Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: 5b36f49a-1e5b-4d3c-b352-91bfde8ef8cc
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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Content:
be deemed acceptable if they provide a basis for the findings required for the issuance or continuance of a permit or license by the Commission. Paperwork Reduction Act This regulatory guide contains information collection requirements covered by 10 CFR Part 21, 10 CFR Part 50, and 10 CFR Part 52 that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved under OMB control number 3150-0035, 3150-0011, and 3150-0151, respectively. The NRC may neither conduct nor sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an information collection request or requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control number. B. DISCUSSION Reason for Issuance This new regulatory guide is being issued to approve Revision 1 of EPRI Technical Report 1025243, “Plant Engineering: Guideline for the Acceptance of Commercial-Grade Design and Analysis Computer Programs Used in Nuclear Safety-Related Applications,” (Ref. 12) with respect to acceptance of commercial-grade design and analysis computer programs associated with basic components for nuclear power plants. The initial version of EPRI 1025243 (Ref. 13) was the first standard to provide a detailed acceptance methodology specific to commercial-grade design and analysis computer programs for nuclear power plants. Background Use of commercial-grade design and analysis computer programs is common in the nuclear industry, but acceptance processes for these programs vary. Current industry guidance for acceptance of commercial-grade products was developed in the late 1980s, before the common use of complex computer programs, and focused on components. Although still applicable to computer programs from a process perspective, the guidance did not specifically consider the unique failure modes and characteristics of computer programs, nor the evaluation and testing challenges of off-the-shelf commercial computer programs. In the 1990s, the nuclear industry and the NRC supported digital upgrades to operating