The configuration management program for the Emergency Management Support System

Abstract

Emergency response software is used increasingly by the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Emergency Management Project (EMP) personnel at Hanford Site. This software must be reliable, of high quality, and capable of performing critical functions to support assessment of actual or potential consequences of any hazardous accidents onsite or events having potential offsite impacts. To better control the software and ensure its suitability for use as a tool to protect employees, the public, and environment, a method for specifying and certifying its capabilities and documenting its development and implementation was needed. A team of EMP staff, composed of personnel from Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) and Boeing Computer Services- Richland (BCSR) under the direction of PNL EMP, responded to this need by developing a software configuration management program (CMP). This report documents the development of the CMP, including the strategies upon which the CMP is based, and describes the program as it has been implemented for EMS System software. The program relies on the integration of its three primary elements: the configuration management staff, tools, and process. Configuration management staff run the program, using specially designed configuration management forms to guide, document, and track the life cycle of the software. The configuration management process itself is reflected in the instructive forms and summarized in flowcharts representing each phase of the process -- from requirements specification through implementation and maintenance. 7 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.