Acceptance of Radioactive Material Shipping Computer Codes

HPPOS-288 Revision 1 ML20205L508

Description:

The NRC does not require and no longer specifically reviews and approves of Radioactive Material Shipping Computer Codes.

HPPOS Summary Statement:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has revised Health Physics Position 288 (HPPOS-288) to recognize that Topical Reports for Radioactive Material Shipping Computer Codes are not required and are no longer specifically reviewed and approved by the NRC. The original version of HPPOS-288 summarized a 1983 NRC Approval of a Topical Report for the RADMAN software, developed by WMG, Inc. On May 19, 2020, the NRC sent a letter (Available in NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at Accession No. ML20106E896), to WMG Inc. to clarify the following points:

• The NRC allows licensees to use vendor supplied software without Topical Reports;
• NRC does not require vendors to develop Topical Reports for software or to submit Topical Reports to NRC for review;
• The NRC does not endorse specific commercial software programs for demonstrating regulatory compliance; and
• Each NRC licensee is responsible for demonstrating compliance with NRC regulations, even if the licensee uses a vendor-supplied software program as part of the demonstration.

NRC licensees may use their own plant-specific computer software shipping codes or vendor shipping codes. Licensees should ensure the technical adequacy of these shipping codes. In general, it is the licensee's responsibility to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Except where codes are specifically cited in licensing documents, the NRC staff does not require the use of specific codes, nor does the NRC issue approvals of vendor software.

For historical reference, the former HPPOS-288 can be found in ADAMS at Accession No. ML20041C940 and the original letter referenced in that HPPOS can be found in ADAMS at Accession No. ML20024D869.

References:

1. 10 CFR 20.2006
2. 10 CFR 61.55
3. ML20106E895 – HPPOS Summary Statement