Recent Developments and Trends in Requirements Management Systems

In a recent international meeting, five radioactive waste disposal organizations (NUMO/Japan; NAGRA/Switzerland; ONDRAF/NIRAS/Belgium; POSIVA/Finland; SKB/ Sweden) have discussed the status and developments of RMS in their respective programs. The majority have already implemented an IT-based system, or, are testing and developing such systems. The level of detail of requirements depends on the stage of the program. Those approaching the license application have integrated all components of the repository concept, including the processes for the operational phase. Requirements management is closely associated with the quality management system. Combining requirement and decision-tracking has been expressed as an explicit goal for some programs. Caution was expressed regarding the expectations for the RMS being developed. There is a risk that such systems are perceived as expert systems that can derive decisions, which then will be unquestionably accepted. It is nevertheless recognized that they can be of great help in communicating with the various stakeholders and with relative ease demonstrate how their requirements have been considered and satisfied with the proposed repository systems. Further efforts need to be undertaken to integrate the requirement management systems, and the processes that they represent, in the day-to-day operations of the organizations. First positive experiences of the latter are reported.