On the Implementation of a Qualification Model for Nuclear Safety Codes, and its Application to the Verification & Validation of OFFBEAT

Based on regulatory guidelines and established systems engineering principles, this work proposes the adoption of the V-Model as a structured quality assurance framework for nuclear safety assessment computer codes. This universally applicable framework, which makes the relation between individual development and testing phases of a code explicit, is subsequently applied to the open-source fuel performance code OFFBEAT. This exercise shows the clear hierarchical - and thereby scalable - structure of the process, which is helpful in managing verification, validation and qualification obligations for nuclear safety codes. Lastly, the implementation of supporting technical measures for general quality assurance and the enforcement of key V-Model principles, are introduced.