ML24292A160

Request for Withholding Information from Public Disclosure License Amendment Request to Revise Technical Specification Surveillance Requirements to Increase Safety/Relief Valve Setpoints

ML24292A160
Person / Time
Site:	Hatch
Issue date:	10/22/2024
From:	Dawnmathews Kalathiveettil Plant Licensing Branch II
To:	Gayheart C Southern Nuclear Operating Co
Kalathiveettil, D
References
EPID L-2024-LLA-0054
Download: ML24292A160 (1)

Text

October 22, 2024 Jamie M. Coleman Regulatory Affairs Director Southern Nuclear Operating Company 3535 Colonnade Parkway Birmingham, AL 35243

SUBJECT:

REQUEST FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE FOR EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2, LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST TO REVISE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION SURVEILLANCE REQUIREMENTS TO INCREASE SAFETY/RELIEF VALVE SETPOINTS (EPID L-2024-LLA-0054)

Dear Jamie Coleman:

By letter dated April 19, 2024 (Agencywide Documents Access Management System (ADAMS)

Accession No. ML24110A097, Proprietary, Non-Public), you submitted an affidavit dated March 21, 2024, executed by Kent Halac, Senior Engineer, Regulatory Affairs for GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC (GEH), requesting that the information contained in the following document be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Part 2, Section 2.390:

, GEH Affidavit and Proprietary GEH Report NEDC-34126P, Revision 0, of the Attachments to NL-24-0026 Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, License Amendment Request to Revise Technical Specification Surveillance Requirements to Increase Safety/Relief Valve Setpoints.

A nonproprietary copy of this document has been placed in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRCs) Public Document Room and added to the NRC Library and can be found in ADAMS (ML24110A098).

The affidavit stated that the submitted information should be considered exempt from mandatory public disclosure for the following reasons:

GEH has policies in place to identify proprietary information. The information sought to be withheld by GEH is considered proprietary for the reasons set forth in (a) and (b) below:

(a)

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

(b)

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

Pursuant to 10 CFR 9.17, and 2.390, the following is furnished for consideration by the Commission in determining whether the information sought to be withheld from public disclosure should be withheld.

(i)

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, consistently been held in confidence by GEH, not been disclosed publicly, and not been made available in public sources.

(ii)

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, and then only in accordance with appropriate regulatory provisions or proprietary and/or confidentiality agreements.

(ii)

The information sought to be withheld is classified as proprietary because it contains the detailed GEH methodology for fuel analyses for the GEH Boiling Water Reactor (BWR). These methods, techniques, and data along with their application to the design, modification, and analyses associated with the fuel analyses were achieved at a significant cost to GEH. The development of the evaluation processes along with the interpretation and application of the analytical results is derived from the extensive experience databases that constitute a major GEH asset.

(iii)

Public disclosure of the information sought to be withheld is likely to cause substantial harm to GEH's competitive position and foreclose or reduce the availability of profitmaking opportunities.

The research, development, engineering, analytical and NRC review costs comprise a substantial investment of time and money by GEH. 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 them having been required to undertake a similar expenditure of resources would unfairly provide competitors with a windfall.

We have reviewed your application and the material in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 2.390 and, on the basis of the statements in the affidavit, have determined that the submitted information sought to be withheld contains proprietary commercial information and should be withheld from public disclosure.

Therefore, the version(s) of the submitted information marked as proprietary will be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.390(b)(5) and Section 103(b) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

Withholding from public inspection shall not affect the right, if any, of persons properly and directly concerned to inspect the documents. If the need arises, we may send copies of this information to our consultants working in this area. We will, of course, ensure that the consultants have signed the appropriate agreements for handling proprietary information.

If the basis for withholding this information from public inspection should change in the future such that the information could then be made available for public inspection, you should promptly notify the NRC. You also should understand that the NRC may have cause to review this determination in the future, for example, if the scope of a Freedom of Information Act request includes your information. In all review situations, if the NRC makes a determination adverse to the above, you will be notified in advance of any public disclosure.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, I may be reached at 301-415-5905, or via email at Dawnmathews.Kalathiveettil@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Dawnmathews T. Kalathiveettil, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-321 and 50-366 cc: Listserv

ML24292A160 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-1/PM NRR/DORL/LPL2-1/LA NRR/DSS/SNSB/BC NRR/DORL/LPL2-1/BC NAME DKalathiveettil KGoldstein PSahd MMarkley DATE 10/18/2024 10/21/2024 10/22/2024 10/22/2024 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-1/PM NAME DKalathiveettil DATE 10/22/2024