Verification Validation: Goals, Methods, Levels, and Metrics

摘要

This work briefly summarizes the current status of the V&V Program at LLNL regarding goals, methods, timelines, and issues for Verification and Validation (V&V) with Uncertainty Quantification (UQ). Our goals are to evaluate various V&V methods, to apply them to computational simulation analyses, and integrate them into methods for Quantitative Certification techniques for the nuclear stockpile. Methods include qualitative and quantitative V&V processes with numerical values for both (qualitative) V&V Level, and (quantitative) validation statements with confidence-bounded uncertainty bands. We describe the critical nature of high quality analyses with quantified V&V, and the essential role of V&V and UQ at specified Confidence levels in evaluating system certification status. Only with quantitative validation statements can rational tradeoffs of various scenarios be made.