ML24135A323
| ML24135A323 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07201025 |
| Issue date: | 05/14/2024 |
| From: | Baldner H NAC International |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, Document Control Desk |
| Shared Package | |
| ML24135A322 | List: |
| References | |
| ED20240057, CAC 001028, EPID L-2023-LLA-0149, EPID L-2023-LLA-0148 | |
| Download: ML24135A323 (1) | |
Text
ED20240057 Atlanta Corporate Headquarters 2 Sun Court, Suite 220 Peachtree Corners, GA 30092 Phone 770-447-1144 www.nacintl.com May 14, 2024 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852-2738 Attn: Document Control Desk
Subject:
Submission of Responses to the NRC¶s Request for Additional Information (RAI) to the Amendment Request for the NAC International MPC Docket No. 72-1025 CAC/EPID 001028/L-2023-LLA-0149 and L-2023-LLA-0148, April 17,2024
References:
- 1. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1025 for the NAC International Multi-Purpose Cask (MPC)
System, Amendment No. 8, March 4, 2019
- 3. ED20230101, Submission of an Amendment Request for the NAC International MPC Cask System Amendment No. 9, September 7, 2023
- 4. NRC Correspondence, Acceptance of NAC International Request for Amendment No. 9, and Revision to Amendment Nos. 6, 7, and 8, of the Certificate of Compliance No. 1025 for the NAC Multi-Purpose Canister System - Enterprise Project Identification Numbers L-2023-LLA-0149 and l-2023-LLA-0148, January 10, 2024
- 5. ED20240024, Supplement to the Submission of an Amendment Request for the NAC International MPC Amendment No. 9, February 14, 2024
- 6. NRC Correspondence, Request for Additional Information for Review of the NAC International Request for Amendment No. 9, and Revision to Amendment Nos. 6, 7, and 8 of the Certificate of Compliance No. 1025 for the NAC Multi-Purpose Canister System +/- Cost Activity Code/Enterprise Project Identification Numbers 001028/L-2023-LLA-0149 and L-2023-LLA-0148, April 17,2024 NAC International (NAC) hereby submits responses to the NRC¶s RAIs Reference 6. The responses to these RAIs can be found in Enclosure 1 of this letter. There were no new SAR changes as a result of our responses to these RAIs.
Per Attachment 1 to this letter, NAC requests information in Enclosure 1 to be withheld from public disclosure per 10 CFR 2.390. In accordance with NAC¶s administrative practices, upon final acceptance of this application the 24A changed pages will be reformatted and incorporated into the initial revision of the NAC-MPC FSAR.
ED20240057 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission May 14, 2024 Page 2 of 2 If you have any comments or questions, please contact me on my direct line at 678-328-1252.
Sincerely, Heath Baldner Director, Licensing Engineering Attachment +/- NAC International Affidavit Pursuant 10 CFR 2.390
Enclosure:
+/- Responses to NAC-MPC RAIs
ED20240057 Page 1 of 3 NAC INTERNATIONAL AFFIDAVIT PURSUANT TO 10 CFR 2.390 George Carver (Affiant), Vice President, Engineering and Support Services, of NAC International Inc.,
hereinafter referred to as NAC, at 2 Sun Court, Suite 220, Peachtree Corners, Georgia 30092, being duly sworn, deposes and says that:
- 1. Affiant has reviewed the information described in Item 2 and is personally familiar with the trade secrets and privileged information contained therein, and is authorized to request its withholding.
- 2. The information to be withheld includes the following NAC Proprietary Information that is being provided in this submittal.
+/- Responses to NAC-MPC RAIs (page 4 of 9)
NAC is the owner of the information contained in the aforementioned pages/document, so they are considered NAC Proprietary Information.
- 3. NAC makes this application for withholding of proprietary information based upon the exemption from disclosure set forth in: the Freedom of Information Act (³FOIA'); 5 USC Sec. 552(b)(4) and the Trade Secrets Act; 18 USC Sec. 1905; and NRC Regulations 10 CFR Part 9.17(a)(4), 2.390(a)(4), and 2.390(b)(1) for ³trade secrets and commercial financial information obtained from a person, and privileged or confidential' (Exemption 4). The information for which exemption from disclosure is herein sought is all ³confidential commercial information,' and some portions may also qualify under the narrower definition of ³trade secret,' within the meanings assigned to those terms for purposes of FOIA Exemption 4.
- 4. 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 competitors of NAC, without license from NAC, constitutes a competitive economic advantage over 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.
- c. Information that reveals cost or price information, production capacities, budget levels or commercial strategies of NAC, its customers, or its suppliers.
- d. Information that reveals aspects of past, present or future NAC customer-funded development plans and programs of potential commercial value to NAC.
- e. Information that discloses patentable subject matter for which it may be desirable to obtain patent protection.
The information that is sought to be withheld is considered to be proprietary for the reasons set forth in Items 4.a, 4.b, and 4.d.
ED20240057 Page 2 of 3 NAC INTERNATIONAL AFFIDAVIT PURSUANT TO 10 CFR 2.390 (continued)
- 5. The information to be withheld is being transmitted to the NRC in confidence.
- 6. The information sought to be withheld, including that compiled from many sources, is of a sort customarily held in confidence by NAC, and is, in fact, so held. This information has, to the best of my knowledge and belief, consistently been held in confidence by NAC. 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 Items 7 and 8 following.
- 7. Initial approval of proprietary treatment of a document/information is made by the Vice President, Engineering, the Project Manager, the Licensing Engineer, or the Director, Licensing +/- the persons most likely to know the value and sensitivity of the information in relation to industry knowledge.
Access to proprietary documents within NAC is limited via ³controlled distribution' to individuals on a ³need to know' basis. The procedure for external release of NAC proprietary documents typically requires the approval of the Project Manager based on a review of the documents for technical content, competitive effect and accuracy of the proprietary designation. Disclosures of proprietary documents outside of NAC are limited to regulatory agencies, customers and potential customers and their agents, suppliers, licensees and contractors with a legitimate need for the information, and then only in accordance with appropriate regulatory provisions or proprietary agreements.
- 8. NAC has invested a significant amount of time and money in the research, development, engineering and analytical costs to develop the information that is sought to be withheld as proprietary. This information is considered to be proprietary because it contains detailed descriptions of analytical approaches, methodologies, technical data and/or evaluation results not available elsewhere. The precise value of the expertise required to develop the proprietary information is difficult to quantify, but it is clearly substantial.
Public disclosure of the information to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to the competitive position of NAC, as the owner of the information, and reduce or eliminate the availability of profit-making opportunities. The proprietary information is part of NAC¶s comprehensive spent fuel storage and transport technology base, and its commercial value extends beyond the original development cost to include the development of the expertise to determine and apply the appropriate evaluation process.
The value of this proprietary information and the competitive advantage that it provides to NAC would be lost if the information were disclosed to the public. Making such information available to other parties, including competitors, without their having to make similar investments of time, labor and money would provide competitors with an unfair advantage and deprive NAC of the opportunity to seek an adequate return on its large investment.