ML18193B163
| ML18193B163 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: |  |
| Issue date: | 07/10/2018 |
| From: | Gayheart C A Southern Nuclear Operating Co |
| To: | Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18193B162 | List: |
| References | |
| GL-04-002, NL-18-0915 | |
| Download: ML18193B163 (21) | |
Text
0006-7789-010 Affidavit Page 1 of 3 Global Nuclear Fuel - Americas AFFIDAVIT I, Peter M. Yandow, state as follows:
(1) I am the Vice President, NPP/Services Licensing, Regulatory Affairs, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC (GEH), and have been delegated the function 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 Enclosure 1 of GEH's letter, 0006-7789-010, Jack Noonan (GEH) to Jim A. Wade (Southern Nuclear Company), entitled "GEH Proprietary Information in SNC Supplemental Response to NRC Generic Letter 2004-02," March 29, 2017. GEH proprietary information in Enclosure 1, which is entitled "Excerpt of SNC Supplemental Re sponse to NRC Generic Letter 2004 GEH Proprietary Information - Class II (Internal
)," is identified by a dotted underline inside double square brackets. [[This sentence is an example.
{3}]] In each case, the superscript notation {3} refers to Paragraph (3) of this affidavit, which provides the basis for the proprietary determination.
(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) fo r "trade secrets" (Exemption 4). The material for which exemption from disclosure is here sought also qualify under the narrower definition of "trade secret", within the meanings assigned to those terms for purposes of FOIA Exempti on 4 in, respectively, Critical Mass Energy Project v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 975F2d871 (DC Cir. 1992), and Public Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA, 704F2d1280 (DC Cir. 1983).
(4) Some examples of categories of information which fit into the de finition of proprietary information are:
- a. Information that discloses a process, method, or apparatus, including supporting data and analyses, where prevention of its use by GEH's competitors without license from GEH constitutes a competitive economic advantage over other companies;
- b. Information which, if used by a competitor, would reduce his expenditure of resources or improve his competitive position in the design, manufacture, shipment, installation, assurance of quality, or licensing of a similar product;
- c. Information which reveals aspects of past, present, or future GEH customer-funded development plans and programs, resulting in potential pr oducts to GEH;
- d. Information which discloses patentable subject matter for which it may be desirable to obtain patent protection.
0006-7789-010 Affidavit Page 2 of 3 The information sought to be withheld is cons idered to be proprietary for the reasons set forth in paragraphs (4)a. and (4)b. above.
(5) 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 sou ght to be withheld has, to the best of my knowledge and belief, consisten tly been held in confidence by GEH, no public disclosure has been made, and it is not available in public sources. All disclosures to third parties including any required transmittals to 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 preven t its unauthorized disclosure, ar e as set forth in paragraphs (6) and (7) following.
(6) Initial approval of proprietary treatment of a document is made by the manager of the originating component, the person most lik ely to be acquainted with the value and sensitivity of the information in relation to industry knowledge, or subject to the terms under which it was licensed to GEH.
(7) The procedure for approval of external release of such a document typically requires review by the staff manager, project ma nager, principal scientist or other equivalent authority, by the manager of the cognizant marketing function (or his delegate), and by the Legal Operation, for technical content, competitive effect, and determinati on 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, and then only in accordance with appropriate regulatory provisions or proprietary agreements.
(8) The information identified in paragraph (2) is classified as proprietary because it contains detailed results of analytical model and methods of emergency core cooling system and containment spray strainers in Boiling Water Reactors and Pressurized Water Reactors. The development and approval of these models and methods were achieved at a significant cost to GEH.
The development of the evaluation process along with the interpretation and application of the analytical results is derived from the extensive experience database that constitutes a major GEH asset.
(9) 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 profit-making opportunities. The information is part of GEH's comprehensive safety and technology base, and its commercial value extends beyond the original development cost.
The value of the technology base goes bey ond the extensive physical database and analytical methodology and includes development of the expertise to determine and apply 0006-7789-010 Affidavit Page 3 of 3 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 qua ntify, but it clearly is substantial.
GEH's 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 dem onstrating 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 their 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 a nd obtaining these very valuable analytical tools.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on this 29 th day of March 2017.
Peter M. Yandow Vice President, NPP/Services Licensing GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC 3901 Castle Hayne Road, M/C A-65 Wilmington, NC 28401
Peter.Yandow@ge.com