ML22350A053
| ML22350A053 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000754 |
| Issue date: | 12/16/2022 |
| From: | Heckman D GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas |
| To: | Osiris Siurano-Perez Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, Document Control Desk |
| Shared Package | |
| ML22350A052 | List: |
| References | |
| M220174 | |
| Download: ML22350A053 (1) | |
Text
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy David J. Heckman Regulatory Affairs and Licensing Lead 6705 Vallecitos Road Sunol, CA 94586 USA T (925) 918-6116 David.Heckman1@ge.com M220174 December 16, 2022 Osiris Siurano-Perez, Project Manager Fuel Facility Licensing Branch Division of Fuel Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Attn: Document Control Desk
Subject:
SNM-960 Amended License Renewal Application
References:
- 1) NRC License SNM-960, Docket 07000754
- 2) Revised License Renewal Application for Vallecitos Nuclear Center, dated 3/18/2015 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System [ADAMS]
Accession Numbers ML15077A501, ML15077A496)
- 3) SNM-960 Revised License Renewal Application, dated 2/26/2016 (ML16057A711, ML16057A714)
- 4) Letter D Heckman (GEH) to O Siurano-Perez (NRC), SNM-960 Amendment to License Renewal Application, dated 1/7/2022 (ML22007A083)
- 5) Letter O Siurano-Perez (NRC) to D Heckman (GEH), Request for Additional Information Regarding Revisions to the 2015 and 2016 SNM License Number 960 Renewal Applications, dated 5/2/2022 (ML22096A295)
- 6) Letter D Heckman (GEH) to O Siurano-Perez (NRC), Response to Request for Additional Information for GE Nuclear Test Reactor License Renewal Application, dated 6/1/2022, (ML22152A148)
- 7) Letter J Tobin (NRC) to D Heckman (GEH), General Electric-Hitachi: Amendment to License Renewal Application (Enterprise Project Identifier L-2022-LLA-0010), dated 11/25/2022 (ML22314A041)
Enclosed, as requested (Ref 7), is an updated copy of the amended SNM-960 License Renewal Application (Ref 3) incorporating the approved edits requested by GE - Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC (GEH) (Refs 4 & 6).
GEH requests that Enclosure 1 to this letter be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.390.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me at (925) 918-6116.
Sincerely, David J. Heckman, Site Regulatory Affairs / Licensing Lead Vallecitos Nuclear Center Security Related and Proprietary Information Notice to this letter contains GEH proprietary and security-related information and is requested to be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10CFR2.390.
Upon removal of Enclosure 1, the balance of this letter may be made public.
David Heckman Digitally signed by David Heckman Date: 2022.12.16 07:51:52 -07'00'
NRC M220174 December 16, 2022
- GEH Affidavit : Amended SNM-960 License Renewal Application (Proprietary) : Amended SNM-960 License Renewal Application (Public)
DJH 22-016
NRC M220174 December 16, 2022 AFFIDAVIT I, David J. Heckman, state as follows:
(1) I am the Regulatory Affairs / Licensing Lead, of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, L.L.C. (GEH) and have been delegated the function by GEH of reviewing the information described in paragraph (2) which is sought to be withheld Enclosure 1 to GEHs letter, M220174, SNM-960 Amended License Renewal Application.
(2) GEH proprietary information is contained in the enclosure to this letter and is identified by the statement GEH Proprietary Information.
(3) In making this application for withholding of proprietary information of which it is the owner or licensee, GEH 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 Act, 18 USC Sec. 1905, and NRC regulations 10 CFR 9.17(a)(4), and 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 financial, a process, method, or apparatus, including supporting data and analyses, where prevention of its use by GEHs competitors without license from GEH constitutes a competitive economic advantage over GEH 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 GEH 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 GEH, 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 GEH. Access to such documents within GEH is limited to a need to know basis.
(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 GEH are limited to regulatory bodies, customers, and potential customers, and their agents, suppliers, and licensees, and others with a legitimate need for the information,
NRC M220174 December 16, 2022 and then only in accordance with appropriate regulatory provisions or proprietary and/or confidentiality agreements.
(8) The information identified in paragraph (2) above is classified as proprietary because it contains details of GEHs processes, design and manufacturing facilities.
(9) Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to GEHs competitive position and foreclose or reduce the availability of profit-making opportunities.
The facility design and licensing methodology is part of GEHs comprehensive safety and 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. 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 GEH. 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. GEHs competitive advantage will be lost if its competitors are able to use the results of the GEH 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 GEH would be lost if the information were disclosed to the public.
Making such information available to competitors without there having been required to undertake a similar expenditure of resources would unfairly provide competitors with a windfall and deprive GEH 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 to the best of my knowledge.
Executed on this 16th day of December 2022.
David J. Heckman GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, L.L.C.
David Heckman Digitally signed by David Heckman Date: 2022.12.16 07:49:59 -07'00'
ENCLOSURE 1 Amended SNM-960 License Renewal Application (Proprietary)
ENCLOSURE 2 Amended SNM-960 License Renewal Application (Public)