Software Safety Lifecycles and the Methods of a Programmable Electronic Safety System for a Nuclear Power Plant

This paper describes the relationship between the overall safety life-cycle and the software safety lifecycle during the development of the software based safety systems of Nuclear Power Plants. This includes the design and evaluation activities of the components as well as the system. This paper also compares the safety lifecycle and planning activities defined in IEC 61508 with those in IEC 61513, IEC 60880, IEEE 7-4.3.2, and IEEE 1228. Using the Korean KNICS (Korean Nuclear Instrumentation and Control System) project as an example, the software safety lifecycle is described by comparing it to the software development, testing, and safety analysis processes of international standards. The safety assessment of the software for the KNICS Reactor Protection System and Programmable Logic Controller is a joint Korean/German project. The assessment methods applied in the project and the experiences gained from this project are presented.