System certification: an alternative to package certification?

This paper considers some of the issues associated with the concept of system certification, including: 1. What risk assessment capabilities will be needed to satisfy requirements? 2. What acceptance criteria are appropriate and how will they be placed into regulations in the current public interaction environment? 3. Will relative risk assessments replace comparison with absolute risk standards? 4. What will be the sources of information to quantify the risk reduction effects of non-standard operating environments? 5. Will data be available to quantify package/system behavior in a wide variety of accident environments? 6. Will public demand for involvement in the system certification process be written into the regulation, as has NEPA requirements for some actions by the United States government? (J.P.N.)