Code Manual for CONTAIN 2.0 - Federation of American Scientists

the difilculty, resolving the issue without resorting to code modification. For every apparent need
that can be resolved without changing the code, there is concomitant elimination of the opportunity
for all the types of error that maybe generated by a code change.
D.2. 1.1 Chanpe Stimuli. The CONTAIN user community, the CONTAIN staff, and the USNRC
are the principal sources of change stimuli. A planned update comes from the USNRC through the
statement of work. As with any complex software system, the operational baseline of CONTAIN
inevitably contains errors. When discovered by internal and/or external use of the code or in the
testing process, errors become stimuli for change. Users also discover innovative ways to use
CONTAIN. When these innovations are of broad interest, they too become change stimuli.
D.2.1.2 CO NTAIN Code Manual. Quality assurance procedures concerning the release of a new
Code Manual require that the manual pass through a review process that checks for consistency,
accuracy, and clarity. The Code Manual is subjected to a thorough internal review in which the
document goes through the SNL standard publication review process, which requires that the f~st
two levels of SNL management approve the document. Prior to management review, the document
is reviewed by other staff members. Any necessary changes are incorporated before publication of
the new Code Manual.
Any subsequent changes are addressed by a Code/Code Manual Change Document. The changes
may be due to code changes, peer review, or other stimuli. The Change Document completely
describes the models and provides the appropriate user guidance. The Change Document also
includes the update to CONTAIN and a discussion on the assessment of the models. The developer
of the new model or revision is responsible for generating the Change Document. The draft Change
Document is first reviewed by the author. Next, the document is sent to the CONTAIN staff and
interested individuals for internal review. Prior to submission to the revision manager, the author
is responsible for resolving the comments received from the internal review. The revision manager
then reviews the document and signs off on the cover sheet when the Change Document is judged
to be satisfactory. After the completion of the internal review, the document is reviewed by the
USNRC, and their recommendations are subsequently resolved by the author and the CONTAIN
staff.
D.2.1.3 Cod e Releases. The CONTAIN code is distributed only in source code format. This
ensures that the updates have been assembled correctly, since the work is done by the CONTAIN
staff. Also, it ensures that any machine-specific modifications are correctly included for a given
workstation. Workstation issues are presently available for SUN, HP, DEC, and IBM machines.
The Cray version is still available in source form, but it is expected that few, if any, users will
request this platform. As a final measure against the introduction of errors, the user is sent sample
input and output for a test problem. The user can then verify that the code installation is correct and
current.
D.2.2 Requirements Definition
The requirements definition function provides a number of mechanisms for controlling requirements
specification errors. The code developer assigned to correct a known problem or add a new model
Rev O D-7 6/30/97