A Case Study for Using A Systems Engineering Approach to Demonstrate Assurance Against Common Cause Failure in Operating and New/Advanced Reactor Technologies.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is conducting market research to identify potential vendors with the capability to provide research and development services for a case study on using a systems engineering approach to demonstrate assurance against common cause failure in operating and new/advanced reactor technologies. The vendor should have expertise in formulating and evaluating performance-based safety requirements, independent validation and verification (IV&V) of high-criticality cyber-physical systems, and experience in performing or providing consulting support for activities associated with these capabilities. The case study will build upon the results of three related projects: Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) research, Safety Assurance Case (SAC) research, and Hazard Analysis (HA) research. Some key aspects of the project include: • Expertise in formulating and evaluating performance-based safety requirements • Experience in IV&V of high-criticality cyber-physical systems • Ability to identify hazardous conditions and formulate verifiable safety constraints • Familiarity with regulatory approval considerations for safety-critical systems • Capability to perform a case study using correct-by-construction model-based system and software engineering methods