On Factors Contributing to Quality of Nuclear Control Computer Software

Abstract

Safety related computer software has increasingly come into focus in the software engineering field over the past decade. This paper describes how Ontario Hydro has addressed the software industry concerns in the methodology used for designing and implementing the unit control computer software for the new Darlington Generating station. The corner stone of the methodology is a software quality assurance (SQA) program, which was initially set up to cover only the software development portion of the software lifecycle, but which is now being extended to cover the entire software lifecycle, including commissioning, operation and maintenance of the software.