RS-14-349, Response to Request for Additional Information Regarding Request to Withhold Information Related to the License Amendment Request to Revise Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature Limits

Response to Request for Additional Information Regarding Request to Withhold Information Related to the License Amendment Request to Revise Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature Limits

ML14352A191
Person / Time
Site:	LaSalle
Issue date:	12/18/2014
From:	Gullott D Exelon Generation Co
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
RS-14-349
Download: ML14352A191 (12)

Text

Exelon Generation Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 RS-14-349 10 CFR 50.90 December 18, 2014 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN: Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555-0001 LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2 Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-11 and NPF-18 NRC Docket Nos. 50-373 and 50-374

Subject:

Response to Request for Additional Information Regarding Request to Withhold Information Related to the License Amendment Request to Revise Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature Limits

References:

1) Letter from D. M. Gullott (Exelon Generation Company, LLC) to U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, "Request for a License Amendment to LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2, Technical Specification 3.7.3, 'Ultimate Heat Sink,"

dated July 12, 2012

2) Letter from D. M. Gullott (Exelon Generation Company, LLC) to U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, "Response to Request for Additional Information Related to License Amendment Request to Technical Specification 3.7.3,

'Ultimate Heat Sink (UHS)," dated October 4, 2013

3) Letter from D. M. Gullott (Exelon Generation Company, LLC) to U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, "Supplement to Response to Request for Additional Information Related to License Amendment Request to Technical Specification 3.7.3, 'Ultimate Heat Sink (UHS)," dated February 20, 2014

4) Letter from B. Purnell (U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission) to M. J. Pacilio (Exelon Generation Company, LLC), "LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2 Request to Withhold Information Related to the License Amendment Request to Revise the Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature Limits (TAC Nos. ME9076 and ME9077)," dated December 4, 2014 In Reference 1, Exelon Generation Company, LLC, (EGC) requested an amendment to the Technical Specifications (TS) of Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-11 and NPF-18 for LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2 (LSCS). The proposed amendment would modify TS 3.7.3, Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

December 18, 2014 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Page 2 Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 "Ultimate Heat Sink (UHS)," by changing the maximum allowable temperature of the UHS from a fixed limit of 101.25 °F to allow the TS temperature limit of the cooling water supplied to the plant from the UHS to vary with the observed diurnal cycle. EGC supplemented Reference 1 with letters dated October 4,2013 and February 20, 2014 (References 2 and 3).

In Reference 4, the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested additional information related to its review of the request by GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC (GEH) to withhold information from public disclosure in Reference 3. Attachments 1 through 4 provide the requested information, with the exception of responses to RAI 5 through RAI 10 related to LSCS Design Analyses L-002453 and L-002457. As discussed with the NRC on December 17, 2014, it was agreed that EGC would provide the responses for those questions in a separate submittal by January 23, 2015. to this letter contains proprietary information as defined by 10 CFR 2.390, "Public inspections, exemptions, requests for withholding." GEH, as the owner of the proprietary information, has executed the enclosed affidavit, which identifies that the enclosed proprietary information has been handled and classified as proprietary, is customarily held in confidence, and has been withheld from public disclosure. The proprietary information was provided to EGC in a GEH transmittal that is referenced by the affidavit. The proprietary information has been faithfully reproduced in the attached information such that the affidavit remains applicable. GEH hereby requests that the attached proprietary information be withheld from public disclosure in accordance with the provisions of 10 CFR 2.390 and 10 CFR 9.17.

A non-proprietary version of the information contained in Attachment 2 is provided in . The affidavit supporting the proprietary nature of the information in Attachment 2 is provided in Attachment 4.

EGC has reviewed the information supporting a finding of no significant hazards consideration that was previously provided to the NRC in Attachment 2 of Reference 2. The additional information provided in this submittal does not affect the bases for concluding that the proposed license amendments do not involve a significant hazards consideration.

In accordance with 10 CFR 50.91, "Notice for public comment; State consultation," paragraph (b),

a copy of this letter and its attachments are being provided to the designated State of Illinois official.

There are no regulatory commitments contained in this submittal.

Should you have any questions concerning this letter, please contact Ms. Lisa A. Simpson at (630) 657-2815.

Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

December 18, 2014 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Page 3 Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on the 18th day of December 2014.

Respectfully, David M. Gullott Manager Licensing Exelon Generation Company, LLC Attachments:

1) Response to Request for Additional Information (Non-Proprietary)

2) LaSalle Requested Documents (GEH Proprietary Information)

3) LaSalle Requested Documents (Non-Proprietary)

4) Affidavit of GEH Supporting Proprietary Nature of Attachment 2 cc: NRC Regional Administrator, Region III NRC Senior Resident Inspector, LaSalle County Station Illinois Emergency Management Agency Division of Nuclear Safety Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 ATTACHMENT 1 Response to Request for Additional Information By letter to the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) dated July 12, 2012, Exelon Generation Company, LLC, (EGC) requested an amendment to the Technical Specifications (TS) of Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-11 and NPF-18 for LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2 (LSCS). The proposed amendment would modify TS 3.7.3, "Ultimate Heat Sink (UHS)," by changing the maximum allowable temperature of the UHS from a fixed limit of 101.25 °F to allow the TS temperature limit of the cooling water supplied to the plant from the UHS to vary with the observed diurnal cycle. This letter was supplemented by EGC letters dated October 4, 2013, and February 20, 2014. In a letter dated December 4, 2014, the NRC requested additional information related to its review of the request by GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC (GEH) to withhold information from public disclosure.

ATTACHMENT 1 The following questions are in reference to the GEH letters included in Attachment 1 to the February 20, 2014, letter.

NRC RAI 1:

GEH claims the entire attachment to its April 18, 2012, letter is proprietary. The reasons provided in the affidavit for considering the information to be proprietary to support this claim are insufficient. The NRC staff concerns regarding this claim include, but are not limited to, the following examples:

• The box header appears to contain general information, such as the report title, document date, and reference numbers, which would not typically be considered proprietary.

• Section 1.0 describes the purpose of this report, which would not typically be considered proprietary. The NRC staff notes that the April 18, 2012, letter provides more detailed information on the purpose of the report and is not considered proprietary by GEH.

• The information in the attachment appears to be of a similar type and in some cases identical to information provided in the September 4, 2001, GEH letter (also included in Attachment 1 to the February 20, 2014, EGC letter) which GEH does not claim is proprietary.

• Substantial portions appear to be general descriptions which would not typically be considered proprietary as they do not describe the methods with enough specificity to be used by a competitor.

• The attachment indicates that a standard method (reference 1 in the attachment) was used, which is endorsed by the NRC and available to the public. The use of standard methods is not typically considered to be proprietary.

• Section 2.2, for example, describes the use of a basic mathematical technique which would not typically be considered proprietary.

Page 1 of 9 Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 ATTACHMENT 1 Response to Request for Additional Information Provide a response to the following:

a. Explain how the examples above and other similar information is a type of information that is normally held in confidence by GEH.

b. Explain how release of the examples above and other similar information would cause substantial harm to GEH. The response should describe the value of the information to GEH, the amount of effort or money expended by GEH to develop the information, and the ease or difficulty with which the information could be acquired or duplicated by others.

EGC Response to NRC RAI 1: provides GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2, which contains information proprietary to GEH. A revised version of GEH letter GEH-LCGS-EPU-262 dated April 18, 2012 is provided in . A non-proprietary version of GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2 is provided in . The affidavit supporting the proprietary nature of the information of GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2 is provided in Attachment 4.

NRC RAI 2:

The information claimed to be proprietary in the February 18, 1999, GEH letter appears to be publicly available information that is contained in the LSCS Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR). The figure in the GEH letter appears to be identical to Figure 1.2-1 of older versions of the UFSAR (e.g., see ADAMS Accession No. ML081330049) which are publicly available. The table in the GEH letter appears to contain the same information as the figure or the same type of information.

Provide a response to the following:

a. Explain how this is a type of information that is normally held in confidence by GEH when it appears that this type of information is publicly available.

b. Explain how release of the information above would cause substantial harm to GEH. The response should describe the value of the information to GEH, the amount of effort or money expended by GEH to develop the information, and the ease or difficulty with which the information could be acquired or duplicated by others.

EGC Response to NRC RAI 2: provides GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2, which contains information proprietary to GEH. A revised version of GEH letter GE-LPUP-024 dated February 18, 1999, is provided in ; however, the version of GEH letter GE-LPUP-024 dated February 18, 1999, provided in Attachment 2 does not contain proprietary information. A non-proprietary version of GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2 is provided in Attachment 3.

Page 2 of 9 Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 ATTACHMENT 1 Response to Request for Additional Information NRC RAI 3:

The information claimed to be proprietary in the June 22, 1999, GEH letter indicates that it is also in the LSCS UFSAR. The information appears to be the same type of information that is currently in Tables 6.2-3 and 6.2-4 of the UFSAR which is publicly available (e.g., see ADAMS Accession No. ML14113A090). The NRC staff notes that Table 7.5 of LSCS Design Analysis L-002453, Revision 4 (Attachment 4 to the February 20, 2014, letter), also contains the same information (although it appears to incorrectly reference the February 18, 1999, GEH letter) and is marked proprietary.

Provide a response to the following:

a. Explain how the information above is a type of information that is normally held in confidence by GEH when it appears that this type of information is publicly available.

b. Explain how release of the information above would cause substantial harm to GEH. The response should describe the value of the information to GEH, the amount of effort or money expended by GEH to develop the information, and the ease or difficulty with which the information could be acquired or duplicated by others.

EGC Response to NRC RAI 3: provides GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2, which contains information proprietary to GEH. A revised version of GEH letter GE-LPUP-204 dated June 22, 1999, is provided in ; however, the version of GEH letter GE-LPUP-204 dated June 22, 1999, provided in does not contain proprietary information. A non-proprietary version of GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2 is provided in Attachment 3.

NRC RAI 4:

The information contained in Section 4.1 of L-002453, Revision 4, was not claimed to be proprietary. However, this information appears to be similar to the type of information claimed to be proprietary by GEH in the letters contained in Attachment 1 to the February 20, 2014, letter.

Regarding Attachment 1, provide a response to the following:

a. Explain how the information above is a type of information that is normally held in confidence by GEH when it appears that this type of information is publicly available.

b. Explain how release of the information above would cause substantial harm to GEH. The response should describe the value of the information to GEH, the amount of effort or money expended by GEH to develop the information, and the ease or difficulty with which the information could be acquired or duplicated by others.

Page 3 of 9 Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 ATTACHMENT 1 Response to Request for Additional Information EGC Response to NRC RAI 4: provides GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2, which contains revised versions of the GEH letters contained in Attachment 1 to the EGC letter dated February 20, 2014. A non-proprietary version of GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2 is provided in Attachment 3. The affidavit supporting the proprietary nature of the information of GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2 is provided in Attachment 4.

ATTACHMENTS 4 AND 6 NRC RAI 5:

LSCS Design Analysis L-002457, Revision 7, was provided by EGC by letter dated September 17, 2012, and is publicly available (ADAMS Accession No. ML122690041). to the February 20, 2014, letter provides the proprietary version of LSCS Design Analysis L-002457, Revision 8. The February 20, 2014, letter states that this document incorporates the proprietary GEH references of Attachment 1. The NRC staff notes that the information marked as proprietary in Revision 8 is the same as the information that is publicly available in Revision 7.

Provide a response to the following:

a. Explain how the above information is held in confidence when it appears that this information is publicly available.

b. Explain how release of the information above would cause substantial harm to GEH. The response should describe the value of the information to GEH, the amount of effort or money expended by GEH to develop the information, and the ease or difficulty with which the information could be acquired or duplicated by others.

EGC Response to NRC RAI 5:

The response to RAI 5 will be provided in a separate submittal.

NRC RAI 6: to the February 20, 2014, letter provides the proprietary version of LSCS Design Analysis L-002453, Revision 4. The letter states that this document incorporates the proprietary GEH references of Attachment 1. The NRC staff notes that some of the information marked as proprietary in L-002453, Revision 4, is the same as the information that is publicly available in L-002457, Revision 7. For example:

Page 4 of 9 Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 ATTACHMENT 1 Response to Request for Additional Information

• Tables 7.6 and 7.7 of L-002453, Revision 4, are the same as Appendices L9.1 and L9.3, respectively, of L-002457, Revision 7.

• One column of Table 7.1 in L002453, Revision 4, provides the same information as a column in Appendix L9.1 of L-002457, Revision 7.

• One column of Table 7.2 in L-002453, Revision 4, provides the same information as a column in Appendix L9.3 of L-002457, Revision 7.

Provide a response to the following:

a. Explain how the above information is held in confidence when it appears that this information is publicly available.

b. Explain how release of the information above would cause substantial harm to GEH.

The response should describe the value of the information to GEH, the amount of effort or money expended by GEH to develop the information, and the ease or difficulty with which the information could be acquired or duplicated by others.

EGC Response to NRC RAI 6:

The response to RAI 6 will be provided in a separate submittal.

NRC RAI 7:

Attachment C to L-002453, Revision 4, contains the Excel spreadsheet formulas used to derive the information in Tables 7.1, 7.2, 7.7, and 7.6. Some of the information marked as proprietary in the Tables and Excel files can easily be derived from the information that is publicly available.

Explain how release of the information above would cause substantial harm to GEH. The response should describe the value of the information to GEH, the amount of effort or money expended by GEH to develop the information, and the ease or difficulty with which the information could be acquired or duplicated by others.

EGC Response to NRC RAI 7:

The response to RAI 7 will be provided in a separate submittal.

Page 5 of 9 Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 ATTACHMENT 1 Response to Request for Additional Information NRC RAI 8:

The information in Column D of the Excel files for Tables 7.1 and 7.2 of L-002453, Revision 4, can be derived from the information in Columns E, F, G, and H. The information in Columns E, F, and G is publicly available in L-002453, Revision 4. The information in Column H is publicly available in L-002457, Revision 7.

Explain how release of the information above would cause substantial harm to GEH. The response should describe the value of the information to GEH, the amount of effort or money expended by GEH to develop the information, and the ease or difficulty with which the information could be acquired or duplicated by others.

EGC Response to NRC RAI 8:

The response to RAI 8 will be provided in a separate submittal.

NRC RAI 9:

The NRC staff notes that the sensible heat load is claimed to be proprietary in L-002453, Revision 4, and L-002457, Revision 8; however, it is publicly available in Attachment L to L-002457, Revision 7.

Provide a response to the following:

a. Explain how the above information has been held in confidence when it appears that some of the information is publicly available.

b. Explain how release of the information above would cause substantial harm to GEH. The response should describe the value of the information to GEH, the amount of effort or money expended by GEH to develop the information, and the ease or difficulty with which the information could be acquired or duplicated by others.

EGC Response to NRC RAI 9:

The response to RAI 9 will be provided in a separate submittal.

NRC RAI 10:

The information marked as proprietary in L-002453, Revision 4, and L-002457, Revision 8, is derived from the information marked as proprietary in Attachment 1 to the February 20, 2014, letter. Due to the large amount of information it is difficult to verify the connection between the derived information and the information claimed to be proprietary by GEH.

Page 6 of 9 Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 ATTACHMENT 1 Response to Request for Additional Information Provide a crosswalk between the information marked as proprietary in in L-002453, Revision 4, and L-002457, Revision 8, and the information marked as proprietary in Attachment 1 to the February 20, 2014, letter.

EGC Response to NRC RAI 10:

The response to RAI 10 will be provided in a separate submittal.

ALL ATTACHMENTS The following questions are for all the documents included with the February 20, 2014, letter.

NRC RAI 11:

The February 20, 2014, letter contains a number of tables which GEH claims to be proprietary in their entirety. Titles, column headings, and row descriptors for tables are not typically considered proprietary.

Provide a response to the following:

a. Explain how the above titles, column headings, and row descriptors for tables are a type of information that is normally held in confidence by GEH.

b. Explain how release of the above titles, column headings, and row descriptors for tables would cause substantial harm to GEH. The response should describe the value of the information to GEH, the amount of effort or money expended by GEH to develop the information, and the ease or difficulty with which the information could be acquired or duplicated by others.

EGC Response to NRC RAI 11: provides GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2, which contains revised versions of the GEH letters contained in Attachment 1 to the EGC letter dated February 20, 2014. A non-proprietary version of GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2 is provided in Attachment 3. The affidavit supporting the proprietary nature of the information of GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2 is provided in Attachment 4.

Page 7 of 9 Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 ATTACHMENT 1 Response to Request for Additional Information NRC RAI 12:

The regulations in 10 CFR 2.390(b)(1)(iii) require that the affidavit accompanying the withholding request address with specificity the considerations listed in 10 CFR 2.390(b)(4), which include:

i. Whether the information has been held in confidence by its owner; ii. Whether the information is of a type customarily held in confidence by its owner and whether there is a rational basis therefore; iii. Whether the information was transmitted to and received by the NRC in confidence; and iv. Whether the information is available in public sources.

The GEH affidavit states:

To address 10 CFR 2.390(b)(4), the information sought to be withheld is being submitted to 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 or confidentiality agreements that provide for maintaining the information in confidence.

As discussed in several of the RAls above, the NRC staff has identified a significant amount of information which GEH claims to be proprietary that was previously made publicly available.

Based on this, the GEH statement in the affidavit is insufficient for the staff to complete its review in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390(b)(4).

Provide a response to the following:

a. Identify information which was previously provided to the NRC that is claimed to be proprietary in the February 20, 2014, letter.

b. Identify information which was previously provided to the NRC that is of a similar type to the information claimed to be proprietary in the February 20, 2014, letter. Similar types of information would include analyses performed for LSCS using different parameters or similar analyses for other facilities.

Page 8 of 9 Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.

Proprietary Information Withhold from Public Disclosure Under 10 CFR 2.390 ATTACHMENT 1 Response to Request for Additional Information The response to these questions should include the following:

• detailed reference for the submittal, including date, title, and ADAMS Accession Number,

• Identify if the information is public or nonpublic,

• indicate whether or not the information was claimed to be proprietary at the time of submittal,

• references to any NRC proprietary determination associated with the submittal,

• crosswalk between the previously provided information and the information claimed to be proprietary in the February 20, 2014, letter (e.g., specify page numbers, table numbers).

EGC Response to NRC RAI 12: provides GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2, which contains revised versions of the GEH letters contained in Attachment 1 to the EGO letter dated February 20, 2014. A non-proprietary version of GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2 is provided in Attachment 3. In addition, a new affidavit, which supports the proprietary nature of the information of GEH letter 7491-318563-HAO-1R2, is provided in Attachment 4.

Page 9 of 9 Attachment 2 contains Proprietary Information. Withhold from public disclosure under 10 CFR 2.390. When separated from Attachment 2, this document is decontrolled.