Risky module prediction for nuclear I and C software

As software based digital I and C (Instrumentation and Control) systems are used more prevalently in nuclear plants, enhancement of software dependability has become an important issue in the area of nuclear I and C systems. Critical attributes of software dependability are safety and reliability. These attributes are tightly related to software failures caused by faults. Software testing and V and V (Verification and Validation) activities are hence important for enhancing software dependability. If the risky modules of safety-critical software can be predicted, it will be possible to focus on testing and V and V activities more efficiently and effectively. It should also make it possible to better allocate resources for regulation activities. We propose a prediction technique to estimate risky software modules by adopting machine learning models based on software complexity metrics. An empirical study with various machine learning algorithms was executed for comparing the prediction performance. Experimental results show SVMs (Support Vector Machines) perform as well or better than the other methods.