Manual On Quality Assurance For Computer Software Related To The Safety Of Nuclear Power Plants

Provides guidance in the assurance of quality of specification, design, implementation, maintenance and use of computer software related to items and activities important to safety in nuclear power plants.

The present publication provides for the first time information and guidance for defining and implementing quality assurance programmes covering the entire lifecycle of software important to safety. It takes into account the large amount of documentation available, the rapid development of software systems and the need of updated guidance on how to do it.

The nuclear industry and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) have been working for several years on the development of an adequate process to guide the replacement of aging analog monitoring and control instrumentation in nuclear power plants with modern digital instrumentation without introducing off-setting safety problems. This book identifies criteria for the USNRC's review and acceptance of digital applications in nuclear power plants. It focuses on eight areas: software quality assurance, common-mode software failure potential, systems aspects of digital instrumentation and control technology, human factors and human-machine interfaces, safety and reliability assessment methods, dedication of commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software, the case-by-case licensing process, and the adequacy of technical infrastructure.

Guidance in the organization and performance of regulatory inspection functions regarding the implementation of quality assurance programmes in all stages of the nuclear power plant project. The manual is intended primarily for the management personnel and upper staff from regulatory bodies but it will also be helpful to management personnel from nuclear utilities and vendors.

This manual was developed to serve as guidance on non-conformance and corrective actions which have been identified as the major problems in the implementation of an effective quality assurance programme. The scope of this manual, while fully addressing the requirements in the governing NUSS programme documents, also covers corrective action processes which would more generally assist users in developing good practices for improved performance in all areas of safety, reliability and economics, and it offers a practical model and illustrative examples of the means by which effective measures and actions can be implemented.

This report provides guidance on current practices, documenting their strengths and weaknesses in dealing with the important issues of software engineering that nuclear power plant system designers, software producers and regulators are facing. It focuses on safety critical applications of general purpose processors controlled by custom developed software; however, it should also have application in safety related applications and in other types of computers.