ML22020A129
| ML22020A129 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07001113 |
| Issue date: | 01/20/2022 |
| From: | Murray S Global Nuclear Fuel |
| To: | Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards |
| Shared Package | |
| ML22020A128 | List: |
| References | |
| M220013 | |
| Download: ML22020A129 (3) | |
Text
Global Nuclear Fuel
Scott P. Murray GNi= Manager, Facility Licensing Global Nuclear Fuel 3901 Castle Hayne Road P.O. Box 780 Proprietary Information Notice Wilmington, NC 28402 USA This letter forwards proprietary information which is to be withheld from public disclosure in accordance with 1 0CFR2.390. Upon removal of T (910) 819-5950 scott.murray@ge.com Attachment 2 the balance of this letter may be made public.
M220013
January 20, 2022
Director, Division of Fuel Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards US Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN: Document Control Desk
Subject:
Request to Approve Safety Analytic Methods
References:
(1) NRC License SNM-1097, Docket 70-1113 (2) Letter, T.D. Naquin (NRC) to S.P. Murray (GNF-A) "Review of the Minimum Margin of Subcriticality for Up to 8 weight percent Enrichment of Uranium-235 and Amendment 16", 8/13/20
Dear Sir or Madam:
In order to proceed with internal safety bases evaluations, Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, L.L.C. (GNF-A) in Wilmington, North Carolina hereby requests NRC approval to use the current nuclear criticality safety analytic methods, validation techniques and minimum margin of subcriticality described in NRC license SNM-1097, Chapter 5, Nuclear Criticality Safety and integrated safety analysis hazards and risk assessment methodologies described in SN M-1097, Chapter 3, Integrated Safety Analysis for special nuclear material (SNM) with enrichment limits up to 20 weight percent U-235.
Attached is a GNF-A nuclear criticality safety validation report for SNM enriched in U-235 up to 20 weight percent for NRC review in support of this request.
Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss this matter further.
Sincerely, s£ M:Z: Mt;r)~
Facility Licensing V
Attachments: 1) GNF-A Affidavit
- 2) Validation of SCALE 6.2.4/KENO-VI with the Continuous-Energy ENDF/8-Vll.1 Cross Section Library for HALEU Systems", Rev. 0, 1/14/2022 (Contains GNF-A Proprietary Information)
cc: J. Rowley, NRC NMSS DFM J. Rivera, NRC RII DFFI SPM 22-006 M220013 USNRC January 20, 2022
Attachment 1
Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas LLC AFFIDAVIT
I, Scott P. Murray, state as follows:
(1) I am the Manager, Facility Licensing of Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC (GNF-A), and have been delegated the function by GNF-A 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 Attachment 2 to GNF-A's letter, M220013, Scott P.
Murray to Director, Division of Fuel Management, entitled GNF-A Request to Approve Safety Analytic Methods. GNF-A proprietary information in Attachment 2 is identified by the statement "GNF-A Proprietary Information - Withhold from Public Disclosure Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.390".
(3) In making this application for withholding of proprietary information of which it is the owner or licensee, GNF -A relies upon the exemption from disclosure set forth in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 USC Sec. 552(b)(4), and the Trade Secrets Ac~, 18 USC Sec. 1905, and NRC regulations 10 CFR 9.17(a)(4), a11d 2.390(a)(4) for trade secrets (Exemption 4). The material for which exemption from disclosure is here sought also qualifies 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. 975 F2d 871 (DC Cir. 1992), and Public Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA, 704 F2d 1280 (DC Cir. 1983).
( 4) The information sought to be withheld is considered to be proprietary for the reasons set forth in paragraphs
( 4 )a. and ( 4 )b. Some examples of categories of information that fit into the definition of proprietary information are:
- a. Information that discloses a process, method, or apparatus, including supporting data and analyses,
where prevention of its use by GNF-A's competitors without license from GNF-A constitutes a competitive economic advantage over GNF-A and/or other companies.
- b. Information that, if used by a competitor, would reduce their expenditure of resources or improve their competitive position in the design, manufacture, shipment, installation, assurance of quality, or licensing of a similar product.
(5) To address 10 CFR 2.390(b)(4), the information sought to be withheld is being submitted to the NRC in confidence. The information is of a sort customarily held in confidence by GNF-A, 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 GNF-A, not been disclosed publicly, and not been made 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 and/or confidentiality agreements that provide for maintaining the information in confidence. The initial designation of this information as proprietary information and the subsequent steps taken to prevent its unauthorized disclosure are as set forth in the following paragraphs (6) and (7).
(6) Initial approval of proprietary treatment of a document is made by the manager of the originating component, who is the person most likely to be acquainted with the value and sensitivity of the information in relation to industry knowledge, or who is the person most likely to be subject to the terms under which it was licensed to GNF-A.
(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 for technical content, competitive effect, and determination of the accuracy of the proprietary designation. Disclosures outside GNF-A 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 and/or confidentiality agreements.
M220013 USNRC January 20, 2022
(8) The information identified in paragraph (2) above is classified as proprietary because it contains details of GNF-A's processes, design and manufacturing facilities.
(9) Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to GNF-A's competitive position and foreclose or reduce the availability of profit-making opportunities. The facility design and licensing methodology is part of GNF-A's comprehensive safety and technology base, and its commercial value extends beyond the original development cost. The value of the technology base goes
~eyond the extensive physical database and analytical methodology _ and includes development of the expertise to determine and apply the appropriate evaluation process. In addition, the technology base includes the value derived from providing analyses done with NRC-approved methods.
The research, development, engineering, analytical and NRC review costs comprise a substantial investment of time and money by GNF-A. 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. GNF-A's competitive advantage will be lost if its competitors are able to use the results of the GNF-A 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 GNF-A 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 GNF-A of the opportunity to exercise its competitive advantage to seek an adequate return on its large investment in developing and obtaining these very valuable analytical tools.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on this 20th day of January 2022.
Scott P. Murray Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas LLC
STA TE OF NORTH CAROLINA )
)
COUNTY OF NEW HANOVER )
Subscribed and sworn to me, a Notary Public, in and for the State of North Carolina, this 20th day of January 2022.
MORGAN DATEMA r r.(lfl 0/Y)~
NOTARY PUBLIC ublic in and for the NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC State of North Carolina My Commisllan Expires 4-30-2022
My Commission Expires: __ -;,A;;;.ipc:.::r;.:;.il::..;3::;..0_,~2-0;;..:;;2;;,;;;;2 ________ _