ML20214P191
| ML20214P191 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Nine Mile Point, Perry, Fermi, Hope Creek, Grand Gulf, Limerick, River Bend, Clinton, 05000000 |
| Issue date: | 11/19/1986 |
| From: | Villa R GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. |
| To: | Berkow H Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19292G328 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8612040106 | |
| Download: ML20214P191 (5) | |
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GENERAL $ ELECiRIC NUCLEAR ENERGY BUSINESS OPERATIONS GENERAL ELECTRIC CCMANY e 175 CURTNER AVENUE e SAN JOSE, CAUFORNIA 95125 November 19, 1986 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Nuclear Regulatory Regulation Washington, D.C. 20555 Attention:
Mr. Herbert M. Berkow, Director Standardization & Special Projects
SUBJECT:
GENERAL ELECTRIC REPORT " GENERAL ELECTRIC INSTRUMENT SETPOINT METHODOLOGY' (NEDC-31336) DATED OCTOBER 1986
Reference:
Letter from J. F. Carolan (LRG Instrument Methodology Setpoint Group) to T. M. Noval (NRC), dated June 29, 1984
" Action Plan to answer the NRC staff concerns on setpoint methodology for General Electric protection system Instrumentation".
The referenced letter committed the transmittal to the NRC, by the LRG Instrument Setpoint Methodology Group, of a final report addressing the LRG issue on setpoint methodology for GE supplied protection instrumentation. General Electric, on behalf of the LRG Instrument Setpoint Methodology Group, herein fulfills that commitment by the transmittal of twenty three (23) copies of the report " General Electric Instrument Setpoint Methodology" (NEDC-31336). This document is applicable to the following BWR plants: Limerick, RiverBend, Grand Gulf, Fermi-2, Hope Creek, Nine Mile Point 2, Clinton, and Perry.
j Included in this transmittal is, pursuant to NRC requirements, a check for $150. for the establishment of a review schedule for this report.
Information contained in NEDC-31336 is of the type which General Electric maintains in confidence and withholds from public disclosure.
l It has been handled and classified as proprietary by, General Electric i
as indicated in the affidavit of R. Villa (Attached) and General l
Electric hereby requests that the report be withheld from public disclosure in accordance with the provision of 10CFR2790.
Very truly yours R. Villa, Manager Product Licensing r
I 8612040106 861119 ADOCK0500g1 l
[$8 Attachment I
l cc:
L. S. Gifford, (GE), w/att l
_f.
f f
AFFIDAVIT I Rudolph Villa, being duly sworn, depose and state as follows:
l.
I am Manager, Product Licensing, General Electric 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 contained in the General Electric Report entitled " General Electric Instrument Setpoint Methodology" (NEDC-31336), dated October 1986.
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 Restatement Of Torts, Section 757. This definition provides:
"A trade secret may consist of any formula, pattern, device or compilation of information which is used in one's business and which gives him an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use it....
A substantial element of secrecy must exist, so that, except by the use of improper means, there would be difficulty in acquiring information....
Some factors to be considered in determining whether given information is one's trade secret are: (1) the extent to which the information is known outside of his
. business; (2) the extent to which it is known by' employees and others involved in his business; (3) the extent of measures taken by him to guard the secrecy of the information; (4) the value of the information to him and to his competitors; (5) the amount of effort or money expended by him in developing the information; (6) the ease or difficulty with which the information could be properly acquired or duplicated by others."
4.
Some examples of categories of information which fit into the definition of proprietary information are:
Information that disclosed a process, method or apparatus where a.
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 l
marketability; Information which if used by a competitor, would reduce his c.
expenditure of resources or improve his competitive position in the design, manufacture, shipment, installation assurance of quality or licensing of a similar product; 4
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Information which reveals cost or price information, 4
production capacities, budget levels or commercial strategies of General Electric, its customers or suppliers; Information.which reveals aspects of past, present or future e.
General Electric customer-funded development plans and programs of potential commercial value to General Electric; f.
Information which discloses patentable subject matter for which it may be desirable to obtain patent protection; g.
Information which General Electric must treat as proprietary according to agreements with other parties.
= 5.
Initial approval of. proprietary treatment of as document is typically made by the Subsection Manager of the originating i'
component, who is'most likely to be acquainted with the value and sensitivity of the information in relation to industry knowledge.
Access to such documents within the Company is limited on an "need to know" basis and such documents are clearly identified as proprietary.
6.
The procedure for approval of external release of such a document typically-requires review by the Section Manager, Project Manager, Principal Scientist or other equivalent authority, by the Section Manager of the cognizant Marketing function (or assigned 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.
Disclosures outside General Electric are generally limited to regulatory bodies, customers and potential customers and their.
agents, suppliers and licensee only'in accordance with appropriate regulatory provisions or proprietary agreements.
i 7.
The document mentioned in paragraph 2 above has been evaluated in accordance with the above criteria and procedures and have been found to contain information which is proprietary and which is customarily held in confidence by General Electric.
8.
The'information presented in the proprietary document mentioned in paragraph 2 provides a description of the General Electric methodology for determining instrument setpoints. This material, 1
. portions of which have been previously submitted to the NRC and accepted as proprietary, provides the basis for the resolution of the NRC's concern over the establishment of instrument setpoints.
Individual detailed design data, calculation procedures, instrumentation drawings, and process data are considered proprietary.
l 0
_, _ _ - = _
9.
The information to the best of my knowledge and belief, has consistently been held in confidence by the General Electric Company, no public disclosure has been made, and it is not available in public sources. All disclosures to third parties have been made pursuant to regulatory provisions or proprietary agreements which provide for maintenance of the information in confidence.
10.
Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the General Electric Company and deprive or reduce the profit making opportunities. Specifically:
The report contains detailed expert responses to specific topics of interest to the NRC. These responses are synergistic in nature. That is, portions of the report contains information available to the public and of little commercial value. However, the development and integration of this information into a consistent and technically viable methodology makes it possible to determine setpoints which provide increased plant operating flexibility while at the same time satisfying a number of potentially conflicting operational and licensing requirements. This ability to satisfy potentially conflicting requirements derives directly from an integrated approach toward plant transient, instrument design and plant systems design aspects such that the technical value of the methodology taken as a whole significantly exceeds that of the individual parts.
The report combines in comprehensive fashion the methods developed in documents previously submitted under proprietary affidavit to the NRC. The synergistic aspects of the compilation of many documents into a single report provides a total description of the methodology which is useable for virtually any instrument application including BWR applications as well, potentially, as other nuclear and on-nuclear l
applications.
l l
The integrated approach contained in the final report represents the combined expert contributions of over 30 l
individuals and over 10 man years of effort. The release l
of the integrated approach supported by these documents would permit competitors to apply the resulting r
calculations techniques to virtually any reactor plant design and substantially reduce General Electric Company l
profit making opportunities.
i l
l l
I
O O
Actual recent General Electric Company experience with owners of both operating reactors and plants under construction has confirmed that the problem of assembling appropriate expertise and integrating the available knowledge to produce a viable setpoint methodology is indeed a significant technical barrier. A company who had access to the subject information would gain a valuable advantage in overcoming this barrier.
In short, the methodology defined by the information sought to be withheld is a synergistic compilation of significant technical expertise which has significant commercial value to the General Electric Company.
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
)
COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA
) ss:
Rudolph Villa, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
That he had read the foregoing affidavit and the matters stated herein are true and correct to the best of his knowledge, information, and belief.
Executed at San Jose, California, this /[
y of M M, 198 [
OA /dE~.
Rudolph 'Vil(a General Electric Company Subscribed and sworn before me this day of
( W Of f l98 b d
PU HU NOTARY PUBLIC, STATE OF CATJFDRNIA f
NOTAftf PUBUC - CAUFORNIA SANTA CtAIM COUNTY f
My comm. expires JMi 13, 1969
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