Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: 7cec1788-1bfe-4ade-ad71-08ba7dda3ab5
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Acceptance of Commercial-Grade Design and Analysis Computer Programs Used in Safety-Related Applications for Nuclear Power Plants + HISTORY - HISTORY 04/2015 – DG-1305 , Proposed Revision 0
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 1
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1411/ML14119A286.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-1.231
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CFR Title: 

Content:
Power Plants,” (Ref. 14), provide computer program guidance for systems that are important to safety in nuclear power plants. Although the Safety Guide relates primarily to computer programs used in important to safety systems and EPRI 1025243 is specific to commercial-grade design and analysis computer programs (not used in important to safety systems), both documents provide guidance on activities associated with assuring quality in commercial-grade computer programs. This regulatory guide incorporates similar quality assurance guidance and is consistent with the basic safety principles provided in the IAEA Safety Standard. Documents Discussed in Staff Regulatory Guidance Regulatory guides approve the use of one or more codes or standards developed by external organizations, and other third party guidance documents. These codes, standards, and third party guidance documents may contain references to other codes, standards, or third party guidance documents (“secondary references”). If a secondary reference has itself been incorporated by reference into NRC regulations as a requirement, then licensees and applicants must comply with that standard as set forth in the regulation. If the secondary reference has been approved for use in a regulatory guide as an acceptable approach for meeting an NRC requirement, then the standard constitutes a method acceptable to the NRC staff for meeting that regulatory requirement as described in the specific regulatory guide. If the secondary reference has neither been incorporated by reference into NRC regulations nor approved for use in a regulatory guide, then the secondary reference is neither a legally-binding requirement nor a “generic” NRC approval as an acceptable approach for meeting an NRC requirement. However, licensees and applicants may consider and use the information in the secondary reference, if appropriately justified and consistent with current regulatory practice, consistent with applicable NRC