ML20147D285
| ML20147D285 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Point Beach  |
| Issue date: | 02/26/1988 |
| From: | Wagner D Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Fay C WISCONSIN ELECTRIC POWER CO. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8803030279 | |
| Download: ML20147D285 (5) | |
Text
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February 26, 1988 Docket No. 50-301 DISTRIBUTION:
Ei: Ret Files % NRC & Local PORs PDllI-3 r/f v KPerkins GHolahan PKreutzer 0 Wagner EShoemaker, OGC-WF1 Mr. C. W. Fay, Vice President EJordan JPartlow Nuclear Power Department PDIII-3 Gray Wisconsin Electric Power Company 231 W. Michigan Street, koom 308 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201
Dear Mr. Fay:
SUBJECT:
REQUEST FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC OlSCLOSURE By your application dated January 11, 1988, you submitted the Westinghouse report, "Point Beach Unit 2 Evaluation for Tube Vibration Induced Fatigue,"
(WCAP-11666) December 1987, and requested that it be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790.
A letter and an affidavit from Westinghouse, the owner of the information, was included in your application. Westinghouse stated that the submitted l
infonnation should be considered exempt from mandatory public disclosure for the following reasons:
(1) The information sought to be withheld from public disclosure is owned and has been held in confidence by Westinghouse.
(ii) The information is of a type customarily held in confidence by Westinghouse and not customarily disclosed to the public.
Westinghouse has a rational basis for determining the types of infomation customarily held in confidence by it and, in that connection, utilizes a system to determine when and whether to hold certain types of information in confidence.
l The application of that system and the substance of that l
system constitutes Westinghouse policy and provides
(
tie rational basis required.
i Under that system, information is held in confidence if it falls in one or more of several types, the release of which might result in the loss of an existing or potential com-petitive advantage, as follows:
(a) The information reveals the distinguishing aspects of aprotecs(orcotponent, structure, tool, method,etc.)
where prevention of its use by any of Westinghouse's competitors without license from Westinghouse consti-tutes a competitive economic advantage over other companies.
%f D
P P
Mr. C. W. Fay (b)
It consists of supporting data, including test data, relative to a process (or component, structure, tool, method, etc.), the application of which data secures a c w etitive r,conomic advantage, e.g., by optimization or improved marketability.
(c) Its use 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 a similar product.
(d)
It reveals cost or price information, production capac-ities, budget levels, or commercial strategies of Westinghouse, its customers or suppliers.
(e)
It reveals aspects of past, present, or future West-inghouse or customer funded development plans and pro-grams of potential cocenercial value to Westinghouse.
(f)
It contains patentable ideas, for which patent pro-tection may be desirable.
(g)
It is not the property of Westinghouse, but must be treated as proprietary by Westinghouse according to agreements with the owner.
There are sound policy reasons behind the Westinghouse system which include the following:
(a) The use such infonnation by Westinghouse gives West-
'nghouse a competitive advantage over its competitors.
It is, therefore, withheld from disclosure to protect the Westinghouse competitive position.
(b)
It is infonnation which is marketable in many ways.
The extent to which such information is available to competitors diminishes the Westinghouse ability to sell products and services involving the use of the information.
(c) Use by our competitor would put Westinghouse at a competitive disadvantage by reducing his expenditure or resources at our expense.
(d) Each component of proprietary information pertinent to a particular competitive advantage is potentially as valuable as the total competitive advantage.
If competitors acquire components of proprietary infor-mation, any one component may be the key to the entire puzzle, thereby depriving Westinghouse of a competitive advantage.
I Mr. C. W. Fay (e) Unrestricted disclosure would jeopardize the position of prominence of Westinghouse in the world market, and thereby give a market advantage to the competition in those countries.
(f) The Westinghouse capacity to invest corporate assets in research and development depends upon the success in obtaining and maintaining a competitive advantage.
(iii) The information is being transmitted to the Comission in confidence and, under the provisions of 10 CFR Section 2.790, it is to be received in confidence by the Commission.
(iv)
The information sought to be protected is not available in public sources or available information has not been pre-viously employed in the sa'ne original manner or method to the best of our knowledge and belief.
(v)
The proprietary information sought to be withheld in this submittalisthatwhichis[identifiedabove)...
This information is part of that which will enable Westing-house to:
(a) Provide documentation of the analyses, method and test-ing for determining plugging margin.
(b)Establishtheminimumwallthicknessincompliancewith Regulatory Guide 1.121.
(c)Establishthestresslimitsversusthinningofthe remaining tube wall.
(d) Establish the maximum allowable leakage in support of the leak-before-break-criteria.
(e)AssistthecustomertoobtainNRCapproval.
Further this information has substantial commercial value as follows:
(a) Westinghouse plans to sell similar information to its customers for purposes of meeting NRC requirements for licensing documentation.
(b) Westinghouse can sell support and defense of the tech-nology to its customers in the licensing process.
Public disclosure of this information is likely to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of Westinghouse because it would enhance the ability of competitors to pro-vide similar analytical documentation and licensing defense
Mr. C. W. Fay services for commercial power reactors without connensurate expenses. Also, public disclosure of the information would enable others to use the infonnation to meet NRC requirements for licensing documentation without purchasing the right to use the information.
The development of the technolcgy described in part by the information is the result of applying the results of many years of experience in an intensive Westinghouse effort and the expenditure of a considerable sum of money.
1 In order for competitors of Westinghouse to duplicate this information, similar technical programs would have to be performed and a significant manpower effort, having the requisite talent and experience, would have to be expended for system design software development.
We have reviewed your application and the material based on the requirenents and criteria of 10 CFR 2.790 and, on the basis of Westinghouse's statements, have determined that the submitted information sought to be withheld contains trade secrets or proprietary connercial infonnation.
Therefore, the version of the submitted information marked as proprietary will be withheld ftw public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790(b)(5) and l
Section 103(b) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
Withholding from public inspection shall not affect the right, if any, nf I
persons properly and directly concerned to inspect the documents.
If toe 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 infonnation.
If the basis for withholding this information from public inspection 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 the NRC may have cause to review this determination in the I
future, such as if the scope of a Freedom of Infonnation Act request includes your information.
In all review situations, if the NRC makes a determination adverse to the above, you will be notified in advance of any public disclosure.
Sincerely,
/5/
David H. Wagner Project Manager Project Directorate III-3 DivisionofReyctorProjects-I!!,
IV, Y and 3pecial Projects cc:
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maker Date:
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,/88 02/ N /88 02/ # /88 02/l(/88 Tl
Mr. C. W. Fay Point Beach Nuclear Plant Wisconsin Electric Power Company Units 1 and 2 cc:
Mr. Bruce Churchill, Esq.
Shaw, Pittman, Potts and Trowbridge 2300 N Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20037 Mr. Jares J. Zach, Manager Point Beach Nuclear Plant Wisconsin Electric Power Company 6610 Nuclear Road Two Rivers, Wisconsin 54241 Town Chairman Town of Two Creeks Route 3 Two Rivers, Wisconsin 54241 Chairman Public Service Commission of Wisconsin Hills Farms State Office Building Madison, Wisconsin 53702 Regional Administrator, Region !!!
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Executive Director for Operations 799 Roosevelt Road Glen Ellyn, Illinois 60137 Resident Inspector's Office U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 6612 Nuclear Road Two Rivers, Wisconsin 54241