Original Date: 01/23/1995
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) has brought together a multi-disciplinary team to integrate the various elements of surety, safety, security, control, reliability, and quality into a new and encompassing process that will provide systems with insurance against unintended adverse consequences. The High Consequence System Surety (HCSS) project enhances systems with surety as an encompassing, up-front, designed-in process for high consequence operations. Initiated in 1994 for use on an internal project, HCSS is in fact a surety methodology. Previously, the total system was often not considered, and disciplines for surety were applied only as needed throughout the project life. Surety discipline interrelationships were not fully examined or applied in a timely fashion, resulting in a layered approach.

The HCSS methodology is based on designing surety into the system up-front and providing for the means to examine and ensure the system will maintain its surety throughout its use. The customer can determine what trade- offs are acceptable based on analyses that prioritize the high consequences associated with the various risks involved. HCSS offers the customer information solutions to ensure correct system operation through the integration of the appropriate levels of security, integrity, reliability, safety and functionality. SNL maintains that HCSS is a continually evolving process and ongoing project aimed toward product design and development.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.