ML19136A058

Request for Withholding Information from Public Disclosure

ML19136A058
Person / Time
Site:	Browns Ferry
Issue date:	08/26/2019
From:	Farideh Saba Plant Licensing Branch II
To:	James Shea Tennessee Valley Authority
Saba F DORL/LPL2-2 301-415-1447
References
EPID L-2018-LLA-0048
Download: ML19136A058 (4)

Text

Mr. Joseph W. Shea Vice President, Nuclear Regulatory Affairs and Support Services Tennessee Valley Authority Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant 1101 Market Street, LP 4A Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801 UNITED STATES WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 August 26, 2019

SUBJECT:

BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1, 2, AND 3 - REQUEST FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE (EPID L-2018-LLA-0048)

Dear Mr. Shea:

By letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), dated February 23, 2018 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML180798140), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) submitted an affidavit dated February 12, 2018, executed by Mr. Neil Wilmshurst, Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer at Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (EPRI), requesting that the information contained in the following document (Attachment 5 of the letter dated February 23, 2018) be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations ( 10 CFR), Part 2, Section 2.390:

GEH Report NEDC-33877P, "Safety Analysis Report for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Units 1, 2, and 3 Maximum Extended Load Line Limit Analysis Plus,"

Revision 0, dated February 2018.

A nonproprietary copy of this document is provided in the Attachment 6 of the TVA letter dated February 23, 2018.

The EPRI affidavit dated February 12, 2018, stated that the submitted document contains proprietary information that that should be considered exempt from mandatory public disclosure on the following bases:

Withholding Based Upon Privileged And Confidential Trade Secrets Or Commercial Or Financial Information (see e.g., 10 C.F.R. § 2.390(a)(4):

a.

The Proprietary Information is owned by EPRI and has been held in confidence by EPRI. All entities accepting copies of the Proprietary Information do so subject to written agreements imposing an obligation upon the recipient to maintain the confidentiality of the Proprietary Information. The Proprietary Information is disclosed only to parties who agree, in writing, to preserve the confidentiality thereof.

J.Shea

b.

C.

d. EPRI considers the Proprietary Information contained therein to constitute trade secrets of EPRI. As such, EPRI holds the Information in confidence and disclosure thereof is strictly limited to individuals and entities who have agreed, in writing, to maintain the confidentiality of the Information.

The information sought to be withheld is considered to be proprietary for the following reasons. EPRI made a substantial economic investment to develop the Proprietary Information and, by prohibiting public disclosure, EPRI derives an economic benefit in the form of licensing royalties and other additional fees from the confidential nature of the Proprietary Information. If the Proprietary Information were publicly available to consultants and/or other businesses providing services in the electric and/or nuclear power industry, they would be able to use the Proprietary Information for their own commercial benefit and profit and without expending the substantial economic resources required of EPRI to develop the Proprietary Information.

EPRl's classification of the Proprietary Information as trade secrets is justified by the Uniform Trade Secrets Act which California adopted in 1984 and a version of which has been adopted by over forty states. The California Uniform Trade Secrets Act, California Civil Code §§3426 -

3426. 11, defines a "trade secret" as follows:

'"Trade secret' means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program device, method, technique, or process, that:

(1) Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to the public or to other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and (2) Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy."

e.

The Proprietary Information contained therein are not generally known or available to the public. EPRI developed the Information only after making a determination that the Proprietary Information was not available from public sources. EPRI made a substantial investment of both money and employee hours in the development of the Proprietary Information. EPRI was required to devote these resources and effort to derive the Proprietary Information. As a result of such effort and cost, both in terms of dollars spent and dedicated employee time, the Proprietary Information is highly valuable to EPRI.

f.

A public disclosure of the Proprietary Information would be highly likely to cause substantial harm to EPRl's competitive position and the ability of EPRI to license the Proprietary Information both domestically and internationally. The Proprietary Information can only be acquired and/or duplicated by others using an equivalent investment of time and effort.

J.Shea We have reviewed your application and the material in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 2.390 and, based on 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 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.

Docket Nos. 50-259, 50-260, and 50-296 cc: Neil Wilmshurst, Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Electric Power Research Institute 1300 W WT Harris Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28262 Listserv Sincerely, Farideh E. Saba, Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 11-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

ML19136A058 OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/PM NRR/DORL/LAiT NAME FSaba KEntz DATE 06/24/19

• ~~*~,.,...

OFFICE NRR/DSS/SRXB/BC(A)

NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/BC NAME JBorromeo UShoop DATE 07/26/19 08/23/19 NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/LA BClayton (JBurkhardt for) 06/24/19 NRR/DORL/LPL2-2/PM FSaba 08/26/19