PNNL

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Subcommittee for Consequence Assessment and Protective Action (SCAPA) is developing new software quality assurance (SQA) guidance for consequence assessment models and related emergency management software. In 2004, a DOE Order and Guide were issued to provide comprehensive SQA guidelines for safety software used at nuclear facilities. Some consequence assessment models need to meet these guidelines, but others do not because they support less critical “safety-related’ applications for which DOE has not issued SQA guidelines. The SCAPA SQA guidance is based on the DOE SQA Guide for safety software but the SCAPA guidance applies a more graded approach. The SCAPA guidance focuses on enhancing the quality and reliability of software through appropriate SQA planning, software design and implementation documentation, verification and validation testing, and configuration management. In putting together this guidance, SCAPA is seeking to support the development of effective SQA programs without stymieing technical innovation. This SQA guidance also will provide a framework to supplement and integrate the hodgepodge of project- program-, company-, or site-based SQA expectations that may already exist for some safety-related applications.