Software Quality Assurance
In 2005, DOE Order 414.1C, Quality Assurance, was issued to address software quality assurance (SQA) requirements for nuclear safety applications at DOE nuclear facilities. Guidance associated with this DOE order is provided in DOE Guide 414.1-4, the Safety Software Guide. In early 2011, DOE’s Office of Health, Safety and Security (DOE/HS) is preparing to issue DOE Order 414.1D, an update to DOE O 414.1C. An updated version of DOE G 414.1-4 is also planned.
The DOE SQA Order and Guide are only applicable to those consequence assessment models that meet the definition of safety software. Most consequence assessment models used by the DOE community applications do not fall into the safety software category and are best described as safety-related or non-safety software. To provide SQA guidance for these codes, SCAPA has prepared its own guidance document that extends DOE’s graded approach to SQA for safety software to safety-related and non-safety consequence assessment models. This SCAPA SQA guidance document is entitled: Software Quality Assurance Guidance for Consequence Assessment Software Designed for Safety-Related and Other Non-Safety Applications.
The following links offer additional information on SQA:
DOE Definition of Safety Software
Definitions of Safety System Software, Safety and Hazard Analysis Software, and Safety Management and Administrative Controls Software.
Ten Safety SQA Work Activities
Listing of the ten software quality work activities that are to be performed using a graded approach.
Graded Approach to SQA
DOE G 414.1-4 provides a graded implementation strategy for the 10 software quality work activities. The graded approach identifies activities and sub-activities that can be implemented at varying levels of rigor based upon the potential impact on safety and the type of software type.
The DOE Safety Software Central Registry and Toolbox Codes
The Central Registry provides information about DOE toolbox codes. These codes are routinely used by DOE to perform calculations and develop data used to establish the safety basis for DOE facilities and operations, and to support the variety of safety analyses and safety evaluations developed for these facilities.
Why the SQA Order and Guide Were Developed
The history of activities leading up to the development of DOE's SQA Order and Guide.
The DOE/HSS Nuclear Safety Software Quality Assurance Webpage
Includes additional information on DOE’s SQA requirements, the Central Registry for toolbox codes, and related SQA work by DOE/HS.
SCAPA’s SQA Guidance for Consequence Models that are not Safety Software
The SCAPA guidance incorporates the key elements found in the DOE guidance for safety software but does so using an appropriately graded approach that is readily implementable by DOE’s emergency management community and its software suppliers. This approach strikes an acceptable balance between the need for modeling complex environmental processes (e.g., atmospheric dispersion and deposition), timely innovation, and SQA for software products that are not classified as safety software.
