[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 22, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50723-50724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20636]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0195]


Verification, Validation, Reviews, and Audits for Digital 
Computer Software Used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
is issuing for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1267, 
``Verification, Validation, Reviews, and Audits for Digital Computer 
Software used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants.''
    The DG-1210 is proposed Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.168, 
dated February 2004. This revision endorses, with clarifications and 
exceptions, the consensus practices for complying with NRC regulations 
promoting the development of, and compliance with, software 
verification and validation reviews and audits described in the 
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard 1012-
2004, ``IEEE Standard for Software Verification and Validation'' and 
IEEE Standard 1028-2008, ``IEEE Standard for Software Reviews and 
Audits.''
    The NRC is soliciting stakeholder feedback on the following 
question--Should RG 1.168 be revised to endorse IEEE Std. 1012-2012 
rather than IEEE Std. 1012-2004? IEEE Std. 1012-2012 expands the scope 
of IEEE Std. 1012-2004 to include verification and validation (V&V) 
task guidance for systems, software and hardware while IEEE Std. 1012-
2004 only provides software V&V task guidance.

DATES: Submit comments by November 23, 2012. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to this document, which the NRC possesses and are publicly available, 
by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2012-
0195. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0195. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
     Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karl Sturzebecher, Office of Nuclear 
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-251-7494 or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0195 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses 
and are publicly available, by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0195.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The draft regulatory guide 
is available electronically under ADAMS Accession Number ML103160431. 
The regulatory analysis may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML103160461.
    Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and NRC approval is not 
required to reproduce them.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2012-0195 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.

[[Page 50724]]

    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enters the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not edit comment submissions to remove identifying 
or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information in their comment submissions 
that they do not want to be publicly disclosed. Your request should 
state that the NRC will not edit comment submissions to remove such 
information before making the comment submissions available to the 
public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Further Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a draft guide in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public such information as methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff 
needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses.
    The draft regulatory guide entitled ``Verification, Validation, 
Reviews, and Audits for Digital Computer Software used in Safety 
Systems of Nuclear Power Plants'' is temporarily identified by its task 
number, DG-1267. The DG-1267 is proposed Revision 2 of RG 1.168, 
``Verification, Validation, Reviews, and Audits for Digital Computer 
Software used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants'' dated 
February 2004.
    This RG endorses with clarifications and exceptions, the consensus 
practices for complying with NRC regulations promoting the development 
of, and compliance with, software verification and validation reviews 
and audits described in IEEE Std. 1012-2004, ``IEEE Standard for 
Software Verification and Validation'' and IEEE Std. 1028-2008, ``IEEE 
Standard for Software Reviews and Audits.'' These 2 IEEE standards 
describe methods acceptable to the NRC staff for use in complying with 
the NRC's regulations with respect to software verification and 
auditing of digital computer software used in the safety systems of 
nuclear power plants. In particular, the methods are consistent with 
part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 
``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities,'' 
Appendix A, ``General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants,'' 
General Design Criterion 1, ``Quality Standards and Records,'' which 
requires, in part, that a quality assurance program be established and 
implemented to provide adequate assurance that systems and components 
important to safety will satisfactorily perform their safety functions.
    This draft regulatory guide is part of a series of 6 complimentary 
guides addressing the issue of digital software in power plant 
applications. The following is a complete list of all 6 of the DGs:
     DG-1267 is proposed revision 2 of RG 1.168, 
``Verification, Validation, Reviews, and Audits for Digital Computer 
Software used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants.'' DG-1267 is 
available under ADAMS at Accession Number ML103160431.
     DG-1206 is proposed revision 1 of RG 1.169, 
``Configuration Management Plans for Digital Computer Software used in 
Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants.'' DG-1206 is available in ADAMS 
under Accession Number ML103200044.
     DG-1207 is proposed revision 1 of RG 1.170, ``Software 
Unit Testing for Digital Computer Software Used in Safety Systems of 
Nuclear Power Plants.'' DG-1207 is available in ADAMS under Accession 
Number ML083370243.
     DG-1208 is proposed revision 1 if RG 1.171, ``Software 
Unit Testing for Digital Computer Software used in Safety Systems of 
Nuclear Power Plants.'' DG-1208 is available in ADAMS under Accession 
Number ML103120751.
     DG-1209 is proposed revision 1 of RG 1.172, ``Software 
Requirement Specifications for Digital Computer Software and Complex 
Electronics used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants.'' DG-1209 
is available in ADAMS under Accession Number ML103080963.
     DG-1210 is proposed revision 1 of RG 1.173, ``Developing 
Software Life-Cycle Processes for Digital Computer Software used in 
Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants.'' DG-1267 is available in ADAMS 
under Accession Number ML103120727.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of August 2012.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, 
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2012-20636 Filed 8-21-12; 8:45 am]
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