Insights from Assessments of Safety Software Quality Assurance

摘要

The assessments indicated that high levelrequirements documents of DOE prime contractors, suchas QA program descriptions, recognize and often requirethe use of SQA standards [6] for safety softwareapplications. This is consistent with the growth inimportance and awareness of SQA standards. However,the assessments show that significant weaknesses exist inimplementing SQA requirements. It appears thatenhanced implementing procedures and more widespreadSQA training is needed. Furthermore, it is critical thatorganizations responsible for safety software conductcomprehensive and rigorous self-assessments to identify SQA deficiencies. The assessments reported here arealready having a positive impact at Hanford as progresscontinues on corrective actions.