ML20248C346

Forwards Proprietary & non-proprietary Version of Rev 4 to HI-971769, Licensing Rept for Reracking of Callaway & Wolf Creek Nuclear Plants. Changes Revise Quantity of Proprietary Info & Corrects Typo.Proprietary Info,Withheld

ML20248C346
Person / Time
Site:	Wolf Creek, Callaway
Issue date:	05/28/1998
From:	Muench R WOLF CREEK NUCLEAR OPERATING CORP.
To:	NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
Shared Package
ML20013J782	List: ML20248C346 ML20248C368
References
ET-98-0041, ET-98-41, NUDOCS 9806020126
Download: ML20248C346 (7)

Text

-

W$LF CREEK NUCLEAR OPERATING CORPORATION Richard A. Muench Vice President Engineering MAY 2 81998 ET 98-0041 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN: Document Control Desk Mail Station: P l- 137 Washington, D. C. 20555 Reference; Letter ET 98-0009, Dated March 20, 1993, from R. A. Muench, WONOC to NRC Suoject: Docket No. 50-482. Sapplement tc Eroposea Revision to Technical Specifications to Increase the Spent Fuel Fool Storage Capaci ty Gentlemen; The 4 fe muce t ransmit tod tha c.icinel Wolf "r a e t rit u er Opere'ine Corpch ti N. ')Cr T) s.,bM t i-.] Or s eraG .if the Wclf reek Cenetasta; ;tatien fWCSS; spM fuel - t o r:s g e pool to a rese its s '. orsg o 9pacity. Ermle n m

• l to the Pm erance pros i ded the LJ censiwi Repen Evr :v' ac J.rq ;f WC '; ^' %-i Fu 1 P' .o) . Chapters 4 and 5 of this report ar- % :.n g resuomittea V. * )

+

revidice to reflect a rusressment of the pr oprf.et ary N.assifiu .ic: ar pr opr ietary versus non proprietary material. These revised chapreta ot .o "

orlainal report are included as Enclosures I and II to this letter.

These revision.= involve no change to the technical content included in the Reference. The changes revise the quantity of pr oprict ary in for ma tica, contained in Chapters 4 and 5 and correct a typographical er ror located in the

'fifth line of Table 4.2.3 in the Reference. Table 4.2.3 addresses the 3 reactivity effect of abnormal or accident conditions. The fifth line in Table 4.2.3 addresses an assembly drop adjacent to a rack. The column designating the reactivity effect originally stated: " Positive - contro'i led by > 500 ppm soluble boron." The reactivity effect has been revised to now state:

" Positive - controlled by < 500 ppm solubic boren." This change is considered a typographical correction since on page 4-9 of the Licensing Report the ,

discussion concerns the condition of a dropped or mis-located fuel assembly. l The discussion specifically states: "...this case is less severe than the l misplaced fresh fuel assembly accident, and thus, requires less than 500 ppm soluble boron to reduce the Kere to the reference value. . . ."

Er. closure I to this letter includes material that is considered proprietary pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790. An af fidavit pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790 is enclosed which requests that Enclosure I be withheld from public viewing. Enclosure II is identical to Enclosure I, except that the proprietary information has been removed, f 9806020126 980528 h' PDR ADOCK 05000482 - U l P PDR i P.O. Box 411/ Burhngton, KS 66839 / Phone: (316) 364-8831 y

v n.,on n.,-ew cVpsc wy M \

ET 98-0041 Page 2 If . you' have any questions concerning this matter, please contact me at (316) 364-8831, extension 4034, or Mr. Michael J. Angus at extension 4077.

Very truly yours, (42 Richar A. Muench

' RAM /rir

' Attachment' cc: .W. D.' Johnson (NRC), w/a E. W. Merschoff (NRC), w/a J. F. Ringwald (NRC),.w/a K. M. Thomas (NRC), w/a l~,

Ll .-_ - - - - - _ _ _ _ - - - - - - -._ =-. -

_ -- - a:

l I

l l

l

)

)

STATE OF KANSAS ) I

) SS COUNTY OF COFFEY )

Richard A. Muench, of lawful age, being first duly sworn upon oath says that he is Vice President Engineering of Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation; that he has read the foregoing document and knows the content thereof; that he has executed that same for and on behalf of said Corporation with full power and authority to do so; and that the facts therein stated are true and correct to the best of his knowledge, information and belief.

By _ _,

Richard A Muench Vice Pre ident 2ngineering SUBSCRIBED and sworn to before me this day of Nd./ , 1998.

}&Y1 & /9/1AA LM Notar'y Public ~~'6

__ - Idy Agg g Yb // fM7 Expiration Date ht?)_} ll. ,h/)/]0 L-_--__----- - - - - - - -i

I AFFIDAVIT PURSUANT TO 10CFR2.790  !

i I

I, Scott H. Pellet, being duly sworn, depose and state as follows:

(1) I am the Project Manage [for Holtec International and have been delegated 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) l The information sought to be withheld is contained in the document entitled Licensing Report for Reracking of the Callaway and Wolf Creek Nuclear Plants, Holtec Report HI-971769, Revision 4. The proprietary material in this document is delineated by proprietary designation on specific pages or by shaded text identified as being proprietary.

(3) In making this application for withholding of proprietary information of which it is the owner, Holtec International relies upon the exemption from disclosure set forth in the Freedom ofInformation Act ("FOIA"),5 USC Sec. 552(b)(4) and the Trade Secrets Act,18 USC Sec.1905, and NRC regulations 10CFR Part 9.17(a)(4),

2.790(a)(4), and 2.790(b)(1) for " trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential" (Exemption 4).

The material for which exemption from disclosure is here sought is all " confidential commercial information", 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 Enerev Project v.

Nuclear Reenintnry Commission, 975F2d871 (DC Cir.1992), and Public Citizen Menith Research Group v. FDA,704F2d1280 (DC Cir.1983).

I (4) Some examples of categories of information which fit into the definition of I proprietary information are:

a. Information that discloses a process, method, or apparatus, including supporting data and analyses, where prevention of its use by Holtec's competitors without license from Holtec International constitutes a competitive economic advantage over other companies; 1

1 1

I L _

L - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9

l l l

AFFIDAVIT PURSUANT TO 10CFR2.790 l

l

b. Information which, if used by a competitor, would reduce his expenditure l of resources or improve his competitive position in the design, manufacture, shipment, installation, assurance of quality, or licensing of a similar product.

c. Information which reveals cost or price information, production, capacities, budget leve'1. or commercial strategies of Holtec International, its customers, or its suppliers;

, d. Information which reveals aspects of past, present, or future Holtec International customer-funded development plans and programs of potential commercial value to Holtec International;

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

The information sought to be withheld is considered to be proprietary for the reasons set forth in paragraphs 4.a 4.b,4.d, and 4.e, above.

(5) The information sought to be withheld is being submitted to the NRC in confidence.

The information (including that compiled from many sources) is of a sort customarily held in confidence by Holtec International, 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 Holtec International. No public disclosure has been made, and it is not available in public sources. All disclosures to third parties, including any required transmittals to the 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 originating component, 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 Holtec International is limited on a "need to know" basis.

i l 2 o-_------.----- - _- --

t )

l l

AFFIDAVIT PURSUANT TO 10CFR2.790 (7) The procedure 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 l

designee), and by the Legal Operation, for technical content, competidve effect, and l determination of the accuracy of the proprietary designation. Disclosures outside Holtec International are limited to regulatory bodies, customers, and potential customers, and their agents, suppliers, and licensees, and others with a legitimate L need for the information, and then only in accordance with appropriate regulatory provisions or proprietary agreements.

(8) The information classified as proprietary was developed and compiled by Holtec International at a significant cost to Holtec International. This information is classified as proprietary because it contains detailed historical data and analytical results not available elsewhere. This information would provide other parties, including competitors, with information from Holtec International's technical database and the results of evaluations performed using codes developed by Holtec International. Release of this information would improve a competitor's position without the competitor having to er. pend similar resources for the development of the database. A substantial effort has been expended by Holtec International to develop this information.

(9) Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to Holtec International's competitive position and foreclose or reduce the availability of profit-making opportunities. The information is part of Holtec International's comprehensive spent fuel storage 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 and money by Holtec International. '

Th. precise value of the expertise to devise an evaluation process and apply the cc ,ect analytical methodology is difficult to quantify, but it clearly is substantial.

1 3

1 l

l AFFIDAVIT PURSUANT TO 10CFR2.790 Holtec International's competitive advantage will be lost if its competitors are able to use the results of the Holtec International 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.

The value of this information to Holtec International 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 Holtec International of the opportunity to exercise its competitive advantage to seek an adequate return on its large investment in developing these very valuable analytical tools.

STATE OF NEW JERSEY )

) ss:

COUNTY OF BURLINGTON )

l Scott H. Pellet, being duly sworn, deposes and says:

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

Executed at Marlton, New Jersey, this 21st day of May 1998.

l 9 fN Scott H. Pellet Holtec International 1 37-~

Subscribed and sworn before me this # day of N'"jh ,1998.

l l

% aA -

A$W

-c.nn NOTARY PUBUC OFNEWJOIOLT 4  % *M"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ -