fuel for Meeting Held on 960416 W/Nrc Will Be Withheld,Per 10CFR2.790

ML20138E030
Person / Time
Site:	05200002
Issue date:	04/25/1997
From:	Stewart Magruder NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To:	Rickard I ABB COMBUSTION ENGINEERING NUCLEAR FUEL (FORMERLY
References
NUDOCS 9705020003
Download: ML20138E030 (5)

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0 4 UNITED STATES j

. 9j NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION o # WASHINGTON, D.C. 205NM001

$ ,o 9***** April 25,1997 Mr. Ian C. Rickard, Director Operations Licensing Combustion Engineering, Inc.

P.O. Box 500 1000 Prospect Hill Road Windsor, Connecticut 06095

SUBJECT:

REQUEST FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE FOR ABB-COMBUSTION ENGINEERING LETTER OF APRIL 16, 1996

Dear Mr. Rickard:

Your letter of April 16, 1996, (LD-96-008) submitted presentation material on the ABB-Combustion Engineering (ABB-CE) licensing plan for full batch implementation of ABB advanced fuel, for the meeting held between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and ABB-CE on April 16, 1996, at the NRC offices in Rockville, Maryland.

In the letter, you stated that all of the information in Enclosure 1 to the letter was considered proprietary information consisting of trade secrets, privileged or confidential comercial or financial information. You requested that this information be withneld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790. ,

You also provided an affidavit, as Enclosure 2 to your letter, dated April 15, 1996, executed by yourself. The affidavit stated, and Enclosure 1 identified, that Enclosure 1 contained designated information owned and held in confidence by Combustion Engineering which should be considered exwpt from mandatory public disclosure for the following reasons:

a. A similar product is manufactured and sold by major pressurized water reactor competitors of Combustion Engineering,

b. Development of this information by Combustion Er.gineering required tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of manhours of effort. A competitor would have to undergo similar expense in generating equivalent information.

c. In order to acquire such information, a competitor would also require considerable time and inconvenience to obtain information regarding planning, development and licensing activities for ABB Combustion Engineering advanced fuel designs.

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I. Rickard April 25, 1997 i

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d. The information consists of planning, development and licensing i activities for ABB Combustion Engineering advanced fuel designs, the l application of which provides a competitive economic advantage. The  !

availability of such information to competitors would enable them to l modify their product to better compete with Combustion Engineering, take  ;

marketing or other actions to improve their product's position or impair l the position of Combustion Engineering's product, and avoid developing l similar data and analyses in support of their processes, methods or apparatus.

e. In pricing Combustion Engineering's products and services, significant research, development, engineering, analytical, manufacturing, licensing, quality assurance and other costs and expenses must be included. The ability of Combustion Engineering's competitors to utilize such information without similar expenditure of resources may enable them to sell at prices reflecting significantly lower costs.

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f. Use of the information by competitors in the international marketplace would increase their ability to market nuclear steam supply systems by reducing the costs associated with their technology development. In l addition, disclosure would have an adverse economic impact on Combustion (

Engineering's potential for obtaining or maintaining foreign licensees. '

We have reviewed your submittal and the material, in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 2.790 and, on the basis of Combustion Engineering's statements, have determined that only a portion of the submitted information sought to be withheld does contain trade secrets or proprietary commercial information.

We believe that some of the designated information is not sufficiently specific to ABB-CE advanced fuel that it would reveal distinguishing aspects of the proposed design and therefore improve a competitor's economic advantage. Specifically, we do not believe the information on the following pages contain trade secrets or proprietary commercial information: 1-7, 9-11, i 14-16, 21, 23, 24, 39-41. These pages consist of title pages, agendas, i overviews, general test information, and general licensing information. l Therefore, we have determined that the information listed above is not within the requirements of 10 CFR 2.790 to be withheld from public disclosure. In ,

accordance with 10 CFR 2.790(c), this information you have sought to be i withheld will be placed in the Commission's Public Document Room 60 days after the date of this letter unless you either withdraw the above information, or submit additional justification not to disclose the information.

If you request that the information be withdrawn, your request will be considered in light of applicable statutes and regulations, and a l determination made whether the documents will be withheld from public l disclosure and returned to you.

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4 I. Rickard April 25, 1997 4

The above listing does not include all the information you designated as 4 proprietary. We have determined that the remaining information does contain i j trade secrets or proprietary commercial information. We have determined that this information, which is marked as proprietary, will be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790(b)(5) and Section 103(b) of the Atomic j Energy Act of 1954, as amended. '

Withholding from public inspection shall not affect the right, if any, of

persons properly and directly concerned to inspect the documents. If the need i~

arises, we may send copies of this information to our consultants working in l this area. We will, of course, ensure that the consultants have signed the appropriate agreements for handling proprietary information.

i If the basis for withholding this information from public disclosure should change in the future such that the information could then be made available I

for public inspection, you should promptly notify the NRC. You should also understand that NRC may have cause to review this determination in the future if, for example, the scope of a Freedom of Information Act request included your information. In all review situations, if the NRC needs additional information from you or makes a determination adverse to the above, you will be notified in advance of any public disclosure. ,

i Sincerely,  ;

M A-

{  : Stewart L. Magruder, Project Manager Generic Issues and Environmental Projects Branch Division of Reactor Program Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation cc: See next page

I. Rickard April 25, 1997 The above listing does not include all the information you designated as proprietary. We have determined that the remaining information does contain trade secrets or proprietary commercial information. We have determined that this information, which is marked as proprietary, will be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790(b)(5) and Section 103(b) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

Withholding from public inspection shall not affect the right, if any, of persons properly and directly concerned to inspect the documents. If the need arises, we may send copies of this information to our consultants working in this area. We will, of course, ensure that the consultants have signed the appropriate agreements for handling proprietary information.

If the basis for withholding this information from public disclosure should change in the future such that the information could then be made available for public inspection, you should promptly notify the NRC. You should also understand that NRC may have cause to review this determination in the future 1

if, for example, the scope of a Freedom of Information Act request included your information. In all review situations, if the NRC needs additional information from you or makes a determination adverse to the above, you will be notified in advance of any public disclosure.

Sincerely, Original Signed By:

Stewart L. Magruder, Project Manager l Generic Issues and Environmental Projects Branch i Division of Reacter Program Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation cc: See next page DISTRIBUTION:  !

Central File PUBLIC PGEB R/F DMatthews FAkstulewicz SMagruder MPSiemien, 0GC JLyons LPhillips SLWu DOCUMENT NAME: G:\SLM1\PROPLTR.416 To ,eceive a copy of this document,Indcate in the boa: 'C' = Copy without attachment / enclosure "E" = Copy with attachment / enclosure

• N" = No copy 0FFICE PM:PGEB c OGC l' SC:PGEB % 4l NAME SMagruder:sw $_m MPSiemien //i N FAkstulewictei DATE 4/9V97 4/AV97 4/ch/97 0FFICIAL RECORD COPY

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ABB-Combustion Engineering, Inc.

cc: Mr. Charles B. Brinkman, Director Nuclear Systems Licensing ABB-Combustion Engineering, Inc. l Post Office Box 500 l 1000 Prospect Hill Poad Windsor, Connect! cst 06095-0500 Mr. Ian C. Rickard, Director i Operations Licensing i ABB-Combustion Engineering Nuclear Operations Post Office Box 500 1000 Prospect Hill Road l

Windsor, Connecticut 06095-0500 l Mr. Charles B. Brinkman, Manager l Washington Nuclear Operations l ABB-Combustion Engineering, Inc.

12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 330 l i Rockville, Maryland 20852 l

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