Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: c6321e39-3d1b-40a6-ace3-8c6a0c54e2cd
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Developing Software Life Cycle Processes for Digital Computer Software Used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants + HISTORY - HISTORY 08/2012 – DG-1210 , Proposed Revision 1 08/1996 – DG-1059 , Proposed Revision 0 (Rev. 1)
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 1
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1031/ML103120727.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-1.173
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
o system development processes. The system design phase allocates system safety requirements to hardware, software, and human elements. The system integration and testing phases combine and test these elements. Consequently, a standard for software development processes is intimately related to system-level standards, such as IEEE Std. 7-4.3.2-2003, “IEEE Standard Criteria for Digital Computers in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Generating Stations,” issued 2003 (Ref. 10), which Regulatory Guide 1.152, “Criteria for Use of Computers in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants” (Ref. 11), endorsed in January, 2006. IEEE Std. 1074-2006 describes a complete set of software life-cycle processes; however, its system-level view is a generic view from a software perspective. To use IEEE Std. 1074-2006 for developing safety system software, the system-level activities described in IEEE Std. 1074-2006 should be addressed within the context provided by regulation and by nuclear industry standards. Examples of system-level issues from this context are (1) the need for software safety analyses as part of system safety evaluation and (2) the need for determining the acceptability of preexisting software for use in safety systems. Regulatory Guide 1.152; NUREG/CR-6101, “Software Reliability and Safety in Nuclear Reactor Protection Systems,” issued November 1993 (Ref. 12); and NUREG/CR-6263, “High Integrity Software for Nuclear Power Plants: Candidate Guidelines, Technical Basis, and Research Needs,” issued June 1995 (Ref. 13), contain general information on software safety activities and software life-cycle activities. The second area, the acceptability of preexisting software, is particularly important in the nuclear context and further guidance can be found in Regulatory Guide 1.152. The software development process has several supporting regulatory guides to promote high functional reliability and design quality in the software used in safety systems. These