Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: d6326081-f430-476d-8098-4edf00868dd9
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Verification, Validation, Reviews, and Audits for Digital Computer Software Used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants + HISTORY - HISTORY 08/2012 – DG-1267 , Proposed Revision 2 01/2003 – DG-1123 , Proposed Revision 1 08/1996 – DG-1054 , Proposed Revision 0 (Rev. 2)
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 1
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1031/ML103160431.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-1.168
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
808). However, OMB has not found it to be a major rule as designated in the Congressional Review Act. B. DISCUSSION Background The use of industry consensus standards, such as IEEE standards, is part of an overall approach to meeting the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 when developing safety systems for nuclear power plants. Compliance with standards does not guarantee that regulatory requirements will be met. However, compliance does ensure that practices accepted within various technical communities will be incorporated 1 The term “safety systems” is synonymous with “safety-related systems.” The scope of the GDC includes structures, systems, and components “important to safety.” However, the scope of this regulatory guide is limited to “safety systems,” which are a subset of “systems important to safety.” DG-1267, Page 3 into the development and quality assurance processes used to design safety systems. These practices are based on experience and represent industry consensus on approaches used for the development of such systems. This regulatory guide refers to software incorporated into the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems covered by Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50 as “safety system software.” For safety system software, software V&V, reviews, and audits are important parts of the effort to comply with NRC requirements. Software engineering practices rely, in part, on software V&V and on technical reviews and audits to meet general quality and reliability requirements in General Design Criteria 1 and 21, “Protection System Reliability and Testability,” of Appendix A to 10 CFR Part 50, as well as Criteria II, III, XI, and XVIII of Appendix B. In addition, management reviews and audits of software processes are part of a verification process consistent with Criterion I of Appendix B. Several criteria in Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50 contain requirements closely related to software V&V, reviews, and audits. These listed Criterions